Page 76 of Xavier

Eighteen

Him

She's sleeping.

Her face completely relaxed, her hair splayed all over my pillow, like a golden fan. And she's completely naked. Well, except for her heels. I grin a little at how sexy she looks in them.

And how fucking hot she looked while I slid myself into her. Her body curving and soft and wanting. I can't help comparing her to the girl I knew. All the sweetness is there, but she's grown into this woman who no man can resist.

I wonder how she's been able to hold them back all this time.

To save herself for me.

I just know I’m glad I saved myself for her. Nothing will ever compare to being with her. Inside her.

I curl my body around hers, trying not to wake her.

Because I never want this moment to end.

***

"You don't snore." It's the first thing she says when my eyes open.

"You don't either." I reach out to touch the tip of her nose, maybe to reassure myself that she’s real, that’s she’s really here.

"I don't care if I do,” she says as she shrugs. “Keeps the pests away."

"What pests? Men? I thought you don't sleep with men."

"Bears!"

"You can take the girl out of Maine but..."

I get a swift punch to the arm. That's another thing that hasn't changed.

"There aren't any bears in Manhattan, sweetheart."

She scrunches up her nose, but lays back down, laying her head on my chest, her fingertips drawing circles on my stomach.

"I've missed you, Xavier," she says.

I run my hand through her hair, twirling the strands between my fingers.

"I've loved you since the first time I saw you, Malynda."

She props herself up on her elbow and looks up at me. I love the way she looks, hair disheveled, lipstick smeared, her skin glowing.

"And when was that, the first time you saw me."

"You don't know?"

"You never said."

"That day... at the ice cream parlor. It was really busy and they had me at the counter. It was crowded and loud and hot and hellish, high schoolers everywhere. And then there was a ding of the bell and you walked in. And, I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my life." I smile and cup her face with my hand. It looks so delicate. "Until now."

"My friends said you were staring. But I didn't care."

"I didn't care either. Even if it did get me pummeled." I try not to let the cringe of the memory show on my face. But she knows me too well.