"Hey," I echo.
"Thank you."
"For what? Today? I already told you I'm here for it."
"Not just that." She pauses, watching her fingers slide through my hair, then again, her voice soft. "You changed everything, Grey. My whole life used to fit in this tiny little box my parents built. I was so small, following all the rules, being good and safe and quiet. Twenty-four, and I'd never really lived. And I didn't even question it. But you…you showed me I could be bigger than that. You taught me to be big and brave, to take what I want, to break the rules when they don't fit anymore. And now I can't imagine going back to who I was before. I don't want to. Because of you."
For a moment, I can't speak. I just look at her, drink her in. Pull her closer.
"Molly, I don't deserve any credit for what you already are--you are the biggest, brightest, bravest thing in every room you walk into. So open, sogood.Me? Before you,I was just going through the motions. Keeping my head down. But you made me look up, and when I did, there you were. You looked at me like I was someone worth knowing. Worth loving. And you made me believe it. You made me want to be better. To fight for something. To build something that matters. You think you were small? Molly, you are the biggest thing that's ever happened to me. You didn't just change my life. You gave me one worth living."
A tear spills from the corner of one eye, and I brush it away.
"Don't cry," I whisper.
"I can't help it. I love you."
I can't speak. So I kiss her instead, shift her body with a gentle pull until she's laying half under me. Her lips are sweet and perfect--I taste them until I find my voice. I pull back, look at her. Smile. She smiles back.
"I love you too."
She laughs softly as I pepper kisses on her nose, her cheeks, her lips again.
"You taste like chocolate," I note.
"You taste like banana, which is an abomination."
"You take that back," I warn, tickling her.
"Never."
I reach for my pint. "I'm gonna make you eat those words, peaches."
She squeals, giggling as I pin her, holding the spoon over her mouth with a mock threatening look on my face.
"Take it back."
She squirms and laughs. "You can't make me!"
"Wanna bet?" I dab the spoon on her nose, and she shrieks, trying to wriggle free.
Scout abandons ship, jumping off the bed.
"Scout, help me!" Molly laughs. "Traitor!"
Smirking, I lower the spoon, dragging it down her neck.
She gasps from the cold, still laughing…all the way up to the moment that I drag my tongue up the length of it, licking her clean. The breathy sound she makes goes straight to my dick.
"You taste good," I murmur.
"Okay, maybe it's not so bad," she murmurs back. "Do it again. Maybe I'll come around."
The collar of her shirt is low, exposing the hollow under her throat. I drizzle what's left in the spoon in the dip. "Oh, you'll come, peaches. Around…on…in…" I extend my tongue, dragging it into the hollow, sucking and laving so I don't miss a drop.She shivers, squirming beneath me, half laughing, half moaning. That sound. I want it on repeat.
"No, you're right," she breathes as I lick her collarbone. "I like it."
My face is buried in her neck, my free hand cupping the back of her head as the other blindly puts the spoon on her nightstand, but it falls right off and hits the ground with a clack.
