Page 60 of Carson

“Bougie?” she giggles, pulling her drink to her lips. “This may be my first experience at that.”

“Mine too.”

I can see my reflection in her dark eyes, and I really can’t believe what I’m seeing. Never in a million years would I have pictured my life taking me to this moment.

She yawns into the back of her hand, and I’m sad that our evening is coming to an end.

“I better get to bed,” she says, setting her empty glass on the coffee table. She glances at the blanket and pillow I placed on a nearby chair.

When she gets to the stairs she pauses. “You’ll come whenever I call?” she asks, reminding me of our earlier conversation.

“Yep. I hope you have a good night’s sleep.”

She waves her hand around the room. “I’m sleeping in a turret of a castle. I’m pretty much guaranteed a good night’s sleep, aren’t I?”

“Of course, princess,” I tease. “Good night, Luna.”

“Good night, Carson.”

I retrieve the blanket and pillow from the chair, tossing them onto the couch. I’m fumbling with the lights when I hear the siren’s voice call to me from upstairs.

I hold perfectly still.

“Carson,” she tries again.

My hands begin to sweat. She’s calling for me. Now. Not in the morning. Now.

“Holy fuck,” I whisper, making my way to the stairs.

When I reach the top, she’s standing beside the bed, the moonlight shining in through the sheer curtains.

“Are you testing me?” I ask nervously, running my hands down my robe.

Her hands go to the tie on her own, and I swallow hard.

“Not a test. You said to call out whenever I was ready for you.”

“Um, I meant whenever you were ready for me to come up.”

She chuckles lightly as she slips her robe over her shoulders. “Well, I’m ready.”

It falls in a puddle around her feet, and I’m speechless.

We stare at each other for a long time. “Luna, you don’t owe …”

Her hands come out to stop me. “Don’t diminish this, Carson. I know I don’t owe you …” her voice catches, “but I do owe it to myself.”

She knows her own mind better than I do. If she says she’s ready, I have to trust her. I untie my robe, letting it fall to the ground.

Her eyes don’t leave my face.

“I’ve never been with anyone,” she admits quietly.

For a brief moment I feel bad that I can’t offer her the same, but this is the way life unfolds. “That’s okay. I’ll be with you every second of the way.”

“I hear that’s the way it works,” she says, stifling a laugh with the back of her hand.

“Oh, someone wants to be cheeky, does she?”