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“Will I what?”
“Take responsibility.”
She straightens, that dreamy look fading from her eyes, replaced by insecurity. “What are you saying, Gray?” she asks, her voice soft.
“Tell me you’re mine, Aria. Tell me that from this day forward, I get to call you mine.”
She stares at me, her eyes wide. “Gray,” she whispers. “Don’t you think we’re rushing into things? It was one kiss. I’m worried you aren’t thinking clearly. It was just a heat of the moment thing, and that’s okay. I don’t need you to suddenly… I… I get it.”
I sit back in my seat and cross my arms. “I don’t think you do,” I tell her. “Because that question was really just a formality. Youaremine, Aria. I’m fine with taking a bit more time to convince you, but that won’t change the facts. I’m fucking crazy about you, and I have been for months. Hell… I’m pretty sure I love you.”
She looks flustered, and I decide there and then that I love that look on her too. I love catching her off guard.
“Say it,” I tell her.
Aria’s lips tip up in a smile, and she leans forward, giving me a glimpse down her dress. Is there any part of her that isn’t beautiful? I doubt it.
“I’m yours, Gray.”
I smile. “Good girl,” I murmur.
“But that’s a two-way street, Gray,” she says, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
“I’m yours, Aria. I think I may well have been yours from the second you first smiled at me. When you welcomed me into your home and showed me what family looks like, what it feels like. Over the years you’ve stolen more of my heart, until eventually, I had none of it left because it was entirely in your hands.”
I entwine our fingers and look away. “Do with it what you will,” I tell her. “It is yours to keep.”
“I’m worried,” she tells me, and I turn to face her. The insecurity in her eyes breaks my heart. It wasn’t me who put it there, but I’ll be the one to take it away.
“I’m worried that you’ll leave me, Gray. That you’ll get bored, or that you’ll meet someone far better than me. I’m worried that we’re risking everything for what might end up being nothing more than a fling.”
The desperation in her voice tells me she truly believes this lunacy, and it astounds me. I wish she could see herself through my eyes. She’s so perfect for me, it’s almost like she was fucking made for me.
“Then we’ll take it slow, Aria. Whatever you need, I’ll give you. So long as you promise me you’re mine, I won’t ask more of you.”
“What about Noah?” she asks.
I look away, a tinge of worry settling deep within me. “You’re worth everything to me, Aria. I have no doubt that Noah will think I’m not good enough for you, and he’d be right… but I’m willing to prove myself. He might be mad at first, but he can’t stay mad forever. It might take a few weeks, or it might take months. Either way, I’m not going anywhere, and he’ll have to deal with that.”
She looks at me as though she wants to believe me, and I hope she does. I don’t think she’d ever be able to understand how much I’m willing to give up for her. Noah is the only person I truly consider family, and if it comes down to it… I’d still choose Aria over him. It should scare me how easy that choice is to make, but it doesn’t.
Aria and I… we’ve been years in the making. We just didn’t know it.
41
Aria
I giggle when Grayson presses another kiss to my lips. This entire week has been perfect, and getting to touch him like this is a dream come true. We haven’t done more than kiss, but even that has been perfect. I thought he’d be impatient with me, or that he’d push for more, but he hasn’t. He makes it clear that he wants me, without ever making me feel bad for wanting to take it a little slow.
“We’re supposed to be finishing some work,” I tell him, and he smiles sheepishly, pulling me down on the sofa with him.
“I can’t believe you expect me to work when you’re in my arms, Ari. I can’t. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this? Every night when you’d watch TV with me, all I could think about was pulling you closer and finding out if your lips are as soft as they look. I have so much lost time to make up for.”
He tangles his hand through my hair and pulls me close, his lips hovering over mine. “I used to imagine this,” he whispers before kissing me, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.
He pulls me onto his lap, and I moan against his lips. He keeps one hand in my hair while the other roams over my body, settling on my ass, his grip tight.
I can feel how hard he is, and I love this. I love how blatantly he wants me. His hand slips underneath the oversized T-shirt I’m wearing today, and I tense when his fingers brush the underside of my bra.
