He comes closer, and hesitantly touches my cheek. “Maybe…” he starts, and coughs.

I stare up into his eyes. “Maybe another time. Here…or at my apartment…” I finish for him.

He nods, and a faint smile touches his lips. “I can make us dinner tonight. We can watch a movie on my iPad. Just me and you.”

“I would really like that,” I answer softly, and pull out my phone to text Feather back that we won’t be joining them this time. He holds my hand tightly as we walk back toward the house. “I’ll make popcorn, too. It’ll be even better than going out.”

Maybe it will be, maybe it won’t. But for now, his fingers linked through mine, his smile, and the lingering bliss of the morning we had has made me happier than I’ve ever been. I have no complaints or regrets.

25

Holly

Our dinner and movie were cozy and perfect. We didn’t miss anything not going with Feather and Steve. Everything we need and want is right here.

After the movie, Tyler lights a small fire in a pit in his backyard, and we roast marshmallows while sitting on a blanket, holding hands. His lips kiss my ear and linger there. “Stay,” he whispers. I turn to him, and his lips find mine. “Stay here tonight,” he says against my lips.

He watches me as I let his words sink in. His eyes darken and his breathing deepens, and it hits me that I’ve seen this excited, lusty look in him before.

I nod slowly, agreeing, but also accepting. Some truths sink in slower than others. My hesitations…my surprise…my panic…my fear…my needs…my happiness… it ignites him. He feeds on it, like an emotional sponge.

And I have to admit, I like seeing him hungry for me.

“Okay,” I reply softly. “I’ll stay with you.”

My head spins with the possibilities of what an entire night in bed with him could bring, but I count in my head and shut those worries down before they spiral out of control. I won’t let any more moments with him get destroyed. Instead, I revel in the way his smile reaches right into me and flips a switch of happiness.

“We can watch the sky together through the ceiling window,” he teases, poking at the fire. Then he throws in some sort of sand, which earlier he told me was fairy dust that makes the flames a rainbow of colors. The fire becomes pretty with its blue, green, and purple hues, and I wonder if the colors ease his memories.

“Does the fire bother you?” I ask with caution.

The flames reflect in his eyes as he ponders the question and his answer.

“Sometimes,” he replies. “I guess I learned to respect it. It’s like anything else. If you’re not careful around things that can hurt you…they probably will.”

I wonder if, someday, Tyler will hurt me. Maybe Zac is right and I might get my heart broken. I close my eyes, feel the heat of the flame against my cheeks, and try to picture life without Ty.

I can’t.

“I saw someone go into a fire once,” I say. “It was awful. It’s one of the few things from my childhood I can actually remember.” I tighten my fingers around his. “It hurts my heart to think of you being in that kind of pain.”

“The pain was horrific. It was everywhere—the searing pain. Even worse than going through the glass.”

My stomach roils just thinking about it. “I wish I could have been there…to help you somehow. Or just to love you.” The words slipped out so freely and naturally. I couldn’t have stopped them if I tried.

His breathing completely stills, and I wonder how he’ll react to my admission. The answer to that comes swiftly when his hand tilts my face to meet his. His thumb drags slowly across my bottom lip, and his eyes follow its trail then drift up to captivate mine.

His mouth opens, and the words get trapped in his throat. But I don’t need to hear him speak because I can see the depth of his feelings in his molten eyes. The space between us disappears, and he kisses me softer than he ever has, as if he’s afraid he’ll somehow break me or shatter our very existence.

I reach up and gently caress his scarred cheek as we kiss, and he leans into my hand.

“I love you.” The sweetest, ragged, whispered words drift from his lips to my ears, and I wish I could bottle them up and keep them forever.

Our lips part, but he keeps me in his embrace. We hold each other as we watch the colored flames lap the air, and I’m content and grateful in this special, private place with him, Poppy, and Boomer.

This truly has become my happy place, in every way.

His fingers slowly caress mine, and warmth floods me from my core to my thighs when I remember how they slid through my soft flesh, making me damp and quivering.