Page 93 of Center of Gravity

He let out a soft exhale, his shoulders tensing and relaxing. “Wow.”

Shit. That couldn’t be good.

“I don’t know what to say.” He put both hands to his mouth, then let them fall away, his lips pressing together while my heart started a slow, heavy descent into the abyss. I’d told myself not to have any expectations, but my heart hadn’t gotten the memo.

Alex gave the slightest shake of his head, and I fumbled for speech, a way to help him let me down easy.

“I just—”

His words landed on top of mine as he took a step forward. “I can’t even hope to top that. Like, ever.”

And then I didn’t need to read into it anymore because he lurched against me, his lips crashing into mine. For long moments there was nothing but the tangle of our breaths, the champagne effervescence of his tongue, and the fullness of him washing through me with such a flood of emotion that it vibrated in my bones.

His fingers curled behind the collar of my shirt, then slid to the nape of my neck and clasped together as the kiss ended.

“I love you.” I pressed the words into his jawline, and then cupped my hand beneath his chin, meeting his eyes so there’d be no mistake. “I have for months. And I think you’d be absolutely crazy to saddle yourself with a grumpy guy with proven control issues and increasingly creaky joints, but I would thank whatever exists above us for every day that you did.”

“God,” Alex breathed out, licking his lips with a slight shake of his head. His hands dropped to my waist below my coat and fisted into my shirt. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, wanting you, missing you. And then so much time passed, and even though we were still talking a little I thought maybe you might be glad to keep things the way they were, might want to move on, and I couldn’t blame you because I’d told you to go that night after the funeral.” He drew a breath, fingertips drifting up to make slow circles at the nape of my neck.

“And I knew you were telling me then. I knew it, but I just couldn’t. Then I saw you on the street that day and it was like the whole world around me collapsed and there was just you, and I got this feeling inside me that was so fucking pure and bright it was scary. It waseverything. And I’ve spent so much time since then kicking myself, because I loved you then. And I do now.”

He wrecked me. Utterly. For a handful of seconds, I thought I might cry. With relief, with happiness, even a little exasperation aimed at myself. Instead, I exhaled a shaky laugh. “Christ, I don’t know, you may have topped me. I’m shaking, for fuck’s sake.”

Alex smiled, and this time it spread freely over his face and lit up his eyes. He smoothed his hands down the length of my arms, then rested his head against my shoulder, lips brushing the side of my neck.

“Where do we start? Do we just start over?”

“Do you want to start over?”

“I just want tostart.” He tipped his chin up for another slow kiss that ended too soon.

“Then, I think we start with going back inside, celebrating, drinking more champagne, and you telling my sister I’m not a lost cause.”

“We’re both salvageable, I think. I hope. And then?”

“And then I take you home with me.”

I felt his smile against my cheek. “What’s after that?”

“Tomorrow, when I make you breakfast.” I slid my hands from his back to his waist, then dropped them to his hips.

“You’re skipping an important part—one of my favorite parts—actually.”

“Mm?”

I took a step back, lacing my fingers within his as we started back to the Arts building.

“The part where I get you so wound up you start begging.”

“We’ll see who’s begging.”

But we both knew he was right.

It was freezing outside, but I hardly noticed the cold. I had a full body buzz that had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with Alex’s hand in mine, and the ridiculous amount of joy I got out of walking alongside him.

“That really was an insane speech. Did you write it down beforehand?” He shot me a skeptical glance, then said, “You’re like my own version of Mr. Darcy.”

“Nope, just fumbled through it and hoped for the best.” I chuckled. “You really like that book, huh? Maybe I’ll have to re-read it.”