Page 115 of Faking It
“No promises, Zane. I just want you. How you are. Who you are. Mistakes and all because God knows I’ll make plenty of them too. We don’t have to promise each other anything other than we’ll try. That’s all I can ask of you.”
“So that’s a yes, then?”
“That’s a pretty broad statement for me to agree to.” I laugh.
“You’ll move in with me?” He leans back, eyes asking, smile reinforcing.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“If Lula will like Smudge.”
“I’m sure if we just throw them together in the same dog run, they’ll learn to love each other.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep, look at the two of us,” he says as he wraps his arms around me and just holds on.
“I don’t believe in forcing a relationship.”
Zane throws his head back and laughs. “Oh, do I have a story for you, then.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but that’s for another time.”
“What’s for right now, then?”
“Making up for all the time I’ve missed kissing you, Cinder.”
Our eyes meet, hold, flirt.
“Such a hardship, but I guess I’m up for the challenge.”
“You better be,” he murmurs as his lips meet mine and our worlds collide once again.
The only difference is this time the collision is a welcome one.
Without pretenses.
Without an audience.
Just the two of us and a world full of possibilities.
One year later
THE COAST OF SARDINIA IS breathtaking. The beaches, the water, the people.
The man walking toward me with board shorts slung low on his hips and eyes that are only for me, even more so.
How is this my life?
I don’t ever want to leave.
“Hey, there,” he says and pulls me into him for a kiss. Whiskey and mint are on his lips and the scent of the sun is on his skin.
“So?” I ask.
