Page 30 of Rumor Has It

“Don’t you get it? I blame my damn self, Kenzie! For not being the man you need or … want.” He hurls another shell into the ocean.

A sob escapes when I open my mouth to answer him. “I’ve always wanted you, Boone. I was afraid I wasn’t good enough.”

“How could you ever be less than enough for me, Kenzie? You were everything to me.” His eyes glisten with wetness.

“You deserve better than me, Boone.” I snub, holding tightly onto what little hope we have left. “And if I were a better person, I’d let you go.”

A quietness falls over us, and it’s as if time has stopped. Finally, the ocean becomes increasingly loud, and I feel as though I’m about to be swept away because I’m drowning in the depths of my heart breaking.

I hate myself. Boone stands before me, broken, and I’m the one who did it. I wait for him to say something, anything. Praying time will stand still, that the world will stop spinning and give us more time.

I need more time with him, but I know I don’t deserve him or it. I know what I need to do; I need to protect him from me. I take a deep breath, swallowing the disdain I have for myself.

“I guess…” I incline my head toward the foot path. “I better get going.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Unless, you need a ride or you want to stay.”

“I’d really like to stay.” I bite my lip, pretending to decide. “But I’m pretty sure I should go.”

“Why should you go?” His breath hitches, and my heart stutters.

I answer on a gasp. “I’ll want to stay and never go home.”

“Only if it’s forever.” His eyes don’t meet mine, and I understand why. Fear of the answer.

I step closer to him, taking his face in my hands. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’ll do my best to never do it again.”

“I’ve missed you.” He lays his hand over mine. His warmth seeps into my every pore, and it grows in my heart like the morning sun, brighter and stronger every minute it stays with us.

I search his eyes, the window into his emotions, the place I can see all the way to his soul. He gazes at me, drinking me in. I recognize the intensity in them, and it’s like looking into a mirror.

It’s now or never. Rising up on the tips of my toes, I thought I would have to physically pull him to me, but instead, there’s a magnetism drawing us together. That’s when the earth stops on its axis, and we’re finally one.

His lips part as they touch mine, and I respond as if it’s the most natural reaction. His tongue sweeps my bottom lip causing my mouth to open freely to his. He takes it like he owns it, and if I weren’t lost to him, I’d be cheering him on.

Now, this is how you kiss a girl.

Boone nips my bottom lip, inciting a frenzied desire to course through my body. I latch onto him, begging for him to move closer, to melt into one another. His hand slowly slips down my back, pressing into the curve of my spine.

He holds me against him as if I might fall if he loosens his grip. I have no fight left in me. My guard has fallen, and the walls I’ve built so high have been broken down. Boone doesn’t creep in; no, he knows me better than that.

Boone knocks the damn door off its hinges and announces he’s home. He rides in, a white knight on horseback, helping my heart to freedom and our love into the light. Declaring his love for me, offering me atonement.

His hands slide over my body with reverence, applying the slightest pressure against my sensitive skin. Our gazes lock when his mouth takes mine in a slow, seductive dance as we creep back to his tent.

Slowly, we shed our clothes, never losing contact. He lays over me, waiting, searching not only my face, but my soul until he recognizes the same devout love he has for me, in me for him.

Boone brushes my lips with his, taking me unhurriedly. His pace, gentle and loving, he evokes a feverish desire in me. I hitch my leg on his hip, and his knees dig deeper, pushing our bodies closer.

Everything in me clenches onto him, needing him to make all that’s gone wrong right again. Together, we set our love free and become one. He whispers my name with adoration as he worships me.

My lower belly knots when my back arches, responding to him in a way only Boone could evoke from me. He pushes us higher, and I join his rhythm as we chase the night, our connection stronger than ever.

Ecstasy, satisfaction, and love wash over me, as I chase them to the ledge and over. Our bodies giving and accepting the love we’ve always had for one another, but never finding a way to allow it to give. It sends chills over us, throwing us over the edge, wrapped in his arms. His lips are on mine, murmuring his love until I fall back to earth.

“I’ve waited so long to be this close to you,” I whisper breathlessly.

His chest rises and falls. “I’ve wanted to show you just as long.”