His lips are on mine again, worshipping me with soft, tender kisses as his hand releases my dick and caresses slowly back up my stomach. “Beautiful,” he breathes. “Beautifuland sexy.”
I’m too sated to speak, and I just lean back into him, breathing hard, my head tilted toward him so he can keep kissing me. That’s exactly what he does, too—he kisses me gently and slowly until we’re both breathing normally. Then he lowers his head to my shoulder with a quiet laugh.
“Is that . . . what you were thinking about?”
“Mmm, god, what?”
He chuckles, slides his leg out from between mine, and then tugs me over so I’m facing him. My shorts are still pushed down in front, and there’s a mess on my stomach and shirt. But he doesn’t seem to care about that at all. He brushes a kiss on my forehead, then lowers his mouth to mine again. The kiss is short but sweet and so tender.
I feel... loved. Loved and whole. At least right here in this moment.
I break away, dropping my chin, and he places another kiss on my forehead, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me into him, burying his head into the crook of my neck. He breathes in deeply and hums a soft sigh. My heart stutters.
I don’t think I want to leave this moment. Ever.
We lie there together for a few minutes, then he pushes up onto one elbow and leans down to kiss my forehead again. When he straightens back up, his eyes study me softly.
“When I woke up,” he says, “I asked you what you were thinking about. You were about to tell me. And then... we got distracted.” He arches his eyebrows, smirking.
Fucking adorable.
I grin and shake my head, and I reach up and push back the hair that’s fallen over his forehead. “It definitely wasn’t that, though I think that was just about the best way to wake up, ever.”
“I can agree with that.”
He’s watching me intently, the emotion in his eyes tempered bya flicker of concern. I inhale slowly and deeply.
“The truth—I was, um, thinking about college. You going to college, I mean. And California, and... jobs for me. And how I...” I shake my head and look away, unable to finish.
“And howwecould make things work . . . ?”
I force a small laugh. “I didn’t get that far.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You distracted me.”
He fake-scoffs. “I distracted you, huh?” He reaches up and touches my chin, tilting my head back so our eyes meet. His expression is full of softness and understanding. With a small smile, he leans in and kisses me. “I’d love to meet you for lunch again. And then I’d love if you’d let me take you out for ice cream after work. And then, I’d really love if we could take some time to talk about, um, what you were thinking about and maybe... about last night, too.” His hand finds my forearm, and he caresses up and down as his eyes study mine. “Please.”
I swallow hard and nod, ignoring the flicker of uncertainty in my chest. “Okay. Yeah, I’d like that too.”
“Good.” His grin lights up, and it’s fucking gorgeous. He’s fucking gorgeous.
I stare at him for a few seconds, then I blink and reach down to pull up my shorts as I roll over away from him. “I, uh, should get cleaned up and changed. I don’t want to be late to work.”
“Yeah, of course. And now I’ve gota tonof laundry to do,” Alex mock-complains. I glance over my shoulder at him with a crooked smile and start to stand, but his arm catches me around the waist. He tugs me back to him. “One more kiss first?”
Ah, fuck. He’s too perfect.
“Okay, but just one,” I tease, touching my fingertips to his chin as I lean down to meet him.
He grins again. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
We kiss, slow and deep. And probably more than just once.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alex
