Page 58 of Worth the Shot

“My day? Uh, it was, good. Fine. Normal, I guess.” I’m fully aware I’m stumbling over my words, but my nerves are threatening heart attack level body reactions and I don’t know how to calm them down.

“Better now,” she whispers, moving in closer to me and there it is. That was all I needed. To hear that this is exactly what she’s wanted too. I run my fingers through her hair lightly, just testing, and her head sinks into my chest. “Your heart is beating so fast,” she says, soft and low and I swear she sounds like a goddamn fucking angel.

“I know,” I say, “I’m sorry, I’m just⁠—“

“Nervous?” she says. “Me too. Or I was, but I’m not anymore.”

“How come?” I ask, my voice a little strangled and low, anticipating an answer that might completely break me.

“Because I’m with you.”

Yup. I’m done. Ruined. In love with this woman, and damn I know it.

“I’m sorry,” I say, mock-serious, “but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re flirting with me, Delaney Collins.”

“Get over it, drama queen,” she murmurs, smiling tugging at the corner of her mouth.

She pulls her head back, just enough to look at me, and I’m fully aware of the intoxicating look spread across my face right now. She laughs, a low, soft giggle that sends a riptide of butterflies through my stomach.

“What?” I say, half laughing, half terrified.

“Nothing,” she smirks, “you’re just cute when you’re nervous.”

Suddenly, feral, impatient Brennan has entered the chat. My hands slip around her waist and I lift her just enough to guide her fully onto me, straddling my lap. She lets me.

My fingers trail up her sides and find her face as I tuck her hair behind her ears. Her smile is soft, and so damn beautiful. Breathtaking. The kind you couldn’t hide even if you tried.

Her mouth is inches from mine, every breath she exhales hitting my lips. I brush my nose to hers, asking. Not taking.

And then she closes in and she kisses me.

Not gentle. Not hesitant.

Hungry.

Her hands fist in my hair, my own sliding up and down her back like they can’t decide where to land because they want to be everywhere. She gives a soft, barely-there moan and I swear I almost lose my mind. I deepen the kiss, pulling her in until I can feel her everywhere.

Everything in me unravels.

Everything in me settles.

Because this…This feels like everything I’ve ever wanted becoming a reality I never want to live without again.

Her lips on mine feel like the kind of thing you don’t survive unchanged. Every kiss I’ve ever had in my life feels irrelevant, like background noise compared to this. Compared to her.

I’m consumed by the way she tastes, the way she breathes into my mouth like she’s needed this as badly as I have. The way her fingers slide into my hair, tugging softly, grounding me, undoing me.

I pull back, just for a second, to look at her. Her eyes catch first—light green and steady on mine in a way that feels compelling.

We’re both breathing hard, our chests rising and falling in the same uneven rhythm as her hands slide around my neck, then up to my face. Her thumbs brush along my jaw as she studies me, and I let her. Then I kiss her again, slower this time, like I’m memorizing her, because I am.

I don’t ever want to forget what this feels like.

This right here is the moment she lets her walls down and finally lets me in. Her breath stutters and she breaks away for a second, just long enough to rest her forehead against mine. Her eyes flutter open and she looks at me like she’s seeing the rest of her life flash behind my eyes.

She exhales, shaky and small, and melts into me like her bones disappear and her body folds into mine. Her arms loop around my neck, her chest pressed to me, her cheek settling against my shoulder. We tangle together instinctively, naturally, like we’ve done this for years and our bodies were made to fit this way.

She exhales against my throat and her warmth consumes me. I wrap my arms around her fully, holding her the way I’ve dreamt about every night for the last four months. Not tentative or careful. Not afraid. Just…home.