“I should mention, in the heat of things, and because I wasn’t expecting this, I sort of forgot…”
Her eyes fill with recognition. “I’ve been on the pill for years to regulate my period. And I have a clean bill of health, because, you know, you were my one and only.”
“Same here. About the healthy part. And as far as me being your one and only sexual experience, I’m not going to lie, it makes my chest swell with pride.” I grin cockily, and she starts to protest, because I’m an arrogant bastard. “And we have a lot of making up to do to get you up to speed. So we better”—I waggle my brows—“often. Like a few times a day. To catch you up.”
I think she’s going to hit me, but her gaze turns serious. “I think I’m going to like having a boyfriend. I love you, Tyler.”
Her sweet voice and the sincerity behind her words choke me up. She’s the only one who ever reached my heart.
To lighten the mood before I lose it, I counter, “No, I love you. Long before you loved me.”
Her mouth parts. “If there’s anyone with a decade of unrequited love, it’s me. I loved you before you ever knew my name.”
“How do you figure that?”
She tells me the story about the bullies in junior high school. “Huh,” I say, as if I don’t remember the day I met her. “That was you? I thought you looked familiar. You were so different in junior high. You looked like a small child next to those other girls.”
She pushes up on my chest, indignant. “Excuse me?” she says. I love it when she gets riled. I hold her so she can’t escape, our bodies still connected. I could go for round two right now. “You were only a year older, and I was small for my age. I’ve developed since then.”
I let out a growl and drag her mouth to mine, kissing her with tongue and teeth. “Tell me about it. Can you feel how much I realize that?”
“You mean, can I feel that rod you’ve got inside me that’s ready to go?” I shift her so she slides up and down, and we both sigh. “Tyler, is this normal for you to be able to…”
“Nah, I just have a lot of pent-up lust for you. Should go away in twenty, forty years.”
“What, and then you won’t want me anymore?” She picks up her rhythm. Must not be too upset.
I cradle her face, my hand slipping to her breast, because my palm has a mind of its own. “I’ll always want you, even when I’m old and can’t get it up, remember? It’s my curse to love you.”
Her hips freeze. “Curse!”
“My curse that I’ll love you forever, no matter if you push me away or not.” I pull her to my chest, lift her hips at an angle, and drag her back down. Her head tips back on a moan. “So don’t push me away, okay? I may make mistakes, but you’re the only girl for me. When you push me away it makes me cranky. For like, half a decade.”
“Okay,” she says dazedly.
And then all conversation stops because my mind goes numb with the pleasure this girl gives me, inside and out.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mira grabs her torn undies, tucked partway beneath the couch from last night, and holds them up. “These were my favorites.”
I hand her the to-go mug of tea I made her (yes, I’m whipped, I freely admit it), and slip on my shoes. We’re about to head over to Jaeg’s place for a Sunday movie with him and my sister. “I’ll buy you another pair. Hey, you know, I don’t think I’ll mind shopping for your unmentionables. I could go with you into the dressing room and?—”
“Stop right there. No way. We’re done with closet make-out sessions. And what do you mean, you don’t like shopping? You were so good about it when you took me to buy work clothes.”
I look over sheepishly. “I hate shopping.”
Her expression is blank, and then she smiles. “You did it for me. You are a secret softy, Tyler Morgan.”
I tuck her beautiful dark hair behind her ear, bringing her to my chest with my arm. “For you I am. I would do anything for you. Go shopping, hunt down bad guys, stare at algebra equations until I’m cross-eyed. It’s a condition I have, but I like it. I think I’ll roll with it.”
Her face twists in an indignant pout I’d like to take a bite out of. “You make me sound like a disease.”
“Mmmm, more like a hot and feisty obsession I don’t want to part with. You are the best thing I’ve ever had in my life, even when I didn’t know I had you. And for the record, I did remember you from when we were younger.”
She tilts her head, her eyes doubtful as she pulls the strap of her purse across her chest between us without tilting her mug. “In junior high? No, you didn’t.”
“Yep, had my own crush on the fiery, dark-haired girl with caramel eyes who tried to kick a girl twice her size.”
