“I’m done.”
I grabbed my backpack from beside my feet and stood. Sarah pursed her lips, and I could see I was letting her down. But what the fuck did she expect from me? There was never going to be an excuse for what I did. Never.
Twenty
July 11, Saturday
Enoch
My whole body was jittery, unable to sit still. I thought a circuit broke in my brain after the first time we kissed, because, cheese and freaking rice, that was the highlight of my life. I’d been on cloud nine ever since. And knowing that it was all her own desire that led to that moment left a permanent smile on my face.
She wants me. She wants me. She wants me.
And not as just a friend.
I’m completely screwed. There’s no going back now.
Shiloh was spending the night. Any night I got to fall asleep with her in my arms was the best night. And tonight was going to be no different.
I already cleaned the whole upstairs, prepped our dinner, worked out, showered, and endured a thirty-minute phone call with my mom who was trying to sort out whether or not they needed to book a hotel for their stay.
It wasn’t that I didn’t love talking to my parents, I loved them to death. But hiding secrets was harder to do when the person who raised you could spot a lie from a thousand milesaway. We’d managed to sort out the sleeping arrangements for the whole family without needing to get a hotel. It was already expensive enough for all them to fly out here, I didn’t want them to be inconvenienced by the cost of a hotel.
And being on cloud nine and not sharing why with my mom felt wrong. I had to pretend like I wasn’t falling in love all over again with my first love. I had to pretend like I wasn’t the happiest I’d been in years, like I wasn’t dying to share with her the truth. That just thinking about Shiloh made me giddy, that she made me laugh, that she made my heart skip a beat every time she smiled.
And I knew it was insane. That it wasn’t normal for people to fall in love with someone so quickly. That it wasn’t normal for people to be so head over heels that they were willing to risk their own safety.
But fuck normal.
I knew what I had to lose, and I wasn’t going to lose her.
My phone rang out with an alert, and I fished it out of my pocket. I smiled at the security camera notification. She was here. Finally.
I raced down the stairs, making it before she had a chance to ring the doorbell. I swung the door open, not concealing the wide smile on my face and scooped her into my arms.
She shrieked with laughter as I spun her into the house, dropping her back on her feet only to bring her face up to mine.
“I missed you,” I said against her lips, relishing the way her kiss sent tingles across my body.
“I was just here the other day,” she chuckled.
I kissed her harder. “Too long.”
She wrapped her arms around my back, and I smiled. I gave her one last kiss before pulling back enough to take her full form in. She was in a pair of ripped jeans and a fitted t-shirt. I smiled, hands snaking up her arms. I loved it when she showed hertattoos. Loved the contrast of black ink against her pale skin and red hair.
She licked her lips, smiling at me. “I missed you too.”
I pulled her in for another kiss and hummed with contentment.
I never wanted to get used to this feeling. The butterflies, the rush of endorphins when she was in my arms. I never wanted to take these moments for granted.
“I love you.”
She smiled against my lips and pulled away.
I didn’t need her to say it back. I didn’t need the verbal confirmation to what I already knew to be true. If I waited patiently, I knew one day she’d say it.
“Food?” She asked, slipping out of her shoes.
