Perri leans back on my bed and laughs. “That man had trouble written all over him.”
“And you like trouble,” Vanessa points out. “You were always the daring one.”
“Girls.” Perri rises from the bed, lifting her glass. “We are all the daring ones. Now it’s Arden’s turn to go be daring.”
I take a deep breath, drawing in their strength, feeling it mingle with my own confidence. I’ve always believed in myself. I’ve never been an insecure girl. But the last week with Gabe has taught me there’s no replacement for speaking my mind.
I head to Pin-Up Lanes to meet him for a friendly night of bowling, picking our regular lane, setting up our bowling names on the scoreboard, and then hoping. Hoping that when I go for a strike, I won’t strike out.
Once Gabe walks in, my breath catches.
It’s not because he’s so damn handsome.
It’s not because of that confident walk or that easy grin.
It’s because tonight marks the first time I’ve looked at him and let myself own my feelings. The first time I’ve watched him come toward me and known in my heart what I feel is love.
45
Arden
When he reaches me, I see he’s clutching his phone like it’s a lifeline.
“Hey, Arden.”
“Hey, Gabe,” I say, my brow knitting over the way he’s attached to the mobile device.
“You look”—he stares at me up and down, like he did at my house—“beautiful.”
I wasn’t seeking confirmation, but I love the compliment nonetheless. “You look more handsome than ever. And there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Okay?” His tone is tentative.
“Do you remember that time I asked for your help with my project, and I made a list?”
He laughs lightly, more sure this time. “You think I’ve forgotten?”
“No, but it was a week ago. Since then, I’ve made another list. Because I’m a plotter.”
He nods, moving closer. “You’re definitely a planner.”
“There are new things I want to try, so I wrote them out.”
“New things?” His voice is laced with curiosity.
“Yes.” Nerves flutter inside me as I take my list from my purse. “Can I read it to you?”
“I’d love to hear it.”
I flip open the paper, clear my throat, and dive into the great unknown, clutching fervently to the wish that he might feel the same. “Things I Want to Try.”
I meet his blue-eyed gaze, seeing possibility in them. Here goes the first one. “One: Being your friend and also your lover.”
His eyebrows lift in excitement.
“Two: Doing it outside.”
His eyes sparkle.
“Three: Spending the night with you.”
The irises dance now with a happiness that matches what’s in my heart. It spurs me on.
“Four: Going on dates with you, and only you.”
Yes, he mouths.
I love that he can’t wait till I’m done to give an answer, but I have more to say so I keep going, the look in his eyes helping me drive it home. “Five: Taking the chance to be with you . . . because I believe you and I are worth it. Do you know why?”
He smiles so wide it’s like it reaches another county. I’m about to give the answer to my own question when he cuts in, holding up his phone screen.
I peer at it, reading the three little words he made on the game board. In an instant, joy radiates through me, stretching into every corner of my body. He’s spelled I LOVE YOU. “You made a Words with Friends for me?”
He nods, proudly.
“How did you do this?”
“Well, I can’t play it, of course, but it took me only, say, 218 games against myself till I came up with one of the letters on the board I needed, and then the rest of the seven letters to play it.”
“You were determined,” I say with wonder as I read his phone again, my eyes filling with tears of happiness, my heart flooding with love, a love I didn’t expect but can’t imagine living without.
Now, as I look back on the last year, and the last week especially, I can see this is where our story was heading. Love was always what was written on our pages. I just had to keep reading the book.
“I was determined, and I am determined, because you’re worth it.” He lets go of the phone and reaches for me, lifting me in his arms. “I love you, Arden East. I love you so damn much.”
He drops a kiss to my lips before I can get a word in edgewise, but I don’t care, because I’m on a hot air balloon soaring to the stratosphere with him—my friend, my lover, and my man.
“I’m so in love with you. That’s what I was going to tell you,” I say when we separate.
He presses another soft kiss to my lips, and this is even better than sex. Tingles radiate all through my bones. I sigh happily, savoring every second, delighting in this true and honest kiss that feels like a promise.
But words matter too, so when we stop, I press my hands to his chest. “I don’t want to lose you, Gabe. I meant everything I said before. You mean so much to me. I hate the thought of you not being in my life.”
