A cheeky smile teases my lips, quite proud of myself for surprising him. “I’ve learned to feel closer to you.”
A big grin stretches across his face. “So, you’ve known all along what I’ve been telling you.”
“It gave me hope that…” I shrug, not needing to continue what he already knows. We overcame that. We bid unrequited love farewell.
“You don’t need to hope anymore, zhizn moya,” he rasps, impatience threading his voice. “Right now. I’ll tell him right now. Fuck it all.”
He grabs my hand and is about to move when I put all the force into standing my ground.
“Tomorrow. Please. I want this night to be about us. Our love.”
His eyes battle with indecision, but I know he will always respect my wishes even if they go against his beliefs.
“Tomorrow then,” he says with finality.
“Don’t leave me.” I am terrified something might happen to him.
I would sacrifice my happiness if that were what it took to keep their brotherhood from ending. While I prefer to stay positive, the nagging thought chews at my happy bubble.
“Nothing and no one has that power. Say you believe me. Say you trust my word.”
My throat swells with emotion. I nod, incapable of forming words.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I know one thing for certain. Our love is worth it. And a love like ours will bend the rules of morality, twist the laws of time and space if needed.
“What do you want to do, baby girl?”
I am so greedy to experience it all. Go out and shout to everyone that we’re together. But that can wait one more day.
“Take me home.”
“Home it is. And you can bet your sweet ass that you’ll stay starting tomorrow. For good.”
“Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?” I ask in a playful tone.
I am so drunk on him that I barely register that we’re walking to his car.
“Oh, baby girl. Playing hard to get won’t work. What is the only acceptable answer?” he asks as he opens the passenger door for me.
“Yes,” I reply as I slip inside.
“Good. You’ll use it often.”
There’s a promise hidden behind his words. My voracious little heart latches onto the only scenario. Oh my God, is he implying what I think he is?
Once he’s in the car and drives away, I emerge from my mental haze. “Don’t play with me like that.”
The traffic light turns red, and his arm shoots to cup the back of my neck.
Bringing my face to his, he says above my lips, “The only thing I intend to play with for a lifetime is your body. But that’s where the playing ends. I will not play or gamble with your heart, your safety, or our life and future together. Got it?”
My insides melt into a pool of warmth, I might as well liquefy in the seat.
“Got it,” I say through a big smile.
Placing his hand on my thigh, he drives with the other. I stare, captivated by the thick vein running along his perfectly manicured but calloused hand. Just like him, polished on thesurface, rugged on the inside. He looks so sexy and powerful as he controls this beast of a car.
“Stop looking at me like that or we’re not making it until home,” he groans.
