She turns to face me and starts unbuttoning Jameson’s shirt, her fingers trailing down. When she pushes the fabric off my shoulders, she pauses at the sight of my tattoo.
“Tell me what it means,” she says, tracing the letters with her fingertip.
“You already know.”
“Yeah, but I want to hear you say it.”
I catch her hand and press it flat against the word, holding it there. “I got it after you left for Europe. I was convinced I’d lost you forever.” I swallow hard. “You ruined me, Kendall. From the first moment I saw you, you ruined me for anyone else. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you. I’ve never even come close.”
She rises on her toes and kisses the word, her lips soft against my skin. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I tilt her chin up.
“Finally being truthful.”
We take our time undressing one another, and I place kisses in random spots. Usually, when we’re together, it’s full of urgency. It’s a frantic need to get as close as possible, as fast as possible. But tonight is different, like we have all the time in the world. Maybe this time, we do.
When I lower her onto the bed, I take a moment to memorize her. Wavy brown hair spreads across the pillow, and her eyes are dark with want. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and she’s looking at me like I’m something worth keeping.
Kendall smiles. “What?”
“Fucking gorgeous,” I say.
“Yours,” she confirms.
I kiss her again, and when I slide inside her, she makes a sound that’s half-gasp and half-sob. She wraps her legs around me and pulls me deeper.
“Feels so good,” she whispers as I thrust into her favorite spot.
Every move I make feels like a confession.
She comes undone beneath me with my name on her lips, and I follow her over the edge moments later, burying my face in her neck.
“I’m addicted to you,” she says as I fall onto my back.
We stare at the ceiling, and then she moves close to me and lets me hold her.
I run my fingers through her hair as she listens to my heartbeat, and I press a kiss to the top of her head.
She lifts her chin to look at me, and there’s something vulnerable in her expression.
“I don’t hate you,” she whispers into the night.
“I know, babe. I always knew that.”
I pull her closer, and she settles against my side, her arm draped across my stomach. The city hums outside her window, and I lie there, wide awake, trying to understand how I got here. I guess a thousand little mistakes will still lead you to where you’re supposed to be.
She falls asleep first, her breathing slowing, and I stay where I am, taking it all in.
For once, I’m not thinking about a million reasons this can’t work because maybe it can.
22
KENDALL
Iwake up warm.
That’s the first thing I notice, before I’m fully conscious, before my brain catches up to my body. There’s warmth along my back and across my waist, where a heavy arm is draped, and someone’s breath is blowing against the hair at the base of my head.
