All those years ago when I’d made the hardest decision of my life, I’d been torn on what to do, my head and heart in a constant battle as I’d tried to reconcile them both. Either stay enrolled in college like my momma—and Kenna—had wanted, eventually come back to Havenbrook, find a boring, nine-to-five job, and settle down…
Or follow my heart—and my dad’s footsteps—and enlist in the army. Become a pilot. Live the greatest adventure of my life—away from Havenbrook and my family and the only girl who’d ever owned my heart. And sure, my family had my money, but I knew firsthand money didn’t atone for all absences.
I was exactly the selfish bastard my sister had accused me of being all those years ago when I’d first left. It was no wonder Kenna had pulled back from me. She might’ve been the one to put on the brakes, but I knew damn well it’d been me who’d shoved a continent-sized wedge between us. And I hadn’t ever forgiven myself for it.
“Knock, knock,” Kenna called through the screen door before opening it and stepping into the house.
Shit, I still wasn’t used to seeing her in person. To being able to run my eyes over every inch of her, from her beat-up Chucks, to the ratty hem of her well-worn jeans and how they molded oh-so-perfectly to every shapely curve of her legs, to the off-the-shoulder sweatshirt that absolutely shouldn’t have been sexy. Shouldn’t have been, but fuck if I wasn’t half hard imaginingmy lips brushing over that delicate slope and curve. It’d been so long… Would her skin still smell the same? Taste the same?
“Did the army equip you with X-ray vision or what? Quit pervin’.”
I breathed out a laugh and dropped my head, shaking it a little. “Sadly, no X-ray vision.” Lifting my head, I tapped my temple and winked. “But memories have served me very well.”
Without waiting for her response, I strode to her in two giant steps and swept her up in a hug, squeezing her to me and breathing her in.
“This how we’re greetin’ each other now?” she asked, her words muffled, her face lost somewhere in my chest, her arms finally, reluctantly, going around my waist.
If I had my choice, I wouldn’t go a day without feeling her in my arms, so yeah. While I was home, I sure as hell was going to try to get my fill. Soak up every ounce of her so I had something to keep me company when I was back on base.
“Guess so.” I squeezed her once more before setting her back on her feet. Damn, she was a little thing, her head not even reaching my chin. I wasn’t sure if I’d grown that much since the last time I’d seen her, or if I’d just forgotten how petite she was. Or maybe it was that her personality always seemed to add a couple inches to her, so it was easy to forget her stature.
She shot me a tentative smile—that was new…there’d never been anything tentative between us—then focused on the spread of ingredients on the counter. “You do know I’m not gonna be actually bakin’ any of these, right? The bet was foryouto fill my freezer. I’m just here to provide sarcastic remarks and look pretty.”
I grinned. “Well, you’ve certainly got the latter down.”
She froze, eyes darting over to me, a million questions burning in her gaze. Looked like we were traversing all kinds of firsts today. We’d had fifteen-plus years of friendship where wedidn’t discuss our attraction to each other—though, after that weekend at my cabin ten years ago, I knew we’d both been feeling that and a whole lot more for who knew how long.
And then we’d had a decade of this weird limbo where we both knew there could be so much more between us, but we didn’t act on it. I’d wanted to. More than anything, I’d wanted to call her mine, even while I was half a world away. Honestly, if I’d had it my way, I’d have married her right then and there in that cabin before either of us had left to go our—temporarily—separate ways.
But Kenna had made her desires known, and they didn’t include the two of us together. They’d been her terms, and I trusted her to know her own limitations, so I hadn’t pushed.
But Christ, I’d wanted to. Still did.
Kenna cleared her throat and pointed to the fresh peaches I’d peeled and prepped earlier. “That’s a whole lot of peaches. How do you know that’s still what I like?”
I froze and lifted my head, my eyes narrowing on her. Last time I’d talked to Momma, she’d mentioned Kenna ordering a couple peach pies—her favorite. Had been the only currency she’d ever accepted whenever she’d helped in the bakery while we’d been teens.
“Don’t tell me you’re a blueberry girl now.”
She scrunched up her nose, her lips making this adorable little pout, and I barked out a laugh. “No, I’mnotinterested in the devil’s fruit, thank you very much. How dare you suggest such a thing.”
I grabbed a handful of blueberries from the ever-present bowl my momma kept filled with fresh fruit and held up my fist. “Oh, you mean these?”
Kenna scrambled behind her chair, narrowing her eyes and pointing a finger at me. “Don’t you even think about sneakin’ those in any of my pies, Hudson Matthew Miller.”
“Damn, girl, three-namin’ me five minutes in? That’s harsh.”
“You deserve that and a whole lot more. I swear, if you?—”
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that.” I tossed the entire handful into my mouth and chewed loudly, smiling at her through no doubt blue-stained teeth. “But how about a welcome home kiss?”
She gave me a look of absolute horror before screeching as I lunged for her. “Don’t youdare, Hud. Don’t you fucking dare!”
After a circuit around the dining room, she leaped up on a chair, her leg poised to hurdle the whole damn table, when I snagged her around the waist and pulled her flush to me.
We’d been this close since I’d been home—twice now—but it still didn’t lessen the effects her body’s nearness had on me. Especially when her heavy breaths brushed against my neck, her breasts pressing against my chest with every deep inhale. My cock was growing thick and hard in my jeans, and there wasn’t much I could do to hide it.
It’d be so easy to drop my head a couple inches, close my eyes, and press my lips to hers. Taste her again for the first time in way too long.
