Oh fucking hell.
My eyes went full-on traitor. All Benedict Arnold. Then my head did the same when it fell forward and hit his chest so hard it actually hurt a little. It was like hitting a brick wall.
I didn’t even think about it. I slid my arms around the lower part of his ribs, and I hugged him as close as I could without crawling into his lap. I took the deepest breath I’d ever been able to take in my life, I was sure.
And I just soaked him up. That body, his scent, his energy. Mostly the safety that he convinced the rest of me was possible.
It wasn’t my imagination either when he lowered his face and pressed his cheek to the top of my head. I didn’t make up the feel of his breath on my temple or what I’m sure was the brush of his mouth as he pressed it to my forehead. I definitely didn’t hallucinate him putting his arms around me, both of them around the middle of my back, as he held me tight.
And I barely heard him murmur, “You get on my nerves so damn much.”
I huffed into his chest and hugged him a little tighter, this fucking knot in my soul.
His breathing fanned my temple. And I didn’t imagine how his arms squeezed me just a little bit closer. “Let’s go outside,” he told me.
“Why? You want another snowball fight?” I asked, staying exactly where I was. “It’d be more of a mud fight.”
“No. We’re going somewhere.”
That perked me up a little. “We are?”
“We are.”
“Okay,” I agreed, but I thought twice. “But it’s not your mom’s house, right? I liked your dad, but she still scares me.”
His huff was a light one. “No, not my mom’s. I heard he liked you though.”
He had? “Okay,” I whispered, leaving that for another time.
Pulling away, he grabbed my hand and led the way, and I followed him outside, grabbing a jacket on the way and putting it on with his help. We headed toward the clearing by the garage where I’d learned he had a silver electric SUV and a plain older sedan that Selene had explained had been his first car. I wrapped my arms around me just as he stopped a few feet away.
Had he really said I could have one of his cars?
Alex stared for a minute before gesturing me forward. I took a few steps closer until I had to tip my head back even though it was so dark out I could barely see his features. The moon was tucked away and hidden tonight. Maybe she was sad too.
“Get on,” he said.
Huh? “What?”
Alex waved me closer again. “I can catch you if you fell off me going piggyback, but I’d feel better doing this if I can see since I’ve never taken anybody up before.”
My heart started beating fast first, but my brain slowly caught up. “Are you serious right now?”
“Dead.”
“But you said you don’t do this,” I gasped.
He held his arms out. “I changed my mind. Come on, Cookie.”
He meant it.
He fucking meant it.
I leaped at him like a flying squirrel, forgetting all about my heartache and the future and the other ache that I wanted to pretend didn’t exist.
And if I screamed at the top of my lungs as I did it, well, he was the only person around to hear it or laugh.
Because that was what happened.
