His ears go back and he gives me a look of betrayal. “Sorry, buddy. I’ll go wash my hands.”
I head upstairs to shower. With Reid coming home, I take extra time to exfoliate and shave almost every inch of myself. I put a soft wave in my hair and add just enough makeup to feel put together. Excited nerves bubble in my stomach.
It’s only been a few days but I’ve missed him like it’s been years. I hadn’t realized how much my life has changed having him in it everyday until I’ve had to go without. Everything I do, I’ve been finding myself wishing he was there to do with me.
Even watching my favorite reality TV show with Marley and Sara felt incomplete without him.
From downstairs, the sound of the garage door opening pings the alarm system. My heart starts racing and I take off toward the stairs. The second I see his brown, mussed hair round the banister, it finally feels like air is back in my lungs. In a blur, I’m downstairs and throwing myself into hisarms. They wrap around me, a tight brand that sears into my skin.
“Hi,” I murmur into his neck. His scent engulfs my nose. The relief that floods through me at the feeling of being back in his arms is second to the wave that crashes over me when I pull back to look at his face.
His beautiful, but usually hard, face.
His dark, usually assessing, stare.
Both have softened. The corners of his eyes crinkle with a genuine smile. The tension that usually feeds through his jaw, making it razor sharp, has eased.
Not erased. Not gone.
Butsoftened.
His navy-blue eyes shine with a glint as he looks at me. The line of his shoulders has relaxed, not hiked up to his ears like usual.
“You look—” I was going to say happier, but he cuts me off with a kiss. He parts my lips, tongue finding mine. I give it a playful nip, and a moan rattles his chest, feeding into mine. I pull him closer.
He bends down, snaking his arms around the backs of my thighs, and hoists me up effortlessly so I can wrap my legs around his waist. My core pulses against his stomach. Instead of taking me upstairs like I hoped he would, he walks us into the kitchen.
The marble sends a shocking chill through my ass as Reid sets me on the edge of the counter. He stands between my open thighs even as our arms stay wrapped around each other.
Neither of us want to let go.
“I missed you,” I say, craning my head to look up at him. “That felt much longer than a couple days.”
He brushes the hair back from my forehead in gentlestrokes. I lean into his touch. “I missed you, too. God, I didn’t…I’ve never really had anyone in my life that I’ve missed. But throughout the day, I found myself wishing that you were there. It felt like a piece was missing.”
My heart threatens to explode in my chest. Who is this man in front of me and what did he do with the grumpy bastard that is my boyfriend? “The trip must’ve gone well.”
He cocks his head back and forth. “Eh.”
“Eh?”
“It had its moments. But I don’t want to talk about that now.”
“You don’t, do you?”
He leans in, pressing his forehead to mine. I suck in a breath at the feel of his hot skin against mine. This close, I can feel his heart racing. I almost pull back, about to ask him what’s wrong?—
“I love you.”
There it is. What I’ve been waiting to hear from him. What I’ve been waiting to tell him. He whispers them in a rush between us, foreheads pressed together, lips a breath apart. “I love you,” he repeats. His eyes shine with the words. “I’ve felt it for a while, but I—I didn’t know how to say it. But being away from you the past few days, talking with my brothers…I realized I needed to tell you. I didn’t want you to go another day without knowing.”
I cup his face, needing to feel him. To feel that this is real. It isn’t a dream I’m going to wake up from. “I love you, too. God, I’ve loved you for a long time but I was scared to say it first.”
He chuckles. “Well, I’m glad I beat you to it.”
I trail my hands down his chest to the hem of his sweatshirt. He pulls back enough to allow me to slip it over his head. The second his torso is exposed, I lean forward andpepper kisses across his collarbone. But then a white bandage catches my attention. It’s smaller than the size of my palm on the left side of his chest.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