He threads a hand through my hair. “Wouldn’t you know? Turns out I hate that thought too. So let’s stay in each other’s lives.”
I smile like a woman in love.
And love feels so . . . empowering.
So does something else. Another choice I make. I clasp his face, loving the freedom to touch him like this. “What do you say we skip bowling, go to my place or yours, and spend the night together?”
“I’d say I’m game for that. I only have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Tonight, I’m making love to you.”
At my house, he makes good on his promise. He spreads me out on my bed, strips me naked, and worships me with his lips and his tongue. He lavishes my body with kisses, settling between my legs and bringing me to ecstasy. Then he climbs over me, reaching for his wallet.
I stop him, circling my hand around his arm. “I’m on the pill. I want to feel all of you.”
He groans his appreciation for that answer, tossing his wallet behind him. It hits the floor with a thunk, and he wiggles an eyebrow. “Who cares about the damn wallet right now?”
“Definitely not me.”
He spreads my thighs wide, slides inside me, and I wrap my legs around his waist, hooking my ankles together, drawing him closer.
“Arden,” he groans, “I’ve been falling in love with you for a long time.”
“Keep falling in love with me,” I whisper as he moves luxuriously inside me. “And I’ll keep falling in love with you.”
He reaches for my wrists, raises them above my head, and pins them, driving me wild, making me love missionary in a whole new way because the man I love is taking me and fucking me and loving me.
The next morning when we wake, I wear nothing but an apron as I pluck eggs from the carton, prepping to cook him breakfast.
Before I can turn on the burner, though, he’s found other things to do with my apron. In a flash, I’m on the counter, my wrists tied with the apron strings as he introduces me to new uses for the kitchen, and after that we christen the yard too.
Eventually, a whole lot later, I cook him eggs, and he devours them. After all, he worked up quite an appetite.
I work up an appetite of another kind a few days later when he gives me a striptease. We’re talking the full regalia. Fireman suspenders, turnout gear, and a hot-as-hell dance.
Let’s just say I give him his reward.
On my knees.
46
Arden
A couple of days later, Perri pops by the bookstore and asks if I’m free to grab a bite to eat. I’m finished up, and Madeline is working for the evening, so we head to Helen’s Diner, one of our favorite places in town.
“How’s love? Is it as fabulous as everyone makes it out to be?” she asks as we sit.
I smile. I can’t help it. “It’s the most fabulous thing. I highly recommend unexpectedly falling in love with your best guy friend after he gives you hypothetical lessons in seduction that turn real.”
She wiggles an eyebrow and taps her temple. “And I’ll just file that away under possibilities I never expected.”
“Same here. But seriously, Gabe is great, and I’m the luckiest girl in Lucky Falls.”
“It’s not luck. You went after your happily ever after and you got it.
“And I’m not going to let it go.”
“You better not.”
Then it’s my turn to wiggle my eyebrows, because I want the dish on the guy Perri’s been hot for. She thought nothing would come of the man she pulled over, but Derek McBride turned up in her life again in a most unexpected way, and I’m dying for more details. “Tell me all the details about the hottie.”
“Whomever would you be referring to?” She plays it coy.
I shoot her a look. “The one you pulled over the other day who looked at you like he wanted to eat you up, toss you over his shoulder, and then pleasure you all night long. That one.”
Her eyes twinkle. “He did look at me like that, didn’t he?”
“Um, yeah. And if memory serves, I feel like you were giving him the same look.”
“You did hit the nail on the head when you said I had a type, and he is definitely it,” she says with a laugh as the server comes over to take our order. I opt for a chicken sandwich, and Perri chooses a salad. I steer us back to the conversation. “So, Miss Has a Type and He’s It—what’s next with him? You ran into him again, you flirted, you had an epic kiss, and now? Tell me what’s next?” I’m dying to know.
She sighs, and it seems full of import. “Seems he showed up last night on my doorstep, with his duffel, since my brother went ahead and rented the room above the garage to him.”
My eyes bulge. My jaw drops. My head spins. That’s a twist I didn’t see coming. “That means you’re living with the guy you want to bang?”