Chapter 35
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Dawson
“Are you ready to head home?”
Ambrosia is checking her socials when she glances over, her lips quirking up at one side.
She unfortunately changed from her robe to a pair of leggings and an oversized Bullies sweatshirt.
She has one of my beanies on her head, her hair in two full braided pigtails.
She looks so cute, and while I want to get her back into her robe with nothing underneath, I’m not ready to go home yet.
Not when I heard what I did in the kitchen.
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
“Yeah, just a small detour.”
She shrugs, setting her phone in her lap. “Let’s go.”
I flash her a grin as I bypass the interstate exit and head toward school. I can still feel my heart exploding in my chest like it did when I heard Louis open up to Ambrosia. Listen, I adore my brother, but it was Ambrosia who had me breathless and holding the doorframe for support.
I’m pretty fucking sure she loves me.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” she says, pulling me from my thoughts. I reach over, threading my fingers with hers. She holds our hands in her palm, and I can’t stop the little smirk that moves across my lips.
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” I tease, and she snorts.
“It’s not. Promise,” she says, and I chance a glance to read her face. Her cheeks are bright pink, and a small smile sits on her sweet lips. “And you can tell me it’s none of my business. But are you paying monthly for the condo?”
While I’m confused why she wants to know, I say, “No. We bought it outright after a year of NIL agreements.”
She nods. “So, if you were to move out, Louis wouldn’t be in a pinch.”
I look over at her, but she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at our hands, rubbing the underside of my hand with her thumb. “Not at all,” I answer, my heart kicking up.
Silence fills the car and I almost ask why, but I’ve dumped the puck in her zone.
This is all her. I think I know what she is asking, but I’m not coming out and saying it in case I’m jumping the gun.
She starts to squirm, and I almost help her out, though I feel if I do, I’ll admit that I’m obsessed with her, love her, and want to live with her—all in the same sentence.
A girl may like a guy who expresses himself, but I sound really needy and obsessed in my head.
“How do you see the future?”
She’s killing me. “The future? Or our future?”
I feel her gaze on me. In the smallest voice possible, she answers, “Ours.”
My heart aches in my chest as I squeeze her hand. “I see us finishing school, figuring out where we’ll end up, maybe living apart for a bit, and then settling down together. Marriage, kids, a pet, the whole nine.”
I probably could have left off that last part, but…well, here we are. I hear her suck in a breath before she asks, “So, together?”
I scoff. “Kinda.”
She snorts. “Maybe part time,” she teases, and I grin.
“Or on all the days that end in Y.”
Her laughter sends good shivers down my spine. “But together.”
“Totally together,” I assure her, and I see her nod in the corner of my eye.
She brings her lip between her teeth and then takes a deep breath.
“My condo isn’t mine. It’s Tía’s, but it’s mine until I move.
I don’t pay anything monthly since my dad bought it for her, and when he passed, she moved in with my mom.
So, you wouldn’t have to pay or anything, but I was wondering if you’d like to move in with me.
” I go silent just to fuck with her. I feel her anxiety rise as the silence stretches, until she says, “I know it might be early and I don’t want to upset Louis, but he has Jennings living there, right?
I don’t know. I really like waking up with you, and you haven’t left. So, I just thought—”
“Fuck yeah, Ro,” I say, cutting her off. “I want to live with you too.”
She glares when I flash her a toothy grin before she smacks me with her free hand. “Ass.”
“You love it.”
She rolls her eyes, exhaling. “I know things are a bit up in the air, but I’d rather us be together now in case we can’t be together all the time later.”
“Agreed.”
“I know neither of us expected this to come along, but I wouldn’t change it.”
“Neither would I,” I agree, looking over at her.
She glances up at me through her lashes. “But I like the sound of that future.”
“It does sound pretty damn great, huh?”
“Especially the dog part.”
I bring my brows together. “Yeah, but a cat would make more sense with our schedules.”
She waves me off. “No way. We are dog people, Dawson.”
I shrug since I don’t care one way or the other as long as I’m with her. She returns the grin I flash her, and then says, “I want it.”
“I do too, heart-stopper. Only with you.” I bring her knuckles to my lips and kiss them eagerly.
She leans her head on my shoulder as I continue to the university, and we stay like that all the while my heart beats wildly with excitement.
I have wanted this girl to be fully mine, and damn it, I’m gonna make it happen.
When we get to the Bullies’ house, I park in a free spot as her brows draw together. “What are we doing here?”
“Trust me?”
She searches my gaze. “Of course.”
I wink then get out as she does the same.
She never lets me open the door for her.
She says I’m too slow, which is insane to me since I’m above average for my physical speed, but whatever.
I don’t fight with her on it, not when I can fight with her on how many times I’ll make her come.
At least she lets me open the door for her when we get to my car, and she lets me make her come a lot.
I meet her at the front of the car, taking her hand in mine and then guiding her around to the back entrance, which leads into the garden area.
She comes willingly, and I feel as if my heart is in my throat.
The house is dead since it’s exam week and most are doing theirs online.
A lot of the team heads home early, so only a few stragglers are in the house.
But the back garden is closed down since no one will be out here in November.
Well, except me and my girl.
“One second.” I move toward the shed, opening it with the code that hasn’t changed since the days when my dad was here and then grabbing the huge, pillowy Bullies beanbag.
“What are you doing?” she asks as I kick the shed door shut then head to where she’s standing, her fingers threaded together and her ankles crossed.
