Chapter 18 #2
“You make me feel like I’ve finally found the place I belong,” he said, echoing my thoughts perfectly.
He reached out to grasp my hand, pulled me down on top of him and clasped the sides of my neck.
I felt the warm, hard press of his cock against my stomach before he wrapped his legs around me.
“I’m happiest when I’m with you,” he added softly.
I leaned down and kissed him slowly at first, but within seconds, the intensity skyrocketed and my cock thrummed insistently to get closer to him, to get inside of him and hold him tight.
As I fumbled with the condom, I thought about a time, hopefully in the near future, when we could get tested and go bare. Just thinking about it made me even less coordinated until Gage started giggling.
“Need help?”
“Shut it, Goodman,” I muttered.
“Shall I fetch you some reading glasses, old man?”
I couldn’t hold back a snort. “Kids today think they’re so funny.”
“Hashtag LOL?”
I shoved his knees up toward his shoulders and met his eyes. They danced with joy and teasing, my favorite Gage expression. “Make your old-man jokes now,” I suggested, pressing inside his body and trying not to groan in satisfaction at the tight squeeze. “I dare you.”
“Knox,” he said on a gasp. “Oh God, yes. Just like that. Fuck.”
Once I was fully inside him, I leaned closer and nipped kisses on the side of his neck while he adjusted to me. Gage’s fingers played in my hair, and he whispered words in my ear about how good I felt, how grateful he was that I’d come after him, and how much he loved me.
Making love to Gage Goodman made everything else in my life fade in comparison. My job, my friends, all the things I’d once found important. As long as I had Gage… I had everything I needed. Happiness, contentment, fun, joy.
“Love you so damned much,” I murmured as I began moving in and out of him. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
His eyes were damp, so I brushed my lips underneath them to catch the spill.
When we both finally came in a tangle of limbs and staggered breaths, I felt all of my stress and worry finally settle.
It didn’t go away—I wasn’t fool enough to think there was an easy fix for it, and I knew I needed to continue to take my mental health seriously—but I knew I would have someone on my side as I battled it in the future.
“You know,” I murmured sleepily. “I practiced a whole speech on the way here.”
“You practiced?” Gage sounded delighted.
“Naturally. I wanted it to sound right. I wanted it to be…”
“Efficient?” he teased.
“Convincing.”
“Baby.” He lifted his head and kissed me. “I was already convinced.”
“Mmm.” I kissed him back. “Convenient, that.”
“But, you know, you shouldn’t let your speech go to waste.” He stacked his hands on my chest and rested his chin there. “I find myself with free time and open ears.”
I snickered. “Well. First, I was going to talk about all the ways you make me a happier person. A better person. A less afraid person. About how your joy is contagious. About how it doesn’t matter that I’m older than you because I learn things from you every damn day.
About how amazing it is—literally, Gage, I’m amazed—that you know I’m a grumpy, anxious ass and you like me anyway—”
He laughed.
“And then, I was going to tell you that I like how I can talk to you about things I can’t say to anyone else. And how you showed me that my job isn’t my purpose in life. And how you introduced me to the concept of the trust bubble, and I want to be back inside it.”
Gage shut his eyes for a moment and shook his head. “You never left it.”
“But really, the main point I wanted to make was that I love you. And I don’t want to spend a single day without you. So we can go to Boston or New York if you want that. You can redecorate my condo, or we’ll buy a new one. I’ll pick out all your suits. Maybe I’ll do some consulting—”
“Consulting?”
“Yeah. I…” I swallowed because it was still hard to say the words even though I knew they were right.
“I’m not going back to Bormon Klein Jacovic.
I loved that job, but… it’s not a job I can do well if I want to have time for other things in my life.
Like handling the books at Sunday Orchard.
Like staying connected to my family. Like helping my boyfriend build his multi-kabillion-dollar Pipsy empire while he takes over Rubicon single-handedly.
Like building a life together with him.”
Gage huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “God, baby. But I don’t want the Rubicon job. I’m calling to cancel the interview. I want to stay in the Hollow. Because I finally figured out that I can learn all I need to learn right here. But I don’t want you to give up your dream either.”
“What is it you told me not twenty minutes ago?” I asked lazily. “Something along the lines of ‘You are the dream’?”
“Probably. Sounds intelligent.”
“Well, I feel exactly the same. I’ll pick you every time.”
“And I pick Little Pippin Hollow,” he informed me, this man I loved with my whole heart, who loved me back in equal measure, and I felt the rightness of that choice settle into me, too. “This is where we belong.”
I pushed back his tangled mop from his face and leaned up to kiss him. “Then this is where we’ll stay. For good.”