CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
WALKER
I didn’t think waking up next to Sonya could get any better. The first time I did, I convinced myself there was no better feeling, but I hadn’t known this. Waking up next to her, knowing she’s mine. That she chooses me. That this— us —no longer has to be temporary.
She’s it. My last. The start to a forever I didn’t know was ever going to be possible, but hoped so deeply that one day, if I was lucky, she might give me the chance. The chance to prove to her that she is worth every goddamn second. I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life. The thought of her, of being with her, and letting myself have this swell of joy that fills my chest with every second I get to be around her.
My love for this girl could burn the world down.
“Has anyone ever told you it isn’t polite to stare?” Sonya murmurs, rubbing her cheek against my arm. Her eyes slowly flutter open to look at me, and all I can do is look. She’s so utterly perfect it hurts my soul. “What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
The corner of her lips lifts as she trails her fingertip over my cupid’s bow. I can’t help but grin at her. I never in a million years imagined we’d be here right now, her body pressed against mine, her hand resting over my heart. The title of best friend now means something new. She’s my partner in crime, the love of my life. The sun in my sky.
“This one,” she says, her fingertip slowly trailing up my nose and between my eyebrows before her palm rests on my jaw. When her thumb darts out, brushing along my cheek. “You kind of look like you might love me.”
“More than might,” I whisper, kissing the pad of her thumb when it brushes over my lips. “I’m a little obsessed with you, Sonya Cartelli.”
Her lips tip up. “Just a little?”
“A lot.” I press my lips to the corner of her smile and then her mouth. Her fingers sink into the hair at the nape of my neck when I roll us over, settling between her thighs. Her arms wrap around my shoulders to pull me flush to her chest. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she says against my lips, only leaning back when my phone starts ringing from her nightstand. I move to grab it, and her hands come up to my bicep, stopping me. “No, I don’t want the bubble to burst yet.”
“I think it already burst, Sunny,” I tell her with a hint of a laugh, kissing her neck before grabbing my phone. “I’m not going anywhere. This isn’t going anywhere.”
“Promise?” she asks, sitting up when I roll onto my back with my buzzing phone in hand. “You and me, this , it’s not just some fling, right? We’re actually doing this? Because you should know, once I get attached to things, specifically someones, I don’t let go. You’re going to be stuck with me for life, Cowboy. I don’t have any plans to stop loving you.”
Moving my hand to her waist, I give it a gentle squeeze and pull her over to straddle my hips. Her hands come to my shoulders when I sit up and slide my hand down her thighs. “It’s a good thing I plan to love you for the rest of my life, isn’t it?” I ask. “I want everything with you.”
She smiles and leans forward, kissing me. “I adore you,” she says before her eyes dart down to the phone in my hand. “You should probably get that.” She taps the corner of my phone, reaching for the front of the screen to answer it. “Tell her I say hi.”
A snicker slips out as I bring my phone up to my ear. “Hi, Mama,” I answer, smiling when Sonya presses forward and drapes her arms over my shoulders. Her fingers finding their way into my hair. “Did you sleep okay?”
“I slept fine, Peach, and where might you be this morning?”
“I’m at my girlfriend’s .”
Sonya pulls back and mouths at the same time my mom says, “Girlfriend?”
I nod my head, trailing my free hand up Sonya’s thigh. “Girlfriend. Love of my life. Forever,” I say, humming softly. “Any of the above works for me.”
“I like the sound of being your girlfriend,” Sonya hums, kissing me quickly before leaning toward my phone. “Hi, Lillian!”
My mom's laugh is rich in my ear. “Put me on speaker, please, Peach.”
I follow her request and bring my phone down, pressing the speaker button on the screen and holding it between Sonya and me. “You’re on speaker, Mama.”
“Hi, Sonya,” she says, her voice bright and warm. “I’m hoping you’re not too sick of Walker yet. I’d love it if you would join us for breakfast if you’re free.”
“Really?” Sonya asks, her eyes darting up to me, almost like she’s looking for permission. She rubs her lips together, and when I nod, her answer follows, “I’d love to! If you’re sure I’m not imposing.”
“Not at all! I’ve only got until tomorrow here, and I intend on getting to know the woman my son is in love with. I’m going to start cooking now if the two of you want to head over soon. Any requests?”
“No requests. We’ll be there soon,” Sonya says, already sliding off my lap despite my attempts to hold her in place. “Can we stop and pick anything up on our way?”
“Just bring yourselves! I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Mama,” I say, ending the call when Sonya moves toward her closet to grab a change of clothes. “What do you think you’re doing? I’m not done with you.”
