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She’s in her usual spot with Paloma sitting on her left. Both are cradling mugs that emanate a light coil of steam. I know Addie’s would be coffee. A drop of cream. Two sugars.
She looks happy. Relaxed. Not at all like she regrets making rash decisions in the void of darkness.
“Did I ever tell you how stressed I was about introducing you to her?” Dad appears at my elbow with just his coffee cradled between his palms. “I’d heard horror stories of sibling rivalry, and I was terrified you wouldn’t like her. I was terrified that you would be mean and dismissive because even then, from the moment Paloma walked in with a ten-year-old Addie to meet me, all I wanted to do was to protect her. She was this tiny thing with big eyes and gaps in her teeth that whistled slightly when she talked, and I fell immediately in love with her. I never stopped. She’s been my baby for ten years and I would commit unimaginable crimes for her.”
I slant a glance in the other man’s direction, trying to gauge the reasoning behind this trip down memory lane.
His expression gives nothing away, but he slants me a glance from the corners of his eyes.
Without a word, he steps onto the patio and moves towards the two. They pause their conversation long enough for Dad to press a kiss to Paloma’s offered lips and claim the ottoman at her feet.
Addie rests her head back against the cushion and closes her eyes as our parents start discussing the small circus taking place all across the lawn. But my eyes are only for Addie. Addie with the sun tangling in her hair and highlighting the long fans of her lashes. Addie in her black, silk camisole and long wraparound skirt with the slit up the leg. My mind is lost in the possibility that she might be bare under, her sweet, perfect lips waiting for me to spread and explore. To tease until she’s gushing on my face, around my fingers.
Fuck, I love this woman. Love her with an obsessive madness I’m pretty sure should be studied. She consumes and wrecks me. I can’t stop staring.
Without rethinking my decision, I pull my phone from my back pocket and frame her in the lens. I snap a photo to add with all the others tucked away in the password protected folder on my device. So many of Addie that I don’t share with anyone. Photos of her I sneak peeks of throughout my day to keep me going when she’s not around. They’re my little secrets.
Satisfied it’s been tucked away safe, I text her and watch her phone buzz on the glass table. Her head jerks up at the sound. She scoops it up and reads the message.
I don’t recall holding my breath until she pushes to her feet, makes an excuse I don’t hear and hurries in my direction.
I edge back into the kitchen to wait for her. My heart is an anxious bird beating against its bone cage. I’m so nervous my stomach hurts. I don’t know what to brace for when she appears in the doorway, a vision draped in golden curtains of light.
Her eyes meet mine and I stop breathing for a heartbeat. Two. Waiting.
Her flawless face breaks into a smile that crashes through me with the power of a fist driving into my sternum. It expels the air I’d been holding in a rush.
“Hey.”
She closes the distance between us at an almost run and I catch her and squeeze her into my chest. My face finds its home in her neck, and I inhale her sweet honeysuckle scent.
She giggles and squeezes me tighter. “Miss me that much, huh?”
I shake my head. “I wasn’t sure if ... if maybe you changed your mind,” I confess into the steady pulse at her throat.
Addie jerks her head back. There’s fear in her eyes raking over my face. “Why would you think that? Did you?”
I tighten my hold.
“It can’t happen fast enough, Addie. I’d marry you right now if we could.”
She’s searching my face, apprehension a dark stain of worry on hers. “Are you sure?”
I kiss her.
I mold her into my chest, into the lines of my body like we’re puzzle pieces finally coming together. I back her into the island and pin her in place while I take my fill of her taste, her little moans. I melt under her gentle touch brushing up my shoulders to curve along the back of my neck.
“Marry me, Addie,” I whisper into her mouth.
Her eyes open to mine, the irises expanded to nearly consume the green.
“Yes.”
I can’t believe Addie’s mine. I can’t wrap my head around the knowledge that she’s going to be mine forever. It feels like a dream, and I’m terrified of waking up.
“Let’s tell them now,” I decide.
Addie smiles and kisses the tip of my nose. “Tomorrow. First thing. Let today be about them.”
