35. Jordan
JORDAN
Her steps are light on the ladder. So quiet I almost miss the sound (it could also be that my heart is pounding so hard it’s drowning out all other noise).
I go to the ledge and offer my hand. She slips her fingers into my palm, and my pulse jumps.
“Hey,” I say in a rough scrape of my voice.
“Hi.” Her blue eyes bore into mine, pupils wide. Her gaze flickers to the lights strung up from the ceiling before coming back to me.
“You look beautiful.” I don’t drop her hand. I glide my thumb along her finger, and she stares at our joined hands. “Sorry for showing up like this. It looks like some party in there.”
She says nothing. I never felt like I needed to fill the silence between us before, but right now, I need something before I lose my mind.
My voice cracks as I continue. “I had to come see you in person and apologize again, and tell you something I should have said weeks ago. I want to be the guy that shows up for you. Tonight. Tomorrow. Every day. I want to be your person that’s there for the good and bad, for all the fully clothed things.
I’ve played it in my mind a million times.
What if this or that, but I refuse to believe that there’s any scenario that wouldn’t have led me here.
I love you, Daisy. In a sexy red dress, in white cotton panties, and everything in between.
And I’m sorry that I wasn’t honest with you, but I wouldn’t wish it away either.
Spending those nights studying with you changed my life.
” I take a breath. “That’s it. That’s my big speech. ”
I force myself to stop rambling and give her a chance to speak. It felt longer in my head, but now I worry it isn’t enough. That I’m not enough.
Her bottom lip trembles. I resist the urge to lift the pad of my thumb to it. I’m perfectly still and waiting.
She’s quiet for so long, I think, well, there’s my answer. My heart drops. I knew there was a chance she didn’t feel the same or couldn’t forgive me, but I climbed up this tree, refusing to accept it. Swallowing thickly, I loosen my grip on her fingers and let my hand fall.
I didn’t plan for this. Climbing down this ladder with a boner was more comfortable than standing here while she figures out how to tell me to fuck off.
I start to move my hands to my pockets at the same time she launches herself at me. Arms around my neck, Daisy crushes her body against mine, throwing me off balance and into the wall where she continues to press into me.
“Thank you for coming,” she breathes the words against my jaw.
A whoosh of air leaves my lungs. “I thought you were about to kick me out of your favorite spot.”
“It isn’t my favorite spot anymore without you.”
“I’ve missed you so much. I was trying to give you space, but?—”
She shakes her head. “I like my space better with you in it.”
“Oh, thank fuck.”
A small lift of one corner of her mouth loosens the giant lump in my throat. She glances up to the ceiling. “The lights are beautiful.”
“So are you.”
A bigger smile spreads across her lips and she twirls her hips to make the red fabric swish around her. “I hoped wearing this dress would bring me luck again.”
“Luck?” My brows pull together in confusion. “I thought you were mortified you sent those pictures.”
“I was,” she admits. “But it changed things between us. You saw me differently. Without it and without everything else, then maybe nothing would have happened between us. And as mad as I was, I wouldn’t wish it away either. I love you too.”
Her words hit me right in the chest, and I let out a long breath. Circling my arms around her waist, I lift her and spin around like I’m a kid on a sugar high. I am. On my sweet Daisy. When I put her down, she tilts her face up and I bring my mouth to hers.
I can’t get close enough or kiss her deeply enough. I missed her so damn much. Tangling my hands in her hair, I groan as she sucks on my tongue and claws at my back like she’s struggling with the inability to meld our bodies any tighter, too.
“This dress is too big,” she complains. “I can’t get any closer.”
I glance down to the lacy layers bunched up between us. “In my fantasies, it was much easier to get under the skirt and still kiss you.”
She laughs. Damn, it’s the best sound.
“Be my date?” She inclines her head to the house.
“I left my suit and tie at home.”
Her gaze sweeps over my jeans and tee, backward hat. With a smile, she says, “You’ll do.”
The rain starts as we are running inside—a hard downpour that soaks through my shirt. She pulls me through the kitchen and into the living room where people are standing around in groups, others dancing.
Her friends are in the middle and that’s where she leads us. They scream and hug her when they see our linked hands. Then Daisy pulls me closer. She rests her hands on my shoulders and I wrap my arms around her waist. She lifts the hat on my head and sets it on hers.
“My hats always look better on you,” I say. “Even when it says, ‘I heart MILFs.’”
“What?” She takes it off and reads the front.
“You still have my other one,” I say by way of explanation.
She shakes her head. “I love you, but I’m going to burn this hat.”
But for tonight, she wears it. We dance, we kiss, she introduces me to some of her friends I haven’t met yet, and it’s perfect.
Later that night, Daisy is naked on top of me, a pile of red lace beside us. The rain stopped almost as soon as it started, but the cold front it brought with it makes the tree house chilly and breezy. The clouds block out the moon and stars, but the lights in the tree house shine down on us.
“We should go in before you fall asleep,” I say, and pull the blanket up around her shoulders.
“Just a few more minutes.” Her eyes are heavy and voice thick and quiet. “I missed this place. And you.”
“All right.” I let my eyes fall shut and I take a deep breath, breathing her in and relaxing. “Just for a few more minutes.”
Or as long as she wants, whichever comes first.