Page 101 of Loving Bad

CHAPTER THIRTY

Taylor

I reached up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. His lips remained still under mine as I kissed him gently before I pulled back and looked up at him. He was holding still, waiting to see what I was going to say. He looked scared and I saw a glimpse of the hurt child in the depths of his blue eyes.

"I love you," I whispered to him. Happiness shone in his eyes for a couple of seconds but vanished when I realized he was waiting for a 'but.'

"You don't think you’re good enough for me," I said, watching his expression, which was veiled so that it was hard to see exactly what he was thinking.

"I know I'm not good enough for you," he stated, still not showing the emotion I knew he was feeling.

"Yes, my parents were murdered by two young guys that were high on drugs at the time. Did the drugs put the gun in their hands and pull the trigger? No. Not every person who gets high on drugs murders someone. It wasn't the drugs that ended my parents’ lives."

I paused for a moment.

"You had a tough childhood and I can’t imagine what it was like. It physically hurts to think of what you had to go through," I said and reached for his hand, taking it into mine. "I understand why you did the things you did and I would never judge you."

He swallowed as he held my gaze, still unsure.

"You are good enough for me," I whispered to him, letting him know that I wasn't going to be leaving.

I watched as my words sank in and the realization hit him. In an instant his arms wrapped around me and hugged me tight. I smiled as my head rested against his chest and I allowed myself to feel the happiness that we both deserved.

I tried to pull away, but his arms tightened around me.

"Give me a minute," he breathed into my hair.

Closing my eyes, I savored the feel of him holding onto me so tightly, scared to let go. A few minutes later he pulled away and looked down at me.

"I was so scared I was going to lose you," he said, his voice hoarse with the emotion.

"I'm not going anywhere," I stated, making sure he knew that I was here to stay.

He bent down to kiss me and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I felt like I was alive again in his arms, being so thoroughly kissed that it left my knees a little weak and my heart hammering in my chest.

Breathlessly, he pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I've never done this before," he said softly.

"What exactly are we doing?" I asked, needing to know what this meant to him. I needed to know that we were on the same page.

"This is going to be more than one night," he explained as his mouth tugged into a playful smile. "No hooking up with other people."

My smile faltered slightly at the fear that, despite how much I loved him and how much he cared about me, we were going to go back to our original arrangement. I wanted more than that.

"We get titles as well," he teased.

"Titles?" I asked, not sure what that meant.

"Yeah," he said as his smile widened. "Girlfriend."

He kissed me on the lips and I felt relief at his words.

"Does that mean I get to call you my boyfriend?" I asked as I broke the kiss and looked up at him.

He nodded his head at me.