“What about?”
“With looking for a store in the city, were you planning to leave Gomillion?”
“It would be a necessary step, yes.”
“Doesn’t that bother you? Or your parents?”
He puts down his fork and finishes his mouthful, taking a drink of his soda before he answers.
“My parents have never held me back. They’d be supportive wherever I choose to go. I do worry about them as they get older, but they’re in good health and I can get back to them if I need to. I don’t stay in Gomillion because I love it, I-I’ve just never had a reason to leave.”
He meets my eyes for a few seconds before picking his fork back up and tucking into the rest of his meal.
When we’re back in the room, Holden settles into one of the chairs.
“Now what are we going to do?” he asks.
“Well, you’re the one who contrived to get us to share a room for another night,” I say, and he laughs. “Did you pay the mechanic to take a day longer?”
“No, I-I swear I didn’t.” He holds up his hands in an expression of not guilty. “The car bit is true.”
I walk over to where he’s sitting and hold out my hand, and when he takes it I pull him up to standing. “Well, I’d like to do a bit more of this,” I say, pressing a kiss to the side of his mouth. “Or this.” I kiss the other side.
“Hmmm, yes, this is a good plan,” he whispers. I pull back and look at him.
“I’m going to be honest here, we’re not going to be doing much more than kissing. I want to go slowly, see where this takes us.”
He nods and smiles. “Sounds good, as long as it doesn’t take another twenty years.” Then he kisses me and walks me backward until I hit the bed and sit down. He straddles my lap and I catch him round the waist. He looks down at me, a gleam in his eye.
“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” I ask.
“No, I plan for it to be very hard.”
I groan, partly from his terrible joke but mostly because he puts a hand to the back of my head and smashes his mouth against mine.
It turns out that making out like teenagers is much hotter than I imagined it would be, but I keep my promise and apart from kissing, half undressing each other, and running my hands over his skin, we don’t take it any further. Eventually, tired and with lips bruised and tingling, we curl up in bed. I pull him intome, content to spoon him while we sleep. My heart is full and I recognize it as happiness, unfamiliar as I haven’t felt it for so long. I tighten my arm around him, and he hums in contentment that nearly makes my heart burst.
“Reece?” he whispers in the darkness.
“Hmm?” I acknowledge that I’m still awake.
“I just w-wanted to say I forgive you.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, unable to say any more. Instead, I press a line of kisses across the back of his shoulder, grateful for the darkness that hides the tears running down my cheeks.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Holden
I awake first, and while Reece’s hold on me had loosened in the night and I must have shifted out of his arms, he’s still curled on his side. I turn over to look at him, and his eyelids flutter slightly but he doesn’t wake. I gaze at him. I can’t quite believe it ... I’ve woken up next to Reece. Reece! The guy I’ve wanted and hated in equal measure for so long. The one I’d dreaded meeting again, while deep down inside I’d been longing for it. Who since he came back has been kind, caring even, if I think back to the first night of the reunion when he actually soothed my back while I brought up those dreadful drinks. He’s smart, funny, and seems to genuinely like me, which I’m still trying to wrap my head around.
The sudden thought that his life and work are in England, and at some point he’ll inevitably return there, rises unbidden into my mind, but I push it away. I won’t let anything spoil this perfect moment.
I reach out my fingers and trace them over his chest where he has a smattering of dark hair. Not much, but I like it, just like he has a light amount of stubble on his face. It suits his sharp look—nothing in excess. Though after two days away it’s grown a bit. I have more hair on my chest, though it’s a lighter brown, and a beard, although that’s fairly short.
I trail my fingers down across his stomach, following his treasure trail. He left his boxers on to sleep in but I can see the hard bulge in them. I’d love to explore further but he said no and I agree with him, albeit reluctantly. I’ve waited twenty years, so I’m sure I can exercise a little more patience. Instead, I run my hand over his hip.
“Mmm, that’s a nice way to be woken up,” he says sleepily, and I stop my hand. I hadn’t noticed him wake, I’d been too busy watching my hand on his skin. I look at his face and see hooded eyes and a lazy smile.