“We, boyfriend , are getting ready to go back to your apartment,” she says, turning to face me with her hands on her hips. My shirt bunches beneath her grip. “You can have me later.”
“Promise?” I ask, standing up to approach her. I extend my hands, and when she takes them, she takes a few eager steps forward, letting me pull our tangled hands behind my back. “Are you sure you want to come to breakfast? You don’t need to.”
“Do you not want me to come?”
“Of course, I want you to come. I want you with me everywhere, Sunny, but it is my mom, and this is new, so if you’re not ready for that, it’s okay.”
She smiles, her fingers flexing in mine as she leans forward on her toes, pressing her lips to the bottom of my chin. “I know, and I would tell you if I didn’t want to go, but I like your mom. I especially like you. Plus, I’m starving.”
“All great reasons to want to go have breakfast at my apartment.”
She grins and untangles from me, reaching for the hem of my shirt to pull it off. “For you,” she says, standing in front of me in her thong and nothing else.
A groan falls from my lips at the sight of her in front of me, drinking in every bare inch of silky skin. A mischievous grin graces her lips when she leans down to pick something off the bottom shelf of her closet organizer, showing off her perfect handle of an ass. “Sunny, are you trying to kill me?”
“Me? Never.”
Turns out Sonya is, in fact, trying to kill me, but not by lack of clothing. Instead, it’s by the way she’s sunk into the chair next to me and keeps adjusting the short floral skirt spread out across her thighs. Each time she moves, the thin fabric shifts and shows off more of her tender skin. Every time it shuffles, I have to force myself not to reach for her.
My mom and Flynn are currently sitting across from us, trying to make conversation, and I’ve got my head in the clouds. In a Sonya-induced daydream, one where my hand is between her thighs. I am so out of it, so focused on the girl next to me that I don’t realize I’m being talked to until Sonya’s hand is running up my thigh. My eyes drop to her hand, resting mine over hers to squeeze her fingers.
“My friend, Everett, is a fine arts student here, too. He was in the same show.” Sonya turns the conversation around to let me catch up. “I felt so untalented walking into that gallery, or literally any gallery ever. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.”
Mom’s laugh fills the room. “Imagine being in a gallery every single day. I spend so much time around these incredible artists, who have more talent in their little pinky fingers than I do in my whole body. The way people can just take something from their brain and make it reality? It is an amazing thing to witness.”
“I can only imagine,” Flynn says. “I mean, it’s not even Devon that is the artist. It’s her best friend, but I’m amazed by her. The things she’s able to do with clay? It blows my mind.”
“What about you?” I nudge Sonya’s side. “You take something and turn it into a reality all the time. Take your app for example. You took this jotted-out idea and turned it into something incredible, and beautiful, and usable.”
“It’s not usable yet,” she argues. “It will be, but not yet.”
“App?” Mom asks.
Sonya’s face lights up as she sits up a little straighter, her fingers curling into my thigh in excitement. “Yeah, I’m a computer science major,” she shares and falls into explaining the project that’s taken over her whole semester. Watching her talk about the thing she is so passionate about makes me fall a little more in love with her.
She lights up talking about the app, this thing she took from nothing and turned into something to help her friends, and it overwhelms me. I’ve adored her since the moment I met her, but this is different. It’s all-consuming getting to see her like this, see her love something so much that it makes up who she is.
“You’ll have an internship this summer, too, then?” Flynn asks.
Sonya shakes her head. “No, I kind of went against the project brief and essentially gave up my shot at it. I have some friends on the hockey team and see their struggle with the lack of consistency in their communication with the coaching staff, and decided to use this as a time to show them where the real issue lies. I thought maybe down the line, I was going to regret it, but I can’t. I want to help people and I’m hoping that if I can show them something that will streamline everything, it’ll open their eyes to it. That means more to me than an internship.”
“You don’t peg me as the type not to get what they want.” My mom is grinning at her in the way I’ve only ever seen her grin at me. She’s proud of the girl I love, and that wraps around my chest in a tight grip. “That’s amazing, Sonya. I hope you’ll let me know how it goes.”
She smiles, her cheeks warming under my mom’s gaze. “I can do that if you really want to know. Be prepared to hear me ramble on and on again about usability, CSS, and HTML, among other things.”
“I will happily listen to your ramble.”
“Seconded,” I say, leaning over to press my lips to the side of her head. “I love you.”
Her hand returns to my thigh, squeezing tenderly. She turns her head and smiles at me, and it’s at this moment that I truly realize there is no one else. Nobody compares to her. She overwhelms me with her love and warmth.