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I nodded, despite the worry filling my heart. “Will your family forgive me for the way I hurt you?”
“They love you, Hen. When I first came home, I stayed with Gage because I knew my parents would tell me to get my ass back to California and win you back.”
What would have happened if he had come back?I wondered. Would I have accepted him?
No, I decided. I never would have asked him to give up his home for me. Tyler’s dreams existed here, and my family would always be there for me. I’d never cared where I was, as long as I was with the people I loved.
“Is it okay for me to stay at your parents’ house tonight, on such short notice?” I asked, biting my lip.
“It would be... except I have another idea.”
Tyler drove me to one of the three hotels in town, lifting his middle console so I could slide over and sit tucked against his side. After so long apart, we weren’t wasting a minute together. He insisted my car would be fine at the schoolhouse overnight, but that was the last thing on my mind.
We walked down the hallway over green and gold carpet to room 106. Tyler held the keycard against the reader, and we stepped into the room. Together. A million missed moments and painful memories filled the space between us.
For a moment, I stood, looking at the bed. He slipped off his cowboy boots, the leather worn with hard work. My own white sneakers were a contrast in almost every way.
That was us. We were different. Him, a tall, strong country boy from Texas. Me, a curvy city girl who’d always been under her family’s wing. But together? We created something different entirely. A pair of people who led with love, who served with our whole hearts, and who fumbled through life until we finally got something right. Each other.
“Lie down with me,” he asked, lifting the blanket.
I nodded, walking around the other side of the bed to curl in next to his warm body. He was so solid against me, and I slid my hand under his shirt, running it over the ridges of his stomach, the crisp of his chest hair, the slope of his collarbone, the divot at the base of his neck and back down again.
He pressed a kiss to my temple, drawing emotion to my eyes again. It was like my heart had barely scabbed over the last few months apart, and being here with him now pulled me all the way open, leaving me more vulnerable than ever before.
I lifted my face to him, kissing him slowly. Refamiliarizing myself with his taste, the swirl of his tongue against mine, the scratch of his five o’clock shadow over my chin. And then I needed to remember more, to feel more.
I gripped the hem of his shirt, pulling it up, and he helped me, slipping it over his head before moving to my dress, pulling it off. And then we were back together.
Kissing.
Savoring.
Loving.
Our middles pressed together, his skin warm against mine. His hands gentle on my hips, my shoulders.
With each second that passed, our kiss intensified, our hands explored. His palm slid against my ass, lifting my thigh so it crossed over his hip, and then there was space for him to gently slide my thong aside, to run his thumb along my slit.
My breath caught as he slipped a finger inside and then lifted it to his lips. He drew his finger in his mouth, closing his eyes. “I missed the way you taste.”
Moisture pooled between my legs. “I missed the way you feel,” I breathed.
“Not much longer, baby,” he breathed, kissing me again, bringing his hand back down and circling his fingers around my clit.
As the sensation grew between my legs, I bucked against his hand. Tears filled my eyes, dripped over my nose and down my cheek as my orgasm built. Tyler was back, he was with me, he loved me.
And then I came into his hand, crying out his name.
With my orgasm still rocking my body, he rolled me to my back and unzipped his pants. Pulled them down just enough to plunge into me.
I stretched around him, my body having tightened up in his absence.
“Baby,” he breathed against my lips.
“I love you,” I cried, tears flowing freely. “I love you so damn much, Tyler.”
“I love you,” he said, pumping fast. “I love you.”