“It’s sticky bun day,” Sarah said matter-of-factly. “You didn’t think I was going to miss the best holiday of the?—”
Wherever else Sarah was going with that sentence, Beth didn’t care. She closed the distance between their bodies in three short strides, pressing up on her tiptoes, hands cupping Sarah’s cheeks, swallowing her surprised gasp as Beth pressed her lips to Sarah’s, reveling in their perfect softness.
Sarah’s body was stiff for only a moment before she relaxed, sighing into the kiss, one of her long arms snaking its way around Beth’s waist, pulling her closer as their mouths moved together out of memory of the thousands of kisses they had shared before. Kissing Sarah had always felt like coming home, but this time it was different.
“—year,” Sarah breathed, finishing her sentence, her eyes fluttering open. “You know, I had a whole, really charmingspeech planned.” She mumbled her feeble protest as she tightened her grip around Beth’s waist.
Beth rested her hands on Sarah’s chest, the warmth of her body radiating through the black quarter zip sweatshirt she wore. Tilting her chin up, Beth gazed up at Sarah, counting the smattering of freckles barely visible beneath her makeup. “I’m sure it was a great speech,” she whispered, patting her chest gently.
“Really romantic stuff. Definitely swoon worthy, but I like your approach too.”
Beth turned her head, resting it on Sarah’s chest, tucking herself beneath her chin so she could listen to the rhythmic sound of Sarah’s heart beating. “You’re here,” she whispered before glancing at the oven clock. “You must be so jetlagged.”
Sarah kissed the top of her head. “Unbelievably so, but I had to deliver that sticky bun before the end of the day. Gallagher girls stick together, remember?” She laughed. “I’m definitely going to need one hell of a good night’s sleep to bounce back from this travel week.”
Beth was quiet for a moment, still in disbelief that Sarah had come back from her trip early, just for her… Just to uphold their silly little family tradition.
“Stay the night.” Her voice was quiet, almost too quiet, as she whispered, “Stay with me.”
FIFTEEN
SARAH
FEBRUARY
Stay with me.
The words had just left Beth’s perfect lips, still warm on her ears as Sarah held her close, their bodies molded to one another like puzzle pieces meant to fit together.
“Always,” she whispered, pressing her lips to Beth’s temple, delighting in the way her hands flexed momentarily—an instinctual reaction to Sarah’s touch.
“I still can’t believe you’re here.” Beth tilted her chin slightly, looking up at Sarah with bright, sparkling blue eyes so full of wonder, almost as if she was truly seeing Sarah for the first time.
Beth’s nose scrunched with her smile, making freckles dance across her fair skin in a way that had a habit of making Sarah feel a little powerless—something she had always prided herself on never being.
“You really expected me to stay in London and work after our phone call the other night?” Sarah murmured, dipping her head to capture Beth’s lips with hers again, reveling in the faint tangy hint of grapefruit lingering there from the all-natural chapstick Sarah knew she preferred.
She had forgotten what kissing Beth felt like. Forgotten the way Beth liked to play games with her kisses—some quick, someslow, some long and meandering, just a little unpredictable. She had always been a sucker for the whimsical way Beth floated through life. If Sarah was fire, Beth was the air that breathed her into existence. Since the very first day she met Beth, she had felt the way the give-and-take of her attention had the power to expand and contract Sarah’s world. And right now? Right now, it was expanding exponentially.
Sarah had filed every little memory and feeling away in that box labeled ‘Beth’ in her mind to shield herself from the pain of reopening them when she couldn’t do anything about them—at least not in the way she wanted to.
But now you can.
Her heart quivered, hand sliding down over the curve of Beth’s ass, squeezing gently, basking in the feeling of their bodies pressed together. A whimper escaped Beth’s lips, andgod,she had forgotten how that noise always felt like magic.
Beth pulled back, chest heaving as she tried to slow her breathing. Sarah tried to tamper with the excitement building deep within her. She wanted to give herself a moment to acknowledge the swirl of feelings existing inside of her, each and every one of them so perfectly intense, so perfectly hers, and so perfectly tied to Beth.
“Feelings check,” Beth whispered, a gentle hand coming up to rest against Sarah’s cheek, thumb rubbing soft circles over her cheekbone.
Sarah leaned into the heat of Beth’s touch, inhaling deeply. Her eyes fluttered closed for the briefest moment as she smiled at the term. She had forgotten about feelings checks, too.
“I feel nervous.” Sarah’s voice was hoarse with honesty as she ran her tongue along her bottom lip, thinking. How did Beth always know when there was more to what she was feeling than she was saying? “And excited. And in love. And valued. And scared. And horny. And exposed. And so many other things. Youhave a knack for making me feel everything all at once,” Sarah said, taking a deep breath.
Beth’s eyes searched hers. “Is that a bad thing?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“It’s overwhelming, but in the best way.”
Beth nodded, taking Sarah’s hands in hers and ghosting her lips across the tops of her knuckles, feather-light, sending a shiver through her. “And that third feeling?” she asked thoughtfully, repeating the same motion on Sarah’s other hand as heat licked up her spine.
