He rolls his eyes toward the ceiling, as if he’s recalling the last few minutes.
“I’m serious, Reed. The things we’ve shared have me feeling a different type of high.”
“Cookieee,” he drags out my name in his version of a whine.
“Check my pupils. I bet they're normal.”
I squint at the light when he turns the lamp back on, then force open my eyes wide for him. He examines them briefly. I sense the moment his gaze shifts from doubting to surprised and finally to accepting. A satisfied smirk plucks at my lips.
“This doesn’t prove it,” he objects, sounding far less certain than before.
“I almostthoughta curse word a few minutes ago and mentally corrected it. Plus, my inhibitions and body issues have returned.”
“What?”
“I got extremely shy when you started looking at me all dreamy-like, studying my body like it was gonna be on a test tomorrow. I couldn’t wait to hide under the covers.”
His features harden, but he’s still strikingly handsome. “You’re perfect. Why do you want to hide from me?”
“Because...” I mash my lips together, detesting that he’s making me put my insecurities into words. “Look at you and then look at me. Objectively, we don’t match.” I tip my chin up,feigning the confidence I’m miles from having. “I knowexactlyhow much space I take up.”
After studying my face for what seems like an eternity, he scoops my hair to the sides with both hands and fans it over the pillow. He puts so much care into his movements, as if he’s trying to convey his affection with his actions.
Eventually, he gives me the words too. “Lila, Ihavelooked at you. I’malwayslooking at you. For a decade now, I’ve envisioned us together in every way imaginable. In all that time, you know what I’ve thought?”
“What?”
“That you’re beautiful, inside and out. And that we’re a perfect match. Regardless of our sizes.”
I’m dead. Dead, dead,dead.
He’s destroying me with his sincerity. Shattering all those walls I’ve hidden behind all my life. The ones I erected for myself because of societal standards and cruel things people have said to me.
And because loving myself never seemed like an option before.
“Really? You aren’t just saying that?”
“You’re it for me, Lila. Always have been. I love everything about you, including your body.” He lifts my hand, resting it on the center of his chest. “The only space I care about you filling is right in here. And I swear you fit perfectly in my heart, body, and soul.”
“And throat?” I squeak out through my raining tears, unable to resist a chance to make him smile.
He doesn’t disappoint, giving me one of those earth-shattering smiles that could make an angel weep with joy.
Then he kisses me, long and deep. It’s the kind of kiss people write songs about. A kiss that bundles all the beautiful wordshe’s said, binding them in a memory that neither time nor circumstance will ever take away from us.
Gradually, our kiss blossoms from a gentle, adoring burn into a passionate blaze. Still nestled in the apex of my thighs, his cock twitches against me, making me moan into his mouth. As the heat intensifies, we writhe together unabashedly.
When our lips part, his voice is a deep rumble. “Do you still want to make love?”
I crick my head to the side, casting a faux glower at him. “Don’t you dare give me hope, Reed Hayes. Not unless you’re gonna deliver.”
Grinning like the devil, he lifts his lower body off me enough to ditch his towel. “You had me at not being able to cuss.”
I’ve never been big on religion, buthallelujah.
THIRTY-FIVE
Gold medal fucking
