Page 16 of Incomplete
“Peace offering?” I held up the small tub of ice cream I’d been concealing between my chest and forearm.
Her smile, which had been absent these past few tense hours, suddenly lit up like I was holding the keys to the castle. “How’d you? You weren’t even gone long enough to drive anywhere.”
“Can you keep a secret?” I smirked.
“It’ll be between you, me, and Ben & Jerry.”
“But of course.” I cracked the seal and pulled off the lid. “You see, one of the keys to being an amazing big brother like myself, is I’ve learned to always have a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream stashed at the back of my freezer . . . you know, for sister-crisis emergencies.”
“My question is, why do you need to hide it, though?”
“I like to think of it as out of sight, out of mind.” I shrugged.
“Worried you won’t have enough restraint.”
If she only knew how much restraint I’d been exhibiting since I’d laid eyes on her.
As if she were reading my mind, her brows creased, forming two soft little indents, and her lips pursed, showing me just a glimmer of the playful side to her personality was alive and well.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” I lowered my hand and rubbed it across my shirt-covered torso. “I’m kind of partial when it comes to my abs.”
“You know the dad-bod is trending, right?”
“Okay, smart-ass, do you want the ice cream or not?”
“Oh, I want it all right.” She giggled, and I bit down on my tongue from clapping back with the comment I really wanted to deliver because, quite honestly, her laugh was the best sound I’d heard in a long time, but damn if my so-called restraint wasn’t about to implode.
“Is this cool?” I asked like a moth to a flame who wanted to close the gap between us as I made myself comfortable on her bed, surrounded by frilly decorative pillows.
A rosy blush dusted her cheekbones, and I wondered if she felt an ounce of my attraction.
“While this isn’t normally where I’d hang out with a guy I’d just met, my body is tired, and I’ve got everything I need right here . . . except spoons, we need spoons.”
As if realizing I could have misinterpreted her message the wrong way, she suddenly, with uncoordinated movements, flew off the bed too quick for her own good and swayed worse than a drunken sailor.
I dropped the ice cream, darted to my knees, and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against me. Her body relaxed into mine, and I gave her a moment to regain her bearings before shifting her off my lap and back onto the bed.
“Did you learn nothing from your earlier head spins in the hallway? No quick movements, remember.”
“Sorry.” She sighed.
“Nothing to apologize for, beautiful, because I came fully prepared.” I reached into my shorts pocket and presented her with one of the two spoons I had hidden.
“Look at you coming to my rescue again.” She grinned, causing my heart to remind me it was alive and thriving and not to be written off and shoved haphazardly on the back burner.
“I’m not going to lie, you took years off my life tonight, Lakelyn . . . but for what it’s worth, I’m glad it was me that found you and was able to be by your side.”
“Me too. Thank you.”
“All right, let’s get you settled.” The tone of our conversation had quickly shifted, and I didn’t want her to dwell on the what-ifs. I wanted to take her admission as a win and a step in the right direction.
I fluffed the two pillows behind her and helped pull back the sheets while doing my best not to allow my eyes to linger on the skin-kissed glow covering the expanse of her long, toned legs. Even though she was covered by her short-sleeved red-and-white plaid pajama set with matching shorts, her face void of makeup, and her long chestnut hair, still wet from her earlier shower, now drying in funky waves, she still managed to leave me staggered by my intense attraction to her. It wasn’t something I was accustomed to, and it made me want to pause and soak it all in.
I rolled on my side facing her, propped myself up on my elbow, and offered her first dibs on the ice cream. The exhaustion that weighed heavily on her eyelids was unmistakable, and it wasn’t long before her body surrendered itself to sleep. I set the alarm on my phone for three hours and debated relocating to the living room couch, but the pull I felt to be near her surpassed my sense of reasoning.
It had been a long time since I’d allowed myself to feel something for someone, but I knew I needed to bury my feelings because my gut told me, Lakelyn didn’t trust easily or have anyone she could count on, which made my heart physically ache.
I wanted to be her person.
