Avery #3
The most beautiful man in the world tossed the duffel on the concrete.
He grabbed the edge of his fitted undershirt and pulled it over his head.
Snow thickened almost instantly and I noticed his hard muscles shivering.
Then, as he threw the undershirt on the ground, he spread his arms. “This is me, Avery. No fluff and no lies. Never again. That’s the least I can promise.
” He blinked, licked his lips, and gave a little shrug.
“It’s as simple as this: Avery, I love you.
I fell in love with you on the first night we spent together.
We lay in that bed, watching the stars in total darkness, and we agreed we wouldn’t rush it.
So I kept it to myself. I didn’t want to scare you.
I didn’t want to rush anything. So I pretended I only liked you but never told you the truth.
I am so in love with you, you can’t believe it.
” He smiled, and the hope that beamed on his face sent away all the other emotions.
He was less afraid, less desperate. “There’s so much I should have said sooner.
So let me start now. You mean everything to me, Avery.
I’m…I’m glad that you exist. I’m glad that you are here.
I am so glad that you and I are alive at the same time and in the same place because I could never, ever settle for someone who isn’t you. ”
I was shaking harder than Gray. If I had believed that my heart was bare and open before, I had been wrong.
He had shattered every invisible barrier that I had placed to protect myself.
He had dismantled every aggressive defense and tore every brick I’d stacked between us.
And he stunned me stupid. I blurted, “You’re going to freeze. ”
Gray laughed out loud. “I was afraid you’d tell me to get lost.”
I was still silent, eyes wide open, teeth clamped around my lower lip.
“That’s in the top five answers I hoped for,” he teased, but his voice cracked nervously.
“And what’s the first?” I whispered, stepping closer.
He set his arms to his sides and bravely tilted his head, looking into my eyes. “You know what I want the most in this world.”
Breath hitched in my throat. I stilled my arms before I grabbed him and wrapped him into a warm, protective hold.
First, I needed to say it. I hadn’t spoken these words to a guy or a girl ever before.
I hadn’t felt this for anyone in my life, not romantically at least. And now, the fateful moment was here, and I could barely breathe.
Tears still brimmed and spilled, but I wasn’t sad at all. I was the happiest I had ever been.
“Gray,” I said. “I love you too. I love you so much.”
I couldn’t tell who moved where or who got there first, but we crashed into one another, and my lips were on his in an instant.
I kissed him hard and deep, feasting on all the love he had to give me.
More and more and more of it welled from us both and it almost scared me that it grew this much.
I had nearly given up on it. I had almost lost it.
This was how you did it. Not a million carriages and royal apartments at The Orion could begin to compete with the gift he had given me. And I kissed him harder, my hands feeling the muscular back and heated body of the man I loved.
Then panic set in and I pulled back. “Put some clothes on,” I gasped. “Are you crazy?”
He laughed, drunk with love, and bent to unzip the duffel.
Inside, there really was a neatly folded tux, even if it was starting to get creased, and under it were other, more casual things.
He pulled out a pair of dark green pants and a cream sweater, put his clothes on, and looked at me.
He had the look of expectation and gratitude I hadn’t seen anyone wear so openly.
Now that he wasn’t at risk of hypothermia, I put my hands on his face and brought our heads together. “Did you make it snow?” I asked him seriously.
His lips curled into a smile. “I might have,” he said cheekily.
I laughed harder and louder than I had in ages. Gray never failed to make me laugh. I was about to kiss him when his gaze darted away from me, somewhere behind my back.
I turned my head to look. The two windows around the main door of our team house had their drapes pulled.
Heads dotted them. Sebastian, Tyler, Beckett, Caden, Sawyer, Asher, Jordan, and Phoenix all stared out.
And when I saw them, they scattered like mice, dropping the drapes and moving quickly one over the other.
My laughter merged with Gray’s as we faced one another again.
Finally, I relaxed and eased our bodies together, kissing him softly and lovingly the way I needed to kiss him. It was an elixir against all bad luck. It was a potion to heal all wounds. It soothed me to feel how much he loved me.
Then, carefully, I pulled my head back and looked into his eyes. “Do you want to come inside?”
He didn’t hesitate. “There’s nothing I would love more.”
I stepped back, one hand holding his, and led the way.
My teammates had run away into their hiding places, but their laughter and cheers were audible from downstairs.
Later, I decided. I would see them later.
There was all the time in the world for smoothing out the wrinkles we’d made along the way.
For now, I wanted Gray. With me and alone.
Smiling like two boys on the first day of a big summer adventure, Gray and I exchanged a loving look, and I led him up the grand stairs to the little slice of heaven where we could be alone. Just my love and I.