20. Matteo
CHAPTER TWENTY
MATTEO
T he fact the damn universe held so much of Ari’s attention rendered me sick with jealousy. However, watching her speak excitedly about the galaxies, stars, and planets, demonstrating with her hands and sharing it all with me, it eased the sting of that unfounded green monster.
I feared now that I’d tasted my woman, there’d be no hiding my infatuation.
“Here, look.” Arianna tugged on my arm and pulled me closer to the telescope. I peered through the eyepiece, the stars slowly fading away as dawn approached. “Do you see the pattern?”
I straightened, my hands still holding the piece of equipment that would make NASA envious, and told her seriously, “It’s pretty cool, but the only galaxy and stars I care about are the ones in your eyes.” When she tilted her head and half rolled her eyes, I added, “And the ones you’re seeing while I’m eating your pussy,” for good measure.
A little snort-laugh escaped her and she hit my shoulder playfully. “You’ve got to be the cheesiest sweet talker on this planet.”
“Not exactly what I was aiming for.”
“What were you aiming for?”
“Pussy whisperer? Filth talker?” Ari’s cheeks flushed bright red, then she ducked underneath my arm, coming to stand with her back to my chest. “What? Nothing to say to that?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “You’re the only filthy talker I know, so?—”
Lowering my head, I nibbled on her earlobe. “I’d better be.”
“Pffft. If you insist.”
“I do.”
Ari shrugged and returned her attention to her favorite sight.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” She sighed dreamily, and I vowed that going forward, I’d make sure she found plenty of reasons to sigh like that.
“You’re the only beautiful thing I see.” She stiffened for a moment, then shifted away from the telescope. “What’s the matter?”
She glanced over her shoulder, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Hannah and I are identical,” she finally said.
“And you couldn’t be more different. She’s loud, you’re not. You’re passionate about your education, she’s not. You’re protective over those you love, and she’s?—”
“She’s protective too,” she cut me off.
“Maybe.” I shifted her around and cupped her face. “This planet could face extinction and the only thing I would care about is being with you before this world went dark.”
“Like I said… that’s pretty intense.”
She had no fucking idea. “I’d scout every corner of this world for you, Ari, and that’s no exaggeration.”
Her lips curved into a soft smile. “Sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a promise.” She remained silent, watching me with those deep blue eyes. “Are you scared?”
“No.”
I smiled. “Good, because I can’t wait to shout from every rooftop in this state that you’re mine.”
She stiffened, her hands coming to my chest.
“Well…” Apprehension shot down my spine while her fingers twisted the hem of my shirt. “Can we keep it a… secret for a while?”
“Why?” I didn’t mean for that single word to sound so harsh, accusing.
“I want to find the right way to tell Hannah. She’s been dreaming about…” She took a deep breath in, then slowly exhaled. “I just don’t want to hurt her.”
“I should have extinguished her notions about an ‘us’ long ago.”
Ari was the center of my universe. Nothing and nobody could change that.