Page 35 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Come with me,” Eli says, taking my hand and leading me off the dance floor.

“Where are we going?”

“Have you done this yet?” Eli points to the rented photo booth tucked in the far corner of the restaurant that Lainey and Rem had brought in for the night.

“No, I haven’t.” I smirk at him. I had asked Bennett if he wanted to take pictures in here with me earlier, but he refused. Shocker.

“Let’s do it.” Eli pulls me inside, closing the long, red velvet curtain.

The bench is technically meant for two people, and I try to wedge myself between Eli and the wall. But he is massive and takes up way more space than the average human.

Laughing he says, “Here,” then plucks me from my spot and places me on his lap. We just freeze and stare at each other. Eli swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing behind his loosened tie. “That’s much better.”

I feel like I’m hammered right now, but I only had two glasses of champagne spaced out over several hours. So I know that this feeling is not from the sweet bubbles I had been sipping but from the man wrapping his arms around me, his sandalwood scent and pheromones engulfing me, making me drunk on Eli.

I wiggle on his lap to adjust my angle more in the direction of the camera, and he lets out a pained groan. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” He clears his throat. “Let’s take the pictures.” Eli smiles at me, genuine happiness washing over the space between us.

“Alright it says that we get six different poses and it will print two copies, so we will each get to keep one.” I read off the directions to the side of the camera lens. “Ready?”

“Yup.” Eli presses his face right up next to mine and smiles as I hit the button. I can’t help but lean into him, his warmth, and grin as the flash captures the moment.

We have a few seconds before the next one and Eli says, “Quick, silly face.”

He puffs out his cheeks, and I toss my head back laughing as the flash goes off again.

“You are terrible at this, you were supposed to make a face with me!” he scolds.

We are looking into each other’s eyes smiling when the flash goes off again.

Eli reaches up and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, and the flash goes off again.

We lean into each other, foreheads touching, hearts pounding, and my eyes close as the camera flashes again.

Then I look at Eli, his eyes smoldering with longing, lust, and years of history. “Fuck it,” he says, and his mouth crashes into mine as the camera flashes for the final time.

Our mouths move together in a homecoming. Hot, passionate, and perfect. His tongue claims every corner of my mouth, and I moan, grinding down on his lap.

Suddenly Eli pulls back. “Shit, shit,” he says in pain, his eyes pinched shut.

“Oh, sorry. Are you okay? What happened? Did I hurt you?” I run my eyes all over his body searching for an injury I can’t find.

“Yes and no,” Eli laughs.

“What the hell does that mean,” I say, trying to get off his lap, but he holds me in place, running his hand up my arm and cupping the back of my neck.

His cheeks turn pink in embarrassment, something I don’t think I have ever seen on Eli before. “Remember when we called you from Keller’s? At the bachelor party?”

“We didn’t know you were at Keller’s tattoo shop at the time, but Lainey told us about Rem’s new tattoo afterward. Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, I didn’t believe him when Keller told me that he tattooed you, because I know how afraid of needles you are—like me.” He looks sheepish, and I just wait. “So I told the guys there was no way it was true, and if it was, I would get . . .”

“Get what?” I ask with a huge smile. “Holy shit, did you get a tattoo?”

“No . . . I bet them that if you really did let Keller tattoo you that I would . . . get my dick pierced,” Eli mumbles, rubbing his hand over his face.

“No fucking way!” I yell.