One Night Stand-In (Boyfriend Material #3) - Lauren Blakely Page 0,68
more than that.
It can fill your heart and mind with so much incomparable joy. And joy is what I feel. Not a shred of responsibility. Not an ounce of doubt.
As I walk to him, he walks to me. A knowing grin is on his face. There’s a gleam in his chocolate eyes. A passion. An intensity that’s all his, and all mine, and all ours.
We reach each other at the same time.
“Lola,” he says, speaking first. “Do you want to know the whole truth of ten years ago?”
I stop, startled. I wasn’t expecting that twist. “Yes, I do.”
He takes a breath, steps closer, and cups my cheek. His hand is so warm, so right.
“The reason it hurt? The reason it all went to hell so quickly?”
“Yes?” I ask, my voice pitched with worry but also hope.
His eyes lock with mine like he never wants to look away from me. “I was falling in love with you.”
I gasp, bringing my hand to my mouth as tears fill my eyes. I’m not a crier, but for the second time today, a lump fills my throat. “You were?”
He nods, his expression so earnest, so true. “I was falling so damn hard for you, and then everything combusted. And I was petrified. I’d been falling in love with you, and then I just lost you. I can blame my family for my fear of love. But I have myself to blame too. I hated losing you, but I didn’t know how to fight for you. And the end result was that, in my mind, love equaled pain.”
My lips quiver, and I nod, understanding him even more now. I lift a hand and touch his arm, needing contact. “I was falling in love with you too,” I say, and that admission feels like a new kind of freedom as all the secrets of the past tumble free.
His lips crook into a grin. “Is that so?”
“That’s why I couldn’t bear to just be friends with you. I wanted more. I wanted it all with you. I didn’t know how to have it. But Lucas,” I say, taking a breath, drawing more strength, “that’s the reason I’ve never fallen for anyone else.”
“It is?”
“I gave my heart to you a long time ago. No one else could ever come close.”
He groans his appreciation, a warm, sexy sound. Then his fingers thread into my hair. “Know what I think?”
“What do you think?” I ask, unable to mask a grin.
“That no one should come between us again. You’re the one, Lola. You’re the one who got away. You’re the one I want back. You’re the one I love.”
My heart soars, flying free, taking off into the sky, rising to the stars. A wish that has come true. This moment is almost too much, but I want to savor every second of the recklessness, the risk.
I rise up, press my lips to his, and whisper my deepest fear and my greatest joy: “I’m in love with you too.”
He doesn’t let me go. He kisses me tenderly.
He kisses me like we have years to make up for. Like I’m the one he wants to kiss tonight and tomorrow and for all time.
As his lips explore mine, my head goes hazy, my body floods with endorphins. Tingles spread down my arms, across my skin, everywhere.
We kiss like there’s nothing else in the world but us, our lips, our touch. Like the city’s millions can walk on by, the night can carry on, and we’ll do the same. We’ll carry on with each other.
When we break the kiss, he looks woozy and ridiculously happy.
Like how I feel.
And I feel something else too.
Something wild and daring.
Something reckless.
There’s a crazy beating in my heart as an idea takes hold. An idea that won’t let go. This is something my sister would do.
And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe I can learn from the reckless one.
I dance my fingers up the buttons on his shirt. “What would you say about screwing the awards?” I whisper, like we’re scofflaws, breaking all the rules. “Let’s be the irresponsible ones.”
His grin says yes. “How about sex, bowling, and French fries?”
“I’d sell my soul for that.”
He draws me close. “But you don’t have to. All you have to do is let me love you as so much more than a friend.”
“Consider it done.”
30
Lucas
It’s safe to say neither one of us is going to win.