Page 138 of Playing for Keeps

“You taught me how to love.” I laughed wetly. “And you and me…I just don’t think there’s any other option than for us to be together, is there?”

Luke moved forward. “No. There will never be any other option for me.”

And he was kissing me. He tasted salty, like my tears and his tears mingled together. He tasted like Luke, like my best friend and my lover, like the one person in this world who was meant for me.

He withdrew, but only slightly, resting his forehead against mine for a moment.

“I talked to Char. And she…” Luke broke off, shook his head. “She’s actually okay with us being together. But I understand if you don’t want to confuse Theo, if you want things to be purely platonic for now. I’ll wait for however long you need me to wait.”

“No.” I said the word with the most certainty I’d ever felt. Because I couldn’t continue to carve out part of my heart. Pretending Luke and I were just friends would be a lie that would hurt us both, and ultimately hurt those around us.

“No?” Luke’s eyes were cautious.

“I don’t want things to just be platonic. I’m all in on this. And Theo…” I swallowed. “Theo needs both of his parents to be happy. I’ll be a much better dad to him if you’re in my life, making me happy.”

Luke’s eyes burned bright. He swallowed hard. “I’m fairly sure I’m up to the task of trying to make you happy.”

“But it works both ways, right?” I said. “Because I’m going to do everything I can to make you happy too.”

Luke’s answer was to kiss me again.

Chapter36

Luke

Kissing Ethan gave me the same feeling I’d had when I’d looked out the plane window on my return from Japan and seen the Southern Alps.

Home.

I was home.

Ethan deepened our kiss, kissing me so hard it felt as if my eyes were going to roll back in their sockets. He slid a hand under my shirt, gliding his palm over my skin until he reached the waistband of my shorts, hooking his fingers underneath.

I wrenched my mouth away from his. “You want this now?”

His pupils were dilated. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how long it’s been?”

“Yeah, I do, because it’s been that long for me too.”

“But one of us has the patience of a saint and the other one has the patience of an ant.”

“Did you just anoint me as a saint?”

“Saint Miracle Man. It might be getting too pious, even for you.”

I laughed and Ethan’s eyes heated up even more.

He kissed me again, our tongues slipping and sliding against each other. It was scorching. Blistering. Searing. The taste of Ethan, the warmth of his mouth, the feel of his body aligning with mine…it was only when I felt the door jamb pressing into my back that I realized we hadn’t even shut the front door.

I pulled away from him. “Um…maybe we should take this somewhere more private.”

“I guess doors were invented for a reason,” he said, reaching out to swing it shut.

He paused to look at me, his hair unkempt from where I’d been running my hands through it. He smiled, just a pure, happy grin and my lips curved up to match his.

Then he reached out to grab my hand, tugging me down the hallway to the living room.

“Bedroom?” I suggested.