I scoff, jaw tightening. “Is that really what you want?”
“No.” Her chin trembles. “But I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You don’t have to, babe. I’ll carry it. All of it.” I kiss her forehead. “I’ll stay clean, Al. I swear on everything.”
Gripping her chin gently, I tilt her face to mine. “I’ll respect whatever you want. If you leave, if that’s what you choose, I’ll be okay. Eventually. But I’ll love you either way. Long after you’re gone. Because,God,I’ll never stop loving you.”
A tear slides down her cheek, and she wipes it with her sleeve.
Then she kisses me again, slow and tentative at first. But when she skates her tongue across my lips, it becomessomething more. Grows urgent. Like she needs me to breathe. Like this kiss is the only thing keeping her alive. Her hands slide up my chest and wrap around my neck.
Swear to God, it puts life back in my soul. I feel whole. Complete. For the first time in months.
Because Alley? She’s my other half. I’m not even a quarter of the man I’m meant to be without her by my side.
My hand cups the back of her neck, and our tongues tangle in a heady mix of longing, apologies, and everything in between.
I let her take the lead. I don’t know what she’s thinking, or what she wants, and a small part of me worries she hasn’t thought this through.
But it doesn’t change how I feel.
I know what I want. It’s never changed. It never will.
I want her.
All of her.
Now.
Always.
Forever.
She moans into my mouth, and just like that, I’m done pretending I can take this slow. I kiss her hard. Desperate. Turning up the heat in an instant.
Her hands grip the back of my neck as she kisses me like she’s trying to erase the past, and I slide my hands down her waist, anchoring her against the wall. Our mouths collide, hot, deep, demanding.
Her fingers bunch in my shirt, yanking me closer. Her thighs brush mine, hips shifting, and it’s fucking chaos, in the best possible way.
She pulls away again, breathless. “I’m still mad at you.” Her eyes glisten, lips swollen from our kiss.
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I know, baby.”
Her mouth finds mine again, and I kiss her back.
“I want to hate you,” she breathes against my lips.
“I know.”
She’s trembling now.
I kiss the corner of her mouth. Her cheek. Brush away the tears with my thumb.
“But you don’t,” I murmur.
Her eyes close, and I rest my forehead against hers.
“No,” she whispers. “I don’t.”