She’s cold. I throw down the beanbag, then shimmy out of my jacket, handing it to her.
She takes it with a small smile before I point to the beanbag. “Sit.”
“Sit? It’s freezing out here!”
I waggle my brows. “I can keep you warm.”
She rolls her eyes but falls back onto the beanbag, and I do the same.
I wrap an arm under her legs, angling them across my body before I tuck my arm under the jacket and around her back.
I scoot her as close as I can as she cuddles my free hand between hers.
She looks up at me, confusion in her gaze, and I can’t help but kiss her.
It was supposed to be a peck, but there is something about her mouth that has me lingering longer than I intended to. Not that I’m complaining.
Ambrosia leans into the kiss, tangling her tongue with mine and moaning softly into my mouth.
There is no better feeling than her lips on mine and her body in my arms. I kiss her top lip, then her bottom before nuzzling my nose along hers.
She smiles against my lips, and I can’t help but do the same.
When I open my eyes, hers are still closed, her lashes kissing her plump cheeks as the golden glow of the setting sun shines on her face.
“Ro, I swear you are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”
She opens her eyes to meet mine and cups my face. “I didn’t believe you before, but I do now.”
I turn my face into her hand, kissing her palm. “That’s my girl.”
Her grin grows as she leans her head against my jaw.
I kiss her temple then close my eyes as we watch the sun glow along the horizon.
I haven’t ever watched the sun set, never wanted to with anyone but her.
That’s the thing about Ambrosia. She makes me want to do things I’ve never thought I needed.
She cuddles close into me, and that feeling of completion hits me all at once.
I don’t think I can hold it back anymore.
She doesn’t question what we’re doing, because she doesn’t care as long as she’s with me.
She has to love me. Just as I love her.
“Dawson?”
“Yeah, heart-stopper?”
“I need to talk to you about something else.”
“What’s that?” I ask, my heart jumping into my throat. What else is there to talk about? We’re living the damn dream here, but her voice seems so unsure.
She tips her head back so she can meet my gaze, and when I see the tears in her eyes, I go on high alert.
“Ro, baby, what’s wrong?” She shakes her head, cupping my face between her hands.
A tear spills, and my stomach turns at the sight.
“Is it being back here? I know you were here when your dad passed, but I heard you in the kitchen with Louis and I had the urge to bring you here. To make that bad memory—”
“You did it.”
My brows crash together, my nerves on fire as I ask, “Did what? I’m s—”
“I love you.”
Three words.
Three little words that make up the most important, most life-changing sentence in the world.
Her lips curve as more tears roll down her sweet cheeks. “You told me you’d make me fall for you, and you did.” I’m still unable to pull in a breath as my eyes search hers. Is this real life?
“This place isn’t a bad memory. It’s a core one.
Yes, I was here when I lost my dad, but I also sat on a beanbag like this, with you, and I felt things I’d never felt before.
Feelings that I had no clue would turn into deep and absolute love for you.
I thought you were such a dick, so cocky, and full of yourself. You still are—”
I snort, and she grins widely at me. “Only because I know I have everything I want.”
Her eyes are drowning in tears, but they are locked on mine. “You’re everything I want. I never saw you coming. I was fully tackled by you. You consume me, Dawson, and I need you to know how deeply in love with you I am.”
My forehead falls to hers, our noses squishing as we share a breath. I close my eyes, inhaling her fully as my heart beats like I’ve skated thirty laps around the rink then run 100 yards.
Only she can make me feel like this.
Because I will love only her.
Her nose moves along mine, and then she asks, “Have you fallen for me?”
I scoff at that. “Fallen?” I kiss her nose. “Ambrosia Alegría Mercer, I have been fully in love with you since the moment you flicked my nose.” She gasps like she didn’t know, and I can’t help but laugh. Through my laughter, I tell her, “And I’ll never stop.”
She leans in, and I capture her mouth before she can say a word. Instead, I let our kiss express all the feelings we have swirling inside us. She weaves her fingers through my hair, and I moan into her mouth as she grins. “You drive me wild.”
“Same,” she whispers against my lips, kissing and nipping. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
I give her a dry look. “You know me. I don’t play unless I can win. I needed to know you loved me too.”
“So you were waiting for me?”
“I’ll always wait for you.”
Her lip trembles as the love shines in her whiskey eyes. This feeling in my chest is wild, and if I had known this was what I was missing, I still would have waited.
For this girl right here.
With a shy smile, her eyes bright, she tells me again, “I love you.”
“I love you,” I say on a sigh, overwhelmed by hearing those three words from her mouth. I want her to keep saying them, not stopping. And knowing I am able to utter those words right back?
Fuck, is there anything better?
Her eyes flash with mischief before she adds, “I think we were here when you asked me if you could eat my pussy.”
I snort, taken aback by the change of tone, but not surprised. This girl keeps me on my toes. “I did.”
“I don’t think I’d tell you no since I know you can find it now.”
I chuckle loudly, nuzzling her neck. “Oh, I can find it, and I’ll make you scream my name, then scream how much you love me.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah,” I say, nipping at her neck. “What do you say, heart-stopper? Can I eat this sweet pussy and you give me everything I want?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely, hotshot.”
We smile into the kiss.
Then she gives me everything I didn’t even know I was waiting for.
Not just here. Not just now.
But for the rest of my life…and whatever comes after.