20. Chapter Twenty - Abby
Abby
I wake up to a warm presence behind me, hot breath feathering against my neck. It takes me a few moments before the memories of yesterday come flooding back, the way we climbed into bed together, just to cuddle, to enjoy each other’s presence after a year apart.
It’s going to be burned into my memory for the rest of my life.
How his fingertips danced over my arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake, how he looked at me like he couldn’t believe I was really there. For a moment, I’m convinced yesterday was just a dream, all of my hopes and daydreams catching up to me so vividly I confuse them with reality.
But now that I’m here, with his heavy arm draped around my waist, his hand spread out over my belly and feeling him breathe behind me as he spoons me under the soft hotel sheets, it really sinks in.
This is real. Our time here meant as much to him as it did to me. Enough to wish the impossible into reality.
“Morning, beautiful,” he whispers, his voice deeper than usual and still raspy with sleep as he stretches his fingers over my stomach and pulls me a little closer, breathing a relieved sigh.
“Good morning,” I mumble, not able to contain my smile as I try to glance at him over my shoulder. My breath hitches, the smile on my face widening as he presses his lips against the side of my head.
“I thought it was a dream,” I confess softly, trying to turn around without escaping his hold. It doesn’t quite work, but as soon as I settle, he wraps his arms around me again, fingertips dancing over the thin fabric of the shirt I grabbed in a hurry from my room before we made our way here. Conveniently, our rooms are on the same floor, so we didn’t have to do much of a detour.
“Me too,” he admits with a sheepish chuckle and my throat tightens. “I thought it was too good to be true, right?”
I nod solemnly. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Seriously, I can’t believe this.”
“What are the chances?” he says with a low chuckle before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opens them again, worry is written all over them. “You didn’t think I’d come back because I’m famous, right?”
“Well… mainly because I thought you giving me a wrong number was a gentle way of letting me down.” I grimace, trying to hide my face in his chest, feeling him chuckle. After a few deep breaths, I glance up at him, meeting his eyes. “I just thought you’d have enough options,” I mumble. “You could probably find someone better. But to answer your question, I didn’t really think that because you’re famous. I just talked myself into doubting if our time together mattered.”
“Well, it did,” he assures me, tucking a strand of hair that’s falling into my face behind my ear. “And you matter. A whole lot, actually.”
He still knows just what to say to make me blush. I try to hide my red face against his chest but he won’t let me, placing a finger under my chin so I can’t lower my head, damned to look at him.
“But to be completely honest, you’ve got my sister to thank,” he adds softly. “She convinced me to come here. You know, I searched for you. Quite a while, actually.”
My eyes widen, my heart beating loudly in my chest. “You did?”
“I only knew your first name,” he explains, his finger playing with a strand of my hair, tangling it around his hand and releasing it. “And it turns out a lot of Abbeys live in London.” He sighs, and I can’t help but shake my head at him with an amused smile.
“I tried other ways to reach you too, you know,” I say, staring at the little dimple on his cheek as he smiles. “I even sent an email to your management, but I think they thought I was just a random fangirl.”
He pauses, the dimple suddenly disappearing. “You what ?”
“Yeah,” I nod softly, lifting my hand to trace patterns over his chest, right over his heart. “Honestly, maybe it’s better you didn’t get it. I was drunk and in my feelings.”
“Oh, now I definitely want to read it,” he says with a grin and I bite my lip, quickly changing the topic.
“But why do I have your sister to thank?”
“Remember how I said I searched for you? Well, I kind of reached my limit. After nine months combing through Instagram profiles, hours of Google searches…” He trails off, his voice tinged with frustration. I can’t help myself; I move closer, scooting up until my head rests on his pillow, our faces just a breath apart. I cradle his cheek in my hand, and like a cat, he leans into my touch, eyes softening before he picks up where he left off.
“And in the past year, all of my brothers got coupled up. Seriously. Even ‘I’m married to my work’ Adam got a girlfriend. Then Jackson, who lives in London, by the way, found someone, and most recently, Tanner started dating the sister of one of his friends. And I just couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he admits, a wistful look washing over his face.
I gently run my thumb over his cheek and his eyes flutter shut for a moment, leaning into my touch, before he continues. “Seeing them all happy made me remember our time together. Made me wonder and lay awake at night, trying to work out potential logistics in my head and all of a sudden it didn’t seem so impossible anymore. You were always on my mind, babe.”
