“Because it hasn’t been long enough. We don’t know enough about each other to fall in love.” That’s a lie and I feel it in my core that I love him too, but the fear of the newness of our relationship is clamming me up, big time.
“Who says there needs to be a time frame for falling in love? Huh?” he questions.
Tears well in my eyes as they connect with his, and I let a stray tear fall as a small smile flickers across my face.
“I love you, Kate, and I have for a lot longer than you think.”
I tilt my head to the side, wondering what he means.
“When I first saw you, it was the first day of ninth grade. You were wearing that white tank top with embroidered flowers around the neck.” My intake of breath fills the car and I struggle to catch my breath. “You were cold that day so you brought a red cardigan and I remember seeing your Converse shoes that were worn and torn around the edges and realizing you were the girl of my dreams.”
I shake my head because this is too much.
“How…” I struggle to get words out because I had no idea. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, wondering how different my life would have been back then if I had someone like Drew to lean on.
“You were too beautiful for me. I was just the overweight nerd who stared a little too long. I didn’t have a shot.”
I go to shake my head, wanting that not to be true, but having a sinking feeling that the person I was back then would have done exactly what he just said.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s in the past, but that foundation of admiration was there for years, and when you walked back into my life it grew, and it grew faster than I expected.”
The tears are falling harder now, his sister’s house forgotten.
“I’m sorry for all those years. I was a bitch, and no one, especially you, deserved what I did back then.” I expect his words, what I don’t expect are his fingers to drag through my loose hair and grip the back of my neck.
“Don’t do that. We were both different people back then.”
I nod, taking a shaky breath, wondering if I can get the words out before I chicken out.
“Before I say it back.” I smirk, his smile lighting up his expression as his hands trail down my face and arms until they’re resting on my hips. “I need you to know how much the last few weeks have meant to me. Without knowing it, you’ve been my rock, my safe space to be vulnerable and that isn’t something I take lightly. My mother was the only person to see that side of me, and for that and so many things… I love you, Drew. I love you so fucking much it scares me.”
He smiles, those eyes boring into mine.
“Fucking right you do,” he mutters before taking my lips in a kiss that I expect to be passionate but turns out to be one of the softest, lightest kisses of my entire life, and in that moment, I know I’m home. He is my home.
“Hey, perverts!” Addison calls from her front porch as both of our eyes turn to see five people leaning on the railing and smiling. “Want to come and join us and not give my neighbors a free show?” she teases as the heat travels up my cheeks.
Shit. This is not how I wanted to meet everyone again for the first time.
“Calm down, being embarrassed in front of my family is like a rite of passage,” Drew jokes as he opens the door and lifts me off his lap, and sets me on the driveway.
It’s not until he’s out of the car, his arm around my shoulders, that I finally begin to relax. Having five pairs of eyes staring at me as we walk causes my hands to shake and before I can run away like I want, I’m introduced to everyone, one by one.
“I see why Drew likes you,” Max teases, his eyes sparkling with mischief and when Drew punches him in the arm and they both laugh, I take a breath.
“Don’t worry about them. You’ll get used to it,” Addison says, taking my hand and pulling me away from the boys. “You want a glass of wine? I think we have a lot to talk about.”
I smile, nodding as I catch Drew’s gaze as he mouths that he loves me. In that moment, the warmth that disappeared the second my mother left this earth begins to fill my chest and I realize that this is what she wanted for me. This feeling of belonging and happiness.
She was right. I found it.
Epilogue
Drew
“Fuck, baby, just like that,” I mutter against the crook of her neck as the water cascades down both our bodies, my cock sinking deeper and deeper into my wife’s incredible pussy. We’ve been married for a year now and every day I thank the stars that she came back into town and moved in next door. She’s my light, my best friend and the sexiest fucking woman I have ever seen. Ever.
“Drew, please... I need to come,” Kate begs, her hands against the tiled wall, her legs spread as wide as they’ll go as I thrust hard against her ass.