Chapter 27
Oliver
Group lagged tonight. I nodded in the right places, contributed when prompted, listened when it counted, but my thoughts were full of Luke, replaying all our moments together over the past few days.
Big and small. The way he handled me with such care.
How he said my name like it was the most important thing to ever come out of his mouth.
The contented hum he made when I tucked myself closer to him as we fell asleep together.
That always did me in. I loved how he appreciated closeness.
Not quite six months ago, I’d been trapped inside my own life, measuring my days by how much more I could take.
Endurance had been the only skill I possessed.
Survival the only metric that mattered. Imagining long-term happiness had been presumptuous.
Dangerous. And now I had everything I once thought was too much to ask for.
Safety, not the brittle kind that depends on silence or compliance, but the steady kind that lets me be.
Tenderness that didn’t come with an expiration date or a hidden cost. Acceptance that didn’t hinge upon me becoming someone else.
Affection that was given freely and not withheld as punishment or manipulation.
Love that didn’t require me to fulfil a checklist before earning it.
And I had all of it with the one person I had come to want it with.
Living inside that reality left me breathless, and more than a little stunned.
At times I couldn’t believe Luke wanted me.
But he left no room for doubt. He might have been slow to realize his feelings, but now that they’d arrived, he had no qualms over expressing them.
As Talia and I walked to the smoothie place, she shared about her week, but when we had our smoothies in hand and had claimed a table she tilted her cup, aiming her straw at me.
“Alright, I held my tongue, but you’ve been glowing all night like someone dipped you in moonbeams. Something happened between you and Luke, I can tell, and I have to have the novel, formatted, in first-person past-tense point of view, right now, please,” she said.
“There may have been some developments.”
She let out a high-pitched squeal that turned several heads. Unfazed, she said, “Tell me everything. Tell me Luke finally realized he’s been in love with you this whole time and you spent the weekend locked in some kind of debauched modern day fairy tale. Is that what happened?”
I tapped a finger against my chin. “Hmm. I’m not sure you’ve earned this story. It’s exclusive content. Might need to run a credit check first.”
“How dare you stop yourself from updating me when I’ve so loyally rooted for you since day one. I’m your best friend. I have rights.”
“You’re dramatic.”
“It’s the theater kid in me. You can take the stage from the girl but you can’t keep the girl from the stage. Now, come on, don’t leave me lingering in the entr’acte, I’m too invested.”
“He may have told me he has feelings for me, and he’s had them for a while, but he didn’t understand them for what they were until recently.”
“Gasp! This is the plot twist I dreamed of for you. Shut. Up! No, actually don’t shut up, do the opposite of shutting up. Open up and pour the contents directly into my soul. Did he kiss you? Did you kiss him? Did you partake in a little . . .” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Bow-chicka-wow-wow?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “There were multiple kisses. Plural. And they were perfect.”
“My molecules are in a conga line. Give me more. Did he do the jaw-hand thing?”
“The jaw-hand thing?” I echoed.
“Yes, the jaw-hand thing. When a man holds your face, thumb grazing your cheek, palm warm against your jaw, and suddenly the rest of the world just dissolves.”
“Oh, that. Yes, he did the jaw-hand thing,” I said.
“Cinematic gold. Go figure your himbo dreamboat would have that coded into his DNA. Ugh, I love this for you. Okay, logistics. Label it for me. What stage are we at? Soft-launching the relationship? Pre-soft-launch teaser trailer? Official boyfriends? Shared Costco membership with bulk-snack hauls? Soul-bound life partners destined for a dual headstone that reads: They Loved, It Was Epic?”
“We didn’t quite get around to putting a label on it.”
Talia stared at me, horrified. “Babe, you’ve been pining for him for weeks. You need to put that guy on lock.”
“In my defense there were other things happening. Emotional things. Physical things. Wonderfully distracting things that I still can’t believe actually happened. It’s all still a bit surreal.”
“Fair. I’ll allow a temporary grace period for mind-melting intimacy.
However, now you need to circle back and seal that deal.
I’m talking, stake your claim. Climb him like a tree.
Leave marks that require a turtleneck. Set the mood with Marvin Gaye, low light, add an assortment of toys—of the sexual variety—and finish with a can of whipped cream used on select body parts.