“Yeah. You were on mine, too,” I whisper, mirroring his soft smile.
“So when I visited my sister in the hospital—” My eyes widen and my whole body tenses. Hospital?
“Wait, what? Is she alright?”
“Oh yes, don’t worry,” he assures me quickly. “She just broke her arm a couple of months back, after going on an unauthorized ski trip with her friends. Broke a couple of ribs too, but she’s healing fine. It’s not a big deal.”
He says it like it's nothing, and I shake my head at him. “I can’t believe you’re calling that ‘not a big deal.’”
“Well, we did think for half a day that she was about to die,” he adds, his face stretching into a grimace. “So trust me, in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn’t a big deal.”
“That’s…” I start but don’t even know what to say.
“A story for another day,” he finishes for me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “We’ve got all the time in the world, babe.”
“Do we?” I ask softly, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I sure hope so,” he replies confidently, his words washing over me like a warm wave of love. “So anyway, my sister told me to come back here on what would be an anniversary of our time here. I wouldn’t have thought of that in a million years, but you’re here… maybe it’s a girl thing? Did she send you a telepathic message?”
“It’s a romance thing,” I reply with a grin, rolling my eyes playfully. He pinches my waist and I squirm in his hold, giggling. “My brother had to convince me too. But seriously… what now? We’ve met each other again, for what? Another vacation fling?”
“Yeah, you see, that’s not going to cut it for me,” he whispers, his eyes darting all over my face, searching for the answer to an unspoken question.
“Really?” I ask, my voice cracking.
I’ve dreamed of him saying that. At night, during the day, I imagined a million versions of how a conversation like this could play out. It would be a lie to say I didn’t hope for this. But now that he’s actually said it, it still feels like a dream, too good to be true.
“But how?” I ask. He mentioned the logistics, but I can’t imagine it. He lives in America, I live in London, how does he expect this to work?
“Remember how I mentioned one of my brothers lives in London?” he asks with a grin, and I nod. “I think it’s time I spent more time with him.” He winks at me, and a glimmer of hope ignites inside me, excitement making the butterflies in my stomach flutter harder than ever. “You know, bother him about one of his guestrooms, or at least a hotel recommendation.”
His fingers slip under my sleep shirt, tracing soft paths down my back, sending a shiver down my spine and goosebumps all over my skin.
“I want to do this the right way,” he continues, with a seriousness I’m not used from him and I bite my lip as his hand continues to trace soft patterns over my skin. “I want to take you on dates. Woo you. Have a romantic kiss at whatever romantic spots you have in London.”
I can’t help but break into a grin, which he promptly kisses off my lips.
“I’d really like that,” I whisper against his lips, seeing happiness dance in his eyes.
“No pressure,” he whispers back, his hand returning to the side of my face, thumb tracing circles over my cheek. “And from here on, honesty.”
“I’ll try,” I tell him, furrowing my brows. “You know… I’ve spent a year imagining this. I’m scared, Reed. What if it turns out we’re only good for a vacation fling?”
“I don’t think so,” he says with a chuckle, pressing his lips against mine again. Then again, like he can’t stop himself.
“But how do you know?”
“I don’t.” His expression turns serious again. “Just like you don’t know whether we won’t work out.”
He reaches for my hand, pulling it gently to his lips, pressing a soft kiss into my palm.
“There’s only one way to find out. And I believe in us.”
“I believe in us, too.” I pause, still trying to process it all. “But really? Just like that?”
It all feels so simple, too easy. Like there’s something I’m missing.
“Just like that,” he whispers back, his voice steady and sure. “You know, the bonus of having a brother in high places is that he can clear my calendar whenever I need him to. Or find me jobs anywhere in the world.”
“You would do that? For me?” My voice is barely a whisper, a mix of disbelief and hope. He would actually leave his whole life in America behind to give us a shot?
“You’re worth so much more than that,” he murmurs, his fingers tracing a gentle path up my arm, then threading through my hair. “So… what do you say, beautiful? Are we giving this a try?”
“Yes,” I breathe, and I don’t think anything could wipe the smile that’s forming on my face. “Please.”
I accept his kiss happily, squealing in surprise when his tongue teases at my lips.
“I didn’t brush my teeth,” I whisper with a giggle, but he only draws back a millimeter.
“Neither did I. Do I look like I give a fuck?”
“Touché,” I say, running my fingers through his hair, fisting it to draw him closer, desperate to finally kiss him properly, morning breath be damned.