Page 110 of Love at First Ride
‘Shit,’ I breathe. ‘What happened?’
‘I confronted him about it. He said it was nothing, that he was drunk… that it was a stupid mistake… that they’d had sex, just once. He was crying when he told me. I believed him when he said he was sorry, and that things with us hadn’t been great. He wanted us to fix things. He told me he still loved me.’
‘Wow,’ I say. ‘So, what did you do? Did you stick around?’
‘For a while. Until graduation. We slept together a few times, but every time I would just picture him with her, and it was a complete turn off. So, after graduation, I told him I was going to come back here for the summer. Just for a reset. Except I never went home again. I stayed. That’s when the poetry started.’
I exhale. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that, Hollie.’
‘It’s all right. Anyway, the night before I found Noah at Sunset Pines, I emailed Owen to say that I was thinking of coming home again.’
I swallow. ‘You did?’
‘I thought maybe Owen was the best boyfriend I was ever going to get. But maybe it was a sign… because the next night I found you again. The person I’d never stopped thinking about.’
I move closer to her. Lay my hand against her cheek and search her face.
Tears fill her eyes. ‘I wanted to tell you that… there is no competition, AJ. Last night, I emailed Owen to say that I wasn’t coming back. That I had a boyfriend. I think I was always looking for a reason to stay, but I didn’t have one… until you.’
I lean forward. She has my whole heart. Being with Hollie, it’s like my whole world has shifted on its axis, and she became top of my every list. The words are out my mouth before I can stop them. I’m not scared to tell her, like I thought I would be. It feels like the most natural thing in the world. ‘I love you, Hollie.’
‘You love me?’ she whispers.
‘Was that not obvious?’ I ask.
‘I mean… I hoped you’d feel the same as me, but—’
A smile tugs the edge of my mouth. ‘I love you,’ I say again.
‘I love you, too,’ she says, all tearful, and her words fill my chest, making it swell.
I lower my mouth to hers, my arms going around her. Our kiss is slow, lingering. It’s that affirmation again.
I slide my hand from her stomach to her hip. It’s so hot in here that we’re both sweaty now. It’s obvious to me now, what the solution to her apartment problem should be.
‘Move in with me,’ I say.
She blinks at me. ‘You’re serious.’
‘As a heart attack.’
Her lips twitch, like she’s too scared to smile. ‘Move here? To Rapture?’
I haven’t entirely thought this through. ‘I mean, I don’t have a kitchen. We could find someplace else. Together. Like, an apartment somewhere.’
‘AJ, I have zero money. I can’t work. I can’t pay rent.’
‘So, move in with me anyway and we’ll figure something out. I’ll find someplace I can afford on my own.’
‘You would do that for me?’
‘Say you’ll move in with me,’ I say against her mouth, my fingers drifting further south, dipping under the lace hem of her panties. ‘I love you, and I’ll never cheat on you. I’ll prolly never write you poetry either.’
‘Yes,’ she giggles, squirming against me. ‘Yes, I’ll move in with you. I love you.’
‘Think of how much fun we could have,’ I say, my fingers continuing their journey south, urging her legs to part for me.
She shifts slightly onto her back. I push her panties farther down her legs and she wriggles free of the material. We keep eye contact as she draws her up knees, her naked thighs parting for me as my fingers slide down assuredly into her slick warmth. She’s so wet already. I swiftly find her clit and circle it and she lets out a low hum, this time her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