Nipples are evergreen, but I am personally a strong supporter of the creamed dick.
Once you’ve licked it all off, rail him into next week. ”
“Talia!” I slapped a hand over my face. Attempting any of that with Luke, with zero preamble, would probably cause him to short-circuit so catastrophically he’d leave the land of the living.
“I adore you, but that plan would send him into a medical-grade shutdown and me into witness protection. Neither of us would emotionally survive the aftermath.”
“Fine. No dairy-based seduction,” she sighed.
I paused, an idea sparking. “Actually, dairy isn’t the issue. It’s the execution. Whipped cream, as you’ve suggested, is a level-twenty sorcery spell, and Luke is still at beginner-friendly intimacy incantations.”
“I’m intrigued, go on.”
“I’ll plan a date. Something intentional and romantic. We’ll talk and kiss and at the end, I’ll surprise him with his favorite dessert. A literal sweet gesture. That feels more us.”
“Hm. Cozy domestic seduction and soul bearing. I approve. But leave room for a little horizontal cha-cha in case after such romantic declarations the mood strikes.”
I rolled my eyes. “I will take your suggestion under advisement.”
The next day, when I got off work, I set to work on my plan. Apron donned, I began crafting a tiramisu cake.
The cake chilled in the fridge, sandwiches packed with veggies and sliced fruit tucked into a cooler bag, when his key jangled outside the door.
Waiting another heartbeat proved impossible.
I tackled Luke at the door with a kiss so effusive, so brimming with joy and want and irrepressible affection, it drove a delighted rumble from deep in his chest. He caught me without hesitation, lips answering.
I loved this. Loved the freedom to reach for him like this, without fear of reproach or consequence.
“Hello there,” he said when I unattached myself.
“Hi,” I said.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of such a greeting?”
“I’m just happy to see you.”
“Well, I certainly have no complaints. If you want to greet me like that from here on out, I wholly approve and strongly encourage it. In fact, I think I should add it as an addendum to our housemate agreement.”
“You probably should, because I think I’d like to make a habit of it.”
Another full chuckle left him as he captured my mouth in another kiss, this one slower, deeper, laced with possessive warmth. Everything outside the press of our mouths softened into a kind of mental bokeh, my senses sharpening around Luke and Luke alone.
“I will never say no to having more of these lips,” Luke said, tracing my lower lip with his thumb.
“Are you up to going out after work?”
“I think I could be persuaded. What did you have in mind?”
“I want to take you on a date. Like officially.”
“Why, Mr. Reed, are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”
“Well, gosh, if that wasn’t glaringly obvious, I guess I’m worse at this dating business than I thought. Maybe I should have taken Talia’s advice.”
“Do tell, what was Talia’s advice?”
Oops. In my teasing, my tongue had outpaced my better judgment. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“That’s like telling me not to think about pink elephants. Once you say that, that’s all I’ll be able to think about.”
“Fine. You want to know? She suggested I make the proposal while armed with certain supplies—toys, whipped cream—ending with me climbing you like a tree, and I quote ‘railing you into next week.’”
Rather than the abject mortification I’d anticipated, Luke surprised me with a sinful smile.
His hand slid down my arm, fingertips grazing my wrist before curling around it.
The bulk of his body eclipsed mine, consuming in a way that made my pulse leap, not with fear as it once would have, but a riot of anticipation and excitement.
“Hm, I’m not opposed to elements of that plan.
” He nipped at the shell of my ear, a tiny scrape of teeth that made my breath stutter.
“I’m game for whatever you have planned.
” He turned his head, his nose brushing my cheek.
“But if you play your cards right . . .” His voice dropped to a low husky murmur.
“And you decide to take Talia’s advice later, I am very much at your mercy. ”
Holy shit! I gripped his forearm to steady myself.
Luke thought he failed at flirting? If this deliberate siege of my body and senses was his definition of bad, then I wouldn’t survive his idea of mastery.
He stripped me bare with his nearness, had me weak with nothing more than a brush of breath and a handful of words spoken in that entrancing velvety baritone.
“Let me get the supplies, but can you wait here while I pack up? What I’m bringing is a surprise, and I don’t want you to see.”