The look of relief on his face puts a smile on mine, and I turn back into our snuggle. “That’s amazing. You’re going to be great at that, ba—Kayla…” He buries his face into my shoulder, settling there for several minutes before asking, “Can we spend the day together? I’ll have my work buddy drive me back home tonight, but I don’t want to leave you yet.”
“Do you have to leave tonight?” I ask.
“No, I don’t have to. I just didn’t want to assume anything…”
I pull out of his arms and turn to face him again. After all the miscommunication we’ve had, I need him to hear me say this and see that I mean it. “Chase, I want everything back that we had before San Francisco.” I place my hand on his cheek. “I want you. I want to be with you, and I want you to stay tonight. Please stay.”
A smile, one I haven’t seen for far too long, stretches across his face. He reaches for me, pulling me in to smother me with the sweetest of kisses. Rubbing my nose with his, smiling as big as the day we met, he says, “I’ll stay, baby. As long as you want me, I’ll stay.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHASE
Islip out of Kayla’s bed a little before seven a.m. Grabbing my shirt from the chair in the corner and shrugging it on, I look back to see her sprawled out on her belly, her hair scarf threatening to slip away from her forehead with the next roll of her body. Seeing her there, dressed in an oversized SSU athletic tee and apple pie pajama shorts, her hand splayed where I was moments ago, I’m struck by the casual beauty of it all. I could wake up seeing her like this every morning and it would never be enough. Slipping into the bathroom, I do a morning refresh, and then I get to work.
I’m determined to have a do-over of the night that was ripped away from me in San Francisco, and I want to catch the grocery delivery before they knock on the door and wake her. I want to tell her I love her—again—my way, and it’s happening this morning with breakfast. As I turn the outside of the knob and press the bedroom door closed to avoid the latch clicking, I slip my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants. Before moving to her tiny kitchen, I check the grocery delivery progress on the app.
The lilies I got her are still wrapped up on the countertop, and with five minutes to kill, I search her cabinets for a cup to fill with water. When we landed yesterday, she showed me around campus.We talked about work, and I filled her in on Trevor’s workplace tryst. She told me about her new internship and how excited she is to be doing what she loves. We ate at her favorite places, walked around the quad, and I spent every spare minute reaching for her to steal kisses. By the time we finally made it back to Kayla’s apartment last night, we were ready to fall asleep, too tired for an apartment tour or anything else. Yesterday was perfect, but this morning will be better.
Unwrapping the bouquet and using a steak knife I found in a drawer to trim the stems, I arrange the flowers in a plastic cup and set it in the middle of the countertop. My phone buzzes in my pocket, notifying me the delivery driver is pulling up to the apartments. I hurry to the front door, cracking it in hopes of avoiding a knock, and in a minute, a short middle-aged woman appears with bags in hand. After a quickthankyou, I get started in the kitchen. I’m turned toward the stove, my hand about to twist the knob, when I hear the bedroom door creak open.
“What are you doing up so early?” Kayla yawns behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, I see that she’s lost the scarf, allowing her locs to fan around her shoulders.My God, she’s my favorite thing to look at.She shuffles to the kitchen and sits at the lone stool, and I abandon the thought of turning the stove on. I lean across the counter and reach for her hand, kissing her fingers before holding them to my cheek.
“Morning, baby.” I smile, watching her rub the sleep from her eyes.
“Yeah…earlymorning…” She yawns again, looking around at the mess in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”
“Well… I promised you breakfast a few months ago and never got to deliver,” I say.
She blinks at me, holding my gaze for a while, resting her chin in her hand. There’s none of her anxious tells. No lip biting or thumb scratching. No face scrunching or shifting in her seat. She just stares, unreadable.
“What?” I ask, suddenly feeling paranoid.
“I love you too…” She says it casually, like she’s telling me it’s Sunday morning and the sun is rising. My heart kick-starts, and relief I didn’t know I needed floods over me.
“You do?” I ask, feeling the smile spread as I look into her eyes.
She grins, finally, and the thing lights up her whole face, igniting me in the process. “I do.”
I move around the counter and pull her out of the stool faster than anything, pressing my lips to hers. She smiles against my mouth, and I smile back, my heart cracking wide open.
“Well, that’s just not fair…” I say, tracing her lower lip with my thumb.
Her face scrunches as she replies, “What’s not fair?”
“I had this whole thing planned,” I say, trailing my fingers over her shoulders. “I was going to make you crepes?—”
“Crepes, huh?”
“—and you would tell me how amazing they were…” My hands slide down her back, stopping on her waist.
“So I liked the crepes, then?”
“You did. And then I would profess my undying love for you, and you’d swoon.”
“Swoon?”She laughs. “Those are some pretty lofty plans there, Mr. Charming…”
