“This is magical,” I admit, looking between him and the stars. “A special moment in time to commit to memory,” I softly add in a nod to words he previously said.
“For sure, beautiful.”
He kisses the tip of my cold nose before easing back a little to stare at me. I watch his gaze move from my brow to my eyes before lowering to my cheeks and my nose and lingering on my lips. There isn’t a single part of me that feels cold right now. Callan has warmed every chilly part of me, and I’m done fighting this feeling. He has proven enough, and it’s time to put both of us out of our misery.
So, when he says, “I really want to kiss you right now,” there is no hesitation in my response.
“I want that too.” Shifting onto my knees, I wrap my arms around him and bring our faces close together.
His large palm holds the back of my head in place as he joins our lips, and a soothing warmth settles inside me.This. This is what I need. What I’ll always need. We kiss like we were made to come together in a beautiful marriage of hearts and souls and minds. We angle our heads to deepen the kiss, and I cling to him, holding him tight as he kisses me like his very existence depends upon it.
I don’t know which one of us lowers first, but then we’re on the ground, tangled in the cushions as we clutch one another, and our kissing grows frenzied. He lifts one leg, curling it over my hip, and I slide my leg between his thighs, pressing my aching core against the bulge in his jeans. We both moan, grabbing one another as our kissing grows even more heated.
It might be in the low thirties tonight, but I’m a furnace, burning even brighter and hotter with every passionate kiss. Distantly, I hear the ringing of a phone, but I ignore it, grinding against Callan as every nerve ending in my body purrs and hums.
I pout when Callan rips his lips from mine, and the world comes back into focus. “You better get that,” Callan says in a breathless voice. The insistent buzzing noise is coming from my pocket. “It’s been ringing nonstop.”
I silently curse Gwen when I spot her name flashing on the screen before chastising myself for my uncharitable thought. My bestie knows I’m with Callan tonight, and she wouldn’t interrupt unless it were urgent. “What’s wrong?” I ask when I sit up and answer the call.
“Azzie,” she sobs, crying through the phone. “It’s Gran. She fell down the stairs, and she won’t wake up.”
35
ASTRID
“Thanks for driving me,” I tell Callan, unclipping my seat belt when we reach the hospital, and he parks in a spot a few feet from the entrance.
“Of course.”
I cup his face and kiss him hard. “I’m sorry to cut our date short, and thank you again for organizing it. It was the best night of my life.”
“I like spoiling you.”
His eyes probe mine, and I know what he wants. I could keep him hanging till tomorrow, but that would be mean, and I’ve already made my mind up. “You’re so good at it…boyfriend.”
His entire face lights up, and it mirrors the exuberance I’m feeling inside, which feels wrong to say when Mara’s in the hospital, but I’m done denying my emotions.
“For real?”
“Yes.” I wind my arms around his neck and pepper his face with kisses. “I’m trusting you, Callan.” I run my fingers through the light stubble on his chin and cheeks. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“I promise you won’t.” Taking my hand, he presses a kiss to my palm. “Thanks for giving me a second chance. I’m going to worship you like a princess.”
My heart spins loops at his words. “What we have is too special to let go.”
“It is. No one has ever made me feel like this. I’m crazy about you.” He reels me into his chest and kisses me.
Reluctantly, I break away. “I have to go. Gwen needs me.”
“I’ll walk you in,” he says, jumping out and rounding the car to open my door for me. It still gives me a thrill anytime he does stuff like this. Callan is the physical manifestation of the Prince Charming I’ve conjured in my head since I was a little girl, and I love it. Honestly, I don’t know how I made it two weeks before caving. I feel like I deserve an award or something.
Callan holds my hand as we make our way inside, quickly finding my parents waiting with Gwen, Scott, and Scott’s parents in the main hospital waiting room. I’d called Mom and Dad after Gwen phoned me, knowing they’d want to be here. My sisters were already fast asleep, so Roni is over at our house watching them for now.
Gwen jumps up the instant she sees me, throwing herself into my arms. “Azzie,” she sobs. “I’m so scared.”
“Mara’s a fighter. She’ll pull through,” I say, hugging her tight and hoping it’s true. Mara was still unconscious when the ambulance took her in, and I’m praying she is okay. She is the only blood relative Gwen has left in this world.
“Cal.” Gwen throws her arms around my boyfriend. “Thanks so much for coming.”
