I couldn’t help it. God himself couldn’t stop me. I bent forward and pressed my lips to hers. At first Mia was stiff, unwavering, but only for a brief second. Before I realized what was happening, she became an enthusiastic participant, and when she traced the seam of my lips with her tongue, I took over and dominated the kiss.
I don’t know how long we sat there making out under the stars. It was the best five minutes or five hours of my life. I didn’t want to let Mia go. She’d crawled so far under my skin, she was never coming out. Not that I wanted her out. I wanted her exactly where she was. Okay, maybe a little to the left so the snake in my pants could breathe.
“Come with me, Mia.”
Even though I’d had every intention of asking Mia to move with me, I’d planned on being much more suave than that. Blurting it out wasn’t what I’d planned, but now the words were out there I couldn’t take them back. I didn’t really want to.
She pulled back slightly, loosening her grip on my shoulders, and looked into my eyes. “Wh-what did you say?”
I gulped. I didn’t want to repeat myself. But for Mia, for her I’d do anything. A thought that should have scared the shit out of me, instead calmed me. “Move back with me. Let’s try this. You and me. Let’s give it a shot. I know I’m asking a lot, and if I thought for a minute I could stay in Melbourne, then I would, but I need to stop running away and come home. It’s time for me to face this. And I don’t want to do that without you by my side.” The words came out thick and fast.
“Derek, you don’t even know me…”
“I want to, Mia. More than anything, I want to. But I can’t do that if we’re living in different places with different lives. And I won’t ask you to wait for me. That’s not fair to either of us. Not when I can’t see me ever coming back.”
“You’re never…never coming back?”
I saw her face fill with pain and sadness. My stomach turned over at the realization I’d been the ass who hurt her. If it had been anyone else, I’d happily kick their ass or throw them in the cells for a couple of hours, but I couldn’t do that to myself.
“I’ll be back to visit, but I can’t imagine I’ll ever stay. This is my home. Sure, it hurts like a bitch, but this is where I belong. Where I want to build my life. Where I want to raise my kids. The place where I want a future. A future that includes you, Mia. I want you. And I can’t foresee a time when that won’t be the case.”
