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“It doesn’t excuse, in any way, how I acted, but I was just so…”
“Hurt? Angry?”
“Yes.”
She turns her hand in mine, interlacing our fingers.
“A few days later, Mom came by and helped me realize a few things. And one of them is that it isn’t my fault my father’s a horrible person. It isn’t Thomas’s either, for that matter.”
Bell releases my hand so she can cup the sides of my face. “Of course it isn’t your fault. Anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously a douche-canoe.”
“Douche-canoe?” I laugh, causing her to smile. She moves to lower her hands, but I hold them in place with my own, careful of her sore knuckles. “That’s just one of the many reasons I love you. Your ability to insult with flair.” I slide her hands together in front of me, planting a gentle kiss on them.
“You didn’t love me enough not to leave.”
Guilt slices at me. “I know words are just words. As Elvis says, more action, less talk.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling, so I keep going.
“I know I left. I really wish I hadn’t. Please know that once I finally stopped being a douche-canoe”—her smile gets a little bigger— “I realized leaving was the complete opposite of what I should’ve done.” I kiss her hands again. “I’m not very good at talking about… feelings stuff.”
She snorts.
“But I promise you I will get better. I won’t shut you out. Because I love you so goddamn much, Campbell Dougherty.”
She leans forward until her forehead rests against mine. “Chase Moore. What am I going to do with you?” Her Southern twang sends shivers down my spine, putting my hopeful dick on alert.
“Love me tender?”
“Chase,” she warns, pulling back.
“No?” I wink at her. “How about loving me sweet?”
“You can’t keep using the King against me.” She tries to look cross, but her smile wins. “It’s not fair.”
“Never let me go,” I whisper.
Sighing, she lies back on the loveseat, opening her arms for me. “Okay,” she whispers back.
Shifting forward, I brace my arms on either side of her, stopping just short of kissing. The moonlight filtering in through the front window ignites amber sparks in her brown eyes. “I love you.”
Her eyes crinkle slightly at the corners. “I love you too, Chase.”
And then she kisses me. Soft and searching. I kiss her back, putting everything I feel for her in every touch, every breath. My hands tangle in her hair, hers drifting up and down my back.
“I missed you, Bell. So much.”
She tilts her head, giving me access to the column of her slender throat. “Show me. Show me how much you missed me.”
I do. I kiss her for what seems like hours. Until she’s yanking my shirt out of my jeans.
“Ow.” She pulls back her hand, cradling it to her chest.
“Careful, baby.” I kiss her bruised knuckles. “Let me.”
“But you’re taking too long.” The whine in her voice is adorable.
“Patience.”
