One I won’t deny any longer.
“Arlo.” I turn to him, unbuckling both of our seatbelts. “I want you. I won’t run anymore. I want you and all your hard edges, all your soft edges. The scruff. The family. Everything you laid out before me and every single encouraging word. I want you, and I want to make sure that I return each kindness.”
“Birdie.” His voice cracks on my name.
“Shall we go take that tomato bath?” I wink as I climb out of the truck, leaving the insinuation to settle between us.
I climb down, getting a slight whiff of myself, and sneeze as I hurry to the door. Looking back, I find Arlo still sitting in the truck, his jaw open and his hands clenching the steering wheel.
I think I broke him.
As I jiggle the doorknob, he finally breaks free from his mental haze and almost falls out of the truck. He forgets to shut the door and has to run back. He slams it and comes toward me, then he stops and runs back again, forgetting the cans of tomato soup. His eyes are hot as they roam up and down my body, full of surprise and promise.
It takes him a few times to find the right key, his hands shaking with nervous energy. Finally, the door swings open, and I step into the garage. The automatic lights flicker on, and I eye the staircase with excitement.
Not willing to overthink this, I walk toward the steps, trying not to run. The door clicks shut behind me, then the lock turns. I don’t look back, not until I make it to the apartment above the garage and turn that handle.
When I step inside, Arlo’s scent wraps around me, hugging me and reminding me that with him, I will never have to feel unwanted or unsafe again.
The space screams Arlo, with simple lines and colors in grayish blues and a lighter gray. There’s nothing more than a kitchenette, a bed, and a door that I assume leads to a bathroom.
My body hums, and I can feel Arlo behind me.
The cans drop to the floor one by one.
Then he’s there, pressing against my back. He brushes my hair off my shoulder and presses his lips against my neck. A shiver races up and down my body, creating a sense of excitement that I don’t think I have ever felt in my entire life. It’s because I didn’t have Arlo my entire life. I have him now though, and I refuse to waste any more of my time without him.
“You stink,” he whispers against my neck as he presses his body against mine. Arlo moves so he can brush his lips against my forehead.
“You stink too.” My heart races, but not in fear. Not anymore. Never again.
I know that with this man by my side, I will never once again feel alone or be alone. That fact both terrifies me as much as it exhilarates me.
This must be what falling in love feels like.
“We don’t have to…” He trails off. I can feel the vibration of his words against my back and the swallow that slides down his throat.
I turn in his arms, linking my hands behind his head. “What? We don’t have to what?” I tease him with a raised brow before deciding to go easy on him and give him something real. Something all me. “Arlo, I know we don’t have to. I want to. This isn’t to prove anything or to solidify anything, because mentally, I’m already with you. Mentally, you are already mine.”
He presses his forehead against my own, his breath gusting over my lips. “You hold my heart in your hands, Birdie. I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours.” I press my lips to his, gently at first, learning his touch, his feel, and the way his breath hitches with each brush of my lips.
“We really smell.” He lifts me in his arms before stalking toward the bathroom, where he sets me on the sink.
“The cans of soup are in the other room.” His lips are so close, but I want to draw this moment out and make it slow so I can remember every brief touch and breath, even the scent of skunk that lingers on our skin.
“We are going to have to burn our clothing,” he grumbles. “This is my favorite flannel.”
“I am willing to bet there is a drawer out there with a dozen of them.” My smile widens because I know it’s true.
“Close.”
“What? There’s no way I wasn’t right on target there.”
“Baker’s dozen.”
A laugh tumbles from my lips before I catch his gaze, where no mirth lives. Only desire, desire for me. For us. For our future.
