Page 62 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)

But when Dallas came in the light, he looked the opposite of how I felt. He was freaking hot, with his curls springing on his forehead, seeming longer than when I’d first started seeing him. He wore his usual green jacket with a dark V-neck shirt and jeans. Sheesh, did my clothes fit me that well ?

Did he ever look at me the way I looked at him? Admiring my features with warmth spreading throughout his body?

Focus on apologizing! Not his body!

“Hey,” Dallas said as he got closer, his voice soft but deep. “I brought Houston and my notebook.” He shook his backpack and nodded to Houston, who was already sniffing Penrose’s butt.

“Hey.” I smiled at him, trying to control my breathing. Why did this make me almost hyperventilate? “I brought my stuff too. And my apologies.”

He sighed as he took Houston off his leash to let him free in the doggy area. “I understand why you lashed out.” He sat beside me, slipping his backpack off. “The last thing you wanted was to be corrected.”

“It doesn’t make how I acted right,” I said as I let Penrose free. “You had already taken the hit of others’ anger, and after all you’d done for me, it was the last thing you needed or deserved.”

“It was,” he said, his voice low.

I traced a hand along the collar of his shirt before regaining my senses.

“I was no different from anyone else for taking my frustration out on you. I really am sorry, Dallas.” My sigh expanded the ache in my chest. “I hate hurting you. I hate making you run away. I hate making your life harder than it needs to be.”

Dallas scooted closer to me, the smell of his minty breath filling my senses. “You don’t make my life harder.”

“You sure about that?”

“Well, okay.” His lips curved in a small smile, his dimples appearing. “Life has been far from easy, but I wouldn’t give up having you in my life for the world.”

I smiled back. “So you forgive me?” It felt too good to be true that two people had forgiven me so quickly after I’d hurt them, but I wanted to accept it. I wanted to use their forgiveness to help me forgive myself.

“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t want to hear what you had to say.

” He brushed my hair out of my eyes, and my stomach leaped.

“I know we mess up and say things we don’t mean, but as long as we don’t cross the line and recognize when we’re wrong, we’ll work through it. ” He chuckled. “I sound corny.”

I giggled. “You’re good at it.” I put my hand on his chest, gazing into the pool of brown in his eyes.

His heartbeat picked up underneath my palm.

“Even though you make my head spin, my stomach flutter, and my heart forget how to beat properly, I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else. I don’t want to lose you.”

He rubbed my hand, the touch enough to send chills down my arm.

“It’s funny how I’ve felt that way toward you for years and never thought it’d be returned.

” His mouth inched closer to mine. “But the way you just described how I make you feel is more than mutual. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I lost someone as loving as you. ”

“I’m sorry, Sunshine,” I whispered. “Sometimes I feel like you don’t deserve someone like me.”

“I feel like you don’t deserve me, either, Moonlight,” he whispered back, sending another chill through my veins. “But I know we do. We’ve never deserved anything more than each other.”

“I’m scared. What if I turn into my parents? Make the same mistakes until there’s no going back? When sorry starts to be an empty promise?”

“We don’t have to be like our parents. And the fact that you already strive to be different puts you in the right place.” Dallas held my hands, squeezing them tight. “I forgive you, Raina. And I want you to forgive yourself.”

I let out a small breath before my lips met his halfway, the taste of his ChapStick greeting me.

His hands wrapped around my waist as I wrapped mine around his neck.

I pulled him closer to my chest, wanting him to feel my roaring heartbeat, to feel how thrilled he made me.

Even though I was scared I’d mess up again, that something would happen down the line and ruin everything we had, I wanted to be free in the moment.

I wanted to trust myself.

Dallas’s hands traveled to my back, one hand sliding underneath my shirt. I gasped as his warm hand explored my back, but he stopped before it got too far. His other hand continued to travel up and down my T-shirt. Every moment made my skin flush as the butterflies in my stomach came back to life.

The late winter breeze blew by, and I shivered.

The heat from the kiss kept my skin warm as I cupped my hands around Dallas’s soft cheeks.

Gosh, he felt like a pillow but had the bone structure of a model.

There wasn’t a thing about him that I didn’t adore, inside and out.

Another breeze blew by, and I shivered longer this time.

“Are you getting cold?” Dallas asked against my lips, his soft voice making the butterflies inside me go wild.

“I was so nervous to see you that I forgot to put on a jacket,” I said, nearly breathless. I absorbed the softness of his lips as I kissed him again. “Gosh, what kind of ChapStick do you use to get your lips that soft?”

“You’re always asking for recommendations, aren’t you?” He laughed before pulling away and taking off his jacket. “Here.” He pulled one warm sleeve over my arm, then the other. “Now you won’t shiver.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I said, though the warmth from his jacket was beyond comfortable. “Now you’ll get cold.”

“No, I won’t.” A beautiful grin spread across his face, revealing those adorable dimples again. “How could I be cold when you never fail to set my skin on fire? I’m always blushing for a reason. ”

I traced my finger along his jawline. “I thought it was because you’re pale.”

“I lied,” he whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

“It’s because of you. You make me so freaking nervous and excited that I nearly burst into flames.

” His lips pressed against mine, harder this time, to the point I let out a moan.

“But I love it. I love how you warm me inside and out on the coldest days.”

“Maybe I should be the sunshine instead,” I said against his lips. “I make you hot to the point your skin turns red, and you make me forget to put a jacket on and shiver.”

“I guess we did get the nicknames backward.” His laugh made my heart burst. “But I’m still calling you my moonlight.”

I brushed my hand through his soft curls. “Then you’re still my sunshine.”

We kissed for another minute before breaking apart to catch our breaths. My lips were static as he looked at me like I hung the freaking moon. I couldn’t stop grinning at him, at how in love he looked with me, at the way his eyes lit up in the moonlight.

This was too perfect for my mind to process.

But I’d accept it. Because it was mine.

“So,” I said, watching the dogs run around. “We never finished that song. And even though we’re not doing Battle of the Bands anymore, I still want to work on it.”

“You’re right,” Dallas said with a smile. “Let’s fix that.”