Page 20 of Reece & Holden (Gomillion High Reunion #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY

Reece

I hadn’t planned to kiss Holden, especially not after I’d just bared my soul to him.

Though I can’t say I haven’t thought about kissing him often.

In the moment I couldn’t resist, and he didn’t pull away.

He seemed to welcome it. When I pull back his eyes are shining and his lips are wet and slightly parted.

With his sleep-mussed hair he looks incredibly sexy.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I couldn’t help it.”

“You’re s-sorry for kissing me?” He frowns.

“No, not for the kiss. Sorry if I misread the situation and overstepped.”

“Reece, I’ve been waiting t-twenty years for that kiss,” he says huskily.

Oh!

“I want to do it again.” This time he connects his lips with mine and I pull him closer, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“I need a shower,” he mutters breathlessly when we stop.

He climbs off the bed and it takes all of my willpower not to pull him back and kiss him some more, but if I do, I won’t be able to stop there.

This feels like it could be the start of something and I don’t want to rush it.

He heads into the bathroom, taking his clothes with him, and I stay where I am, giving my boner time to go away.

I’m slightly disappointed when he reappears fully dressed, but also thankful that he is.

“Thank you,” he says, taking a drink of the coffee I brought him. “You bringing me pastries is turning into a habit.”

My heart does a little leap that he’d consider something a habit—that we might have habits together.

“Next time I’ll take you for breakfast,” I say.

“I’ll hold you to that.” He laughs and I realize he was probably just making a joke. I rein in my thoughts, annoyed that I read too much into it.

We walk along to the garage, and I tell him the extent of the town I discovered last night on my walk. I hang back while he goes to talk to the mechanic, instead walking over to the fence and staring out at the view. Holden joins me after a few minutes. He blows out a breath.

“He says it won’t be today.”

“What? How?” I turn and look over to the mechanic, who looks wholly unconcerned.

“He says the part is out of stock at the supplier and it’ll take an extra day to get here.”

“Really?” I can’t believe it.

“It is an old car. I guess they don’t keep parts in stock if they don’t need them very often.” He seems very calm about it, which surprises me.

“Okay.” I pull out my phone. “My mom could come and pick us up, or we could get a bus back to the city and get a rental car. We could be back in Gomillion by late afternoon.”

“Or not,” Holden says and I frown at him. “We’re at least two and a half hours away. We could get back, but then we’d have to come all the way back tomorrow to get my car. So instead, we could just stay here.” I can kind of see his logic, but still . . .

“Here? In this one-horse town and the motel with only one room?” I hadn’t actually seen any horses on my walk but I think Holden got the point.

“Well, I was thinking more along the lines of, I like spending time with you.”

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I-I didn’t mean it.”

“I can’t refuse if you say it like that,” I say and receive a beautiful smile.

“What about the store, though?” I ask, and Holden’s eyes go wide as if he’d forgotten.

“Shit!” He grimaces. I guess he had, then.

He calls Clara, first checking that everything is fine in the store.

I hear my name mentioned and he moves off out of earshot, but he keeps glancing back at me with a small smile on his lips.

I can’t help but drink him in. I’ve been keeping a lid on what I’ve felt for so long, but now I’ve told him the truth, it’s like the floodgates have opened. I just hope he feels the same way.

“She’s good for another day,” he says, coming back and pocketing his phone.

“How did you manage to persuade her?” I ask, and he just gives me an enigmatic smile.

“Shall we see if the motel can accommodate us for another night?” he asks, walking off back toward it and leaving me to catch up.

“One room or two?”

“One of course,” he laughs, and my chest lightens at his easy manner.

We get booked in for another night—the lady looks like she hasn’t moved since the day before, and I think she’s grateful she doesn’t have to stir herself to clean it—then we walk to the 7-Eleven.

I hadn’t planned on staying one night, let alone two, and there’s only so long I can go without a toothbrush.

We buy what we need, and as it’s a fairly well-stocked store, I also buy a T-shirt so I have something clean to wear. So does Holden.

We spend the afternoon lying on the motel bed, watching bad TV and chatting, mostly about what’s on. At some point I put my arm round Holden and he snuggles into my side, which feels odd if I stop and examine it, but on another level so right, like that space has been waiting for him.

The diner is more than half full when we enter, and as everyone turns to look at us, I guess they’re all locals. After a few seconds they turn back to their own plates, and we slip into a booth and sit opposite each other. I order mac and cheese and Holden gets the lasagna.

“I have a question.” I say once our food arrives and the waitress has gone away.

“Oh, this sounds ominous,” Holden says tightly, but I want to reassure him.

“Not really, I’m just curious.”

“What about?”

“With looking for a store in the city, were you planning to leave Gomillion?”

“It would be a necessary step, yes.”

“Doesn’t that bother you? Or your parents?”

He puts down his fork and finishes his mouthful, taking a drink of his soda before he answers.

“My parents have never held me back. They’d be supportive wherever I choose to go. I do worry about them as they get older, but they’re in good health and I can get back to them if I need to. I don’t stay in Gomillion because I love it, I-I’ve just never had a reason to leave.”

He meets my eyes for a few seconds before picking his fork back up and tucking into the rest of his meal.

When we’re back in the room, Holden settles into one of the chairs.

“Now what are we going to do?” he asks.

“Well, you’re the one who contrived to get us to share a room for another night,” I say, and he laughs. “Did you pay the mechanic to take a day longer?”

“No, I-I swear I didn’t.” He holds up his hands in an expression of not guilty. “The car bit is true.”

I walk over to where he’s sitting and hold out my hand, and when he takes it I pull him up to standing. “Well, I’d like to do a bit more of this,” I say, pressing a kiss to the side of his mouth. “Or this.” I kiss the other side.

“Hmmm, yes, this is a good plan,” he whispers. I pull back and look at him.

“I’m going to be honest here, we’re not going to be doing much more than kissing. I want to go slowly, see where this takes us.”

He nods and smiles. “Sounds good, as long as it doesn’t take another twenty years.” Then he kisses me and walks me backward until I hit the bed and sit down. He straddles my lap and I catch him round the waist. He looks down at me, a gleam in his eye.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” I ask.

“No, I plan for it to be very hard.”

I groan, partly from his terrible joke but mostly because he puts a hand to the back of my head and smashes his mouth against mine.

It turns out that making out like teenagers is much hotter than I imagined it would be, but I keep my promise and apart from kissing, half undressing each other, and running my hands over his skin, we don’t take it any further.

Eventually, tired and with lips bruised and tingling, we curl up in bed.

I pull him into me, content to spoon him while we sleep.

My heart is full and I recognize it as happiness, unfamiliar as I haven’t felt it for so long.

I tighten my arm around him, and he hums in contentment that nearly makes my heart burst.

“Reece?” he whispers in the darkness.

“Hmm?” I acknowledge that I’m still awake.

“I just w-wanted to say I forgive you.”

“Thank you,” I murmur, unable to say any more. Instead, I press a line of kisses across the back of his shoulder, grateful for the darkness that hides the tears running down my cheeks.