Chapter 33 - Callie #2
Jensen’s lower lip trembles slightly as he reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a small object, crumpled and encased in clear plastic wrap.
“I bought this three days ago, and I’ve been carrying it around ever since.
” He opens my hand and places the item in my palm.
It takes me a second to read the chunky red lettering of the label and to understand that it’s a small apple pie.
The kind you get out of the vending machines in the hospital lobby.
I must look more than a little confused because Jensen cocks a brow and gives me a little smirk.
“It’s not homemade, but given that my stove is currently out of commission, I’m hoping you’ll make an exception.
Someone once told me that the best way to show how you feel is with pie.
So, here goes. Callie, I’m in love with you.
So desperately and deeply in love with you.
From the moment I met you, you made me feel alive.
You brought light back into my life when I was convinced I’d live in the shadows forever.
I love you, and I don’t want another day to go by without you knowing just how much.
I was afraid to tell you before now, so afraid that if I surrendered to this feeling that it would ruin me, ruin us.
But loving you isn’t ruin, it’s redemption. ”
Jensen’s eyes go misty, and a single tear rolls down his cheek as he lets out a shaky breath. “I don’t care what this life throws at us. I don’t want to face another day without you. Every thought I have is of you. Every single beat of my heart is for you. I’m yours, completely. Wholly.”
A sob bubbles up my throat as tears drip down my cheeks.
I clutch the little pie to my chest. Jensen doesn’t rush me to respond; he waits, with so much tenderness swimming in those ocean blue eyes of his, I want to dive into them and stay there forever.
This man, this beautiful, sometimes grumpy man who I never saw coming makes my soul sing.
Even if I tried, I would never be able to paint this feeling, this love burning between us.
I could try a thousand different color combinations, swirl together a million different textures and hues, but nothing would ever come close to this feeling of absolute weightlessness and wonder.
This love he’s offering me is one of a kind, a masterpiece in its own right.
The kind of creation that artists try and fail to re-create because it’s that remarkable, that life-altering, and it’s ours.
“I’m in love with you, too.” It’s a pale comparison to what I feel flowing through my veins and pouring out of every cell in my body.
There’s so much more I want to say, so much indescribable love bursting from inside of me, I know I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to articulate it.
I settle for pulling Jensen close, my lips brushing his in a promise I intend to keep forever.
“Fly with me, Jensen,” I whisper against his mouth .
His answer is an all-consuming kiss that sets my entire body ablaze.
As lips claim mine, his hands slide down to the sides of my neck, deepening the kiss.
Slow and languid, he takes his time, and I memorize each caress of his lips, his tongue.
I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing myself as close as I can.
One of Jensen’s hands slides down my back, bare thanks to the hospital gown I’m wearing, and shivers roll through me as his fingertips trail down my spine.
I can’t get enough of him, and I don’t think I ever will.
My pulse flutters wildly, as if my heart has sprouted wings and is about to take flight, which makes the makes the heart monitor in the corner go haywire.
An alert sounds, and Jensen and I jump apart as Camila comes bursting in, looking alarmed.
Her eyebrows lift as she takes in the sight of us, wrapped in each other’s arms, cheeks flushed.
She lets out a little chuckle and props her hand on her hip as she eyes Jensen.
“Well, that explains the alarm.” She gives us a wink and walks over to turn off the monitor.
“The doctor should be in shortly,” she tells me, chuckling again before she shuts the door behind her.
Jensen’s shoulders shake with laughter as he drops his face into the crook of my neck. I’m so deliciously delirious with happiness, I don’t even care that we just got busted. Everything feels so right, so perfect. I wouldn’t care even if the entire hospital staff came bursting into this room .
“I really should be more gentle with you.” Jensen sits back, his hands trailing down my arms. “You’ve been through a lot. Your body needs to heal.”
“So does yours,” I say pointedly, eying the bruises on the side and back of his neck.
I reach up and run my fingers along the ridges of the stitches at the top of his spine.
He lets me examine him, pulling his shirt up to show me the various lacerations on his back.
I eye the thick black brace covering his knee, and try not to cry at the deep scrapes and scratches that go all the way up his arms.
“It’s nothing,” he says, swiping a thumb across my cheekbone.
Then gently, so gently, he takes my head in his hands and presses the softest of kisses to the thick gauze covering my wound.
His hands move to my leg, and I try not to combust as he leans over and sweetly kisses the cast that starts just below my knee and wraps around my entire foot.
Then he lifts my hands, kissing each of my palms.
I yank him closer needing to feel his lips against mine.
When we’re breathless, I let him go, scooting over and patting the space next to me on the bed.
Jensen hesitates only for a second before toeing off his shoes and sliding up next to me.
Laying back, he lifts his arm and tucks me in close so that my ear is pressed to the spot just above his heart.
We let out matching breaths, deep and long, and I lift my chin, studying his face.
The worry lines have softened and though the dark circles are still there, there’s a peace in his expression that makes me want to cry.
I can tell he’s fighting sleep as his eyelids droop.
“Rest now, my love,” I murmur in his ear, pressing a kiss to his cheek. His arms tighten around me and I settle in listening as his breathing begins to slow into the deep rhythm of sleep.
“I love you,” his deep voice rumbles, his long fingers wrapping protectively around my hip.
I snuggle in closer, my own eyelids growing heavy. “I love you.”
The world around me starts to grow hazy, and the steady beat of Jensen’s heart is like a lullaby, singing sweetly in my ear.