Page 89 of The Problem with Perfect

“Stay the fuck out of my life,” he finally says before spinning around and storming back to his car.

I don’t even watch him go, my mind already having moved on to Bellamy and the fact that I don’t want to waste another second standing here in the middle of a construction site when I know I could be telling her how much I love her instead.

“I gotta go,” I call out to Jackson and Nick, giving them a wave as I jog over to my car.

The last thing I hear before I slam my door shut is Jackson’s laughter, and when I glance at him as I back out, I see him smiling, his hands in the air, clapping.

I chuckle and shake my head then pull away.

* * *

It’s about a fifteen-minute drive from downtown to the Mitchell house, and part of me wonders if I should text Bellamy before I just show up. But I don’t want to slow down long enough to pull over and message her safely, so I just keep going, breathing out a sigh of relief when I see her CRV parked alone in the driveway.

When I knock on the door, it takes a few minutes before she answers, and her eyes are wide when she sees me.

“It’s real for me, too,” I say before she can get any words out. “It’s the most real thing I’ve ever known, loving you.”

Her mouth opens slightly, surprise crossing her face, and I lick my lips, suddenly worried what I have to say isn’t enough. I spent the entire drive over here going over what I want to tell her, but now that I’m standing before her, I can’t seem to remember half of it.

All I know for sure is how I feel.

“You are the most incredible person I’ve ever known, but it’s hard for me to admit that, because Iamafraid. My life has had some very dark moments, and I worry if I let myself love you, I’ll lose it all again.” I shake my head. “But I can’t imagine living in a world where I had you and chose to let you go. Forgive me for not saying how I really feel sooner, for not fighting for you sooner. I promise, I won’t ever let you down again.”

Bellamy is silent for a beat before she wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “You’ve never let me down.”

She pulls back to look at my face then presses her mouth against mine, our lips parting and our tongues tangling like a familiar dance only we know.

The relief I feel is staggering, and I kiss her like I’ll never be able to do it again, even though I know I’m going to spend every waking moment searching for my next chance.

After a moment, we step back, and she slips her hand into mine.

“Come upstairs.”

I swallow, glancing around as I close the front door and then follow behind her.

“Nobody’s home,” she tells me, and a thrill skitters its way through my chest as we step into her bedroom and she closes the door.

It feels particularly devious, what we’re doing, sneaking up to her room to fool around while her parents aren’t home. I waste no time, yanking her against me and putting my mouth back onto hers, reveling in her taste as my hands travel lower and grip her ass.

“I’m on the pill,” she tells me as I kiss down her neck and lick back up.

“I haven’t been with anyone in a while,” I reply, our eyes watching each other. “Are you sure about this?”

She nods, tugging her top over her head. “As long as you don’t mind that I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

I chuckle, toeing my shoes off and undoing my fly. “I think that’s the first stupid thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

She giggles, shimmying her jean shorts down her legs, hopping a little bit and making her tits bounce in a way that makes my mouth water.

“Everything about you turns me on,” I tell her, ripping my own shirt off, shivers racing across my body when she places her hands on my abs and begins kissing my chest.

“Same,” she replies, shifting to my navel before dropping to her knees.

Her hands dip into my boxers, and she tugs them down, my erection springing free, long and hard and desperate for her. She doesn’t make me wait, her hand wrapping around my shaft and giving me a firm pump, then she licks me with the flat of her tongue from root to tip.

I tilt my head back for just a moment, lost to the bliss of it, but then I return my eyes to her, not wanting to miss a single second of anything she’s doing. She puts her mouth around me and bobs her head, going so far that I bump the back of her throat and hiss with pleasure. I rest my hands on her head and thrust gently, but only a few times before I pull her up off the floor and kiss her.

“If you do that much longer, I’ll come before I’m inside you.”

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