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I work the muscles in his back for the next twenty minutes. When I’m finished, I give his bubble butt a gentle pat, and set the CBD gel back on his nightstand. “I hope that helps.”
“My toes aren’t tingling anymore, so it helped already.” He turns over carefully, and gazes up at me. “Thank you.”
I let my eyes roam over his bare torso. “I’ll get you something to go with your breakfast. Orange juice, coffee, or water?”
“Water is fine.”
I move to get up, but he grips my thigh, holding me in place. His eyes search mine, like he’s waiting for the answer to a question he hasn’t asked. Like he can hear the thoughts running wild in my head.
“Do you regret it?”
My eyebrows pinch together. “What?”
“Do you regret kissing me, or what we did last night?”
Understanding clicks into place. “No. Not at all.” I cup his face. “Why would you ask that?”
His eyes bounce between mine. “Just making sure. We haven’t had a chance to talk about it, and I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m more than okay. This weekend was ...” Our camping trip flashes through my mind. The hike. The experience of Thunder Hole. The view from the top of the lighthouse. The body-tingling, toe-curling, mind-blowing kiss we shared, followed by the steamy bath we took together. I bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling like a loon. “This was the best weekend I’ve ever had.”
Bryce tugs the end of my braid, pulling my lips down to his. “Mine too.”
I grin. “Says the man who literally won the Super Bowl.”
“That was pretty damn cool.” His smile fades as his onyx eyes lock on mine. “But it’s incomparable to the feeling I get when I’m with you.”
Butterflies don’t just swarm my belly—they take over my entire body, their wings fluttering out along my arms and legs. “And what feeling is that?”
“The kind of feeling that puts your soul at ease, that quiets the racket in your head. It calms your whole being, and you’re perfectly content doing nothing at all as you lie together, listening to the rain fall.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “The kind of feeling where everything that seemed important before doesn’t matter anymore, because you finally realize this is the way life is meant to be spent. This is what it’s all about.”
My bottom lip trembles, and a tear trickles down my cheek. Bryce catches it, and swipes it away with his thumb. I close my eyes, leaning into his gentle touch.
“That wasn’t supposed to make you sad,” he whispers.
I shake my head. “I’m not sad. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel something other than sadness.”
“But ...?”
I pause. “It just feels like we don’t have enough time.”
Bryce pushes himself to sit up, wincing as he moves. He props himself up against the headboard. “You’re thinking about the end of the summer.”
I nod, looking down at my lap.
He tips my chin, and brings my eyes back to his. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”
“You have?”
“It’s hard not to.” He lifts a shoulder. “Maybe we should talk about it.”
I wring my hands. “We probably should.”
He pats the spot beside him. I scoot across the mattress, and he takes my hand as he speaks. “Do you think we should stop, and go back to the way things were before we kissed?”
“No.” I turn to look at him. “Do you?”
“I’m not stopping unless you tell me to.”
