Page 205 of On the Breakaway

I barely finish the word before he’s reaching for me, and I’m reaching for him. When his lips find mine, it feels like coming home after being lost for far too long. Every unsaid thing we’ve been carrying for months dissolves like smoke between us.

It’s messy and desperate and so fucking relieved. He pulls me closer, and I move with him as if we’re both trying to make up for the last several hours in a single breath.

His hands cup my face, and mine tangle in his hair.

He fumbles with his seat, pushing it further away from the wheel as I climb over the center console and into his lap. His hands grip my waist, rubbing me against him until he groans into my mouth.

We pull back for air, and I rest my forehead against his while we watch each other.

“Who would’ve thought we’d end up here?” He murmurs.

“Not me.”

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Finally, he says the words I never thought I’d be ready to hear again: “I love you, too. I have for a while.”

His voice sounds wrecked as if the words have been trapped inside him, and he still can’t quite believe he’s allowed to say them.

I wait for the panic or the fear, but not a single doubt rings in my head. All I feel is happy.

“Say it again.”

“I love you, Chaos.”

I grin. “I hope so. Otherwise my little speech would be pretty embarrassing.”

“Now that you mention it,” he teases, planting soft kisses around my chin, then my cheek. “It might be the best thing anyone’s ever said to me; maybe we should write it down, you know, to make sure that I recite it correctly when we tell all of our friends.”

I nip his ear. “You’ll tell no one about my little speech.”

“C’mon, baby, it was cute.” He brushes his nose against mine, shifting me on his lap.

I scowl. “How about you tell them I love you, and that’s it?” I kiss his lips, slowly tracing them with my tongue as I pull back again.

“Deal. Done.” Then his hands roam over me while he flashes a devilish grin.

I giggle, leaning in to kiss him, this time falling deeper into it until his teeth nip at my bottom lip.

We aren’t trying to prove anything anymore.

We just kiss, our hands roaming each other’s bodies until eventually, I shift and accidentally set off the car horn. We break out in a fit of laughter, effectively killing the make-up make-out session that I could’ve gotten lost in forever.

I climb back over onto my side of the car, breathing hard.

“You scared the shit out of me,” I complain as he goes to put the car in drive.

He grabs my hand. “Well, you scared the shit out of me, too.”

I lift our hands, kissing his bruised knuckles. “Take me home.”

His eyes search mine.

“Your place.”

“No.”

A small smile pulls at his lips, and his hand tightens around mine. “Mine?”