“How cold is winter in Oahu?” I asked.
“Like sixty on a really bad day,” she said with a knowing look.
“I’m surprised your toes haven’t fallen off here,” I said.
She pulled them off my body.
“No,” I said, grabbing her waist and pulling her closer. “I love having you against me. Even if you’re freezing me out.”
She smiled and stared into my eyes for what felt like a beat too long.
“What are you doing here anyway? Are you finally booty-calling me?” I asked.
“No.” She gently shook her head. My heart raced, hoping beyond hope that she wanted us to be more, and this was the moment when she finally said it out loud. And if she didn’t, I was ready. I could say what I wanted now too. If I could ask her to do it during sex, I could do it now.
“Leo,” she said, grazing my cheek before letting her fingers trace the edge of my jaw. “I don’t think we’re friends. I don’t think we act like friends, not even friends with benefits.”
She paused, but my heart was in my throat. “Be more specific,” I said, reaching for her hand against my face and squeezing it.
She smiled and her blue eyes filled as she spoke. “Friends don’t cuddle after sex the way we do. They don’t touch each other constantly. They don’t call each other in the middle of the night and stay on the phone to listen to each other sleep. Friends don’t feel like four weeks apart for winter break is unbearable. And I’m pretty sure friends don’t feel their hearts expand when they look at each other.” She took a deep breath, and I wiped an escaping tear from her cheek. “We’re not friends. And we’re not fuck buddies either. Right?”
I closed my eyes, savoring the moment as I lowered our hands to her hip and pulled her flush against me, chest to chest, until I was whispering against her lips. “We’re not,” I said, stroking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m not sure you were ever either of those things to me, Hawaii. I always wanted more with you. I just didn’t know how to ask.”
I pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and pulled back to look at her. “I love you, Sophia. I’ve loved you for a while.”
She smiled and pulled my mouth back to hers for a deep kiss before staring into my eyes. “I love you too, Leo.”
A weight released from my chest.
I pulled her closer and she curled against me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asked cautiously.
I kissed the top of her head. “You can sleep with me whenever you want, Hawaii.”
I sighed, the feeling of her in my arms was so familiar and yet so different. “We should have been doing this all along. I should have been holding you all night long so you’d know how different you are for me.”
“I’ve always known I was a little bit different for you, Leo,” she said.
I kissed the top of her head again and tipped her chin to face me. “Don’t ever forget it, baby.”
I relished in the moment for as long as I could before the need for greater clarity became unbearable. I did what I’d needed her to do our first night together: I said what I wanted. “Sophia, I want to be really clear with you. I want to be a couple. I love you and I want everything with you.”
She lifted her head to look at me, her eyes full of tears again. “I want everything with you too, Leo.” Her chest shuddered as a quiet sob spilled out of her. “But—”
I closed my eyes and pulled her against me as she cried. “You don’t have to say it, Hawaii. We both know what happens after graduation and I won’t ask you to change your mind. I promise.”
“You won’t?” she mumbled.
“No,” I said, kissing her head as my own tears fell. “I want you to be happy. Even if that isn’t here with me.” I wrapped both arms around her and kept her pressed against me. “But until then, I want everything. Every kiss. Every smile. Be mine for every day possible, please.”
She nodded her head vigorously against my chest, her voice still muffled and broken with tears. “I’m yours, Leo. I promise, I’m yours. And I’ll be yours long after we let each other go.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sophia
The sun streamed inthe windows of Leo’s bedroom as I took in the sight of him breathing peacefully beside me. He’d rolled onto his back at some point, one of his arms still underneath me from the way we’d fallen asleep together. I watched the rise and fall of his chest, appreciating him for just a moment. I’d never really allowed myself much opportunity to just look at and appreciate him. After our whispered confessions last night, I let my eyes roam over the body of this man who was mine. However temporary this evolution of our arrangement was going to be, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from appreciating a single second with him.
I raked my eyes over his abs and his chest, fighting back the desire to wake him up by kissing the flame tattoo just above this hip. I checked the time on my phone. It was five-thirty. I should probably sneak back into my room.Even if we hadn’t had sex, it certainly looked that way since I was dressed in nothing except Leo’s jersey.
