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The mention of Rob doesn’t seem to be bothering her quite as much as it used to. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was actually looking forward to seeing him again.
I’m honestly not sure how that makes me feel, but I guess I can process that later.
“That’s a good idea,” I tell her, grabbing my car keys and pocketing my phone.
“Regina said she’d be ready by eight, so if we head over now we’ll be there just in time,” she smiles, and I swear she looks ten years younger.
It's amazing what not having to put up with the abuse every day will do to a person.
The drive over is only about twenty minutes, but I cut down a few random streets and circle back as Sander suggested I do, just to play it safe.
Rob’s car is already parked in the driveway when we pull in, and I see him talking with Regina around the side of the house. They’re both holding coffee cups, pointing at the number of shrubs and bushes growing around the yard.
She’s smiling and happy, and for a moment I catch a glimpse of what Keaton might look like in forty years. Hell, if I take after Rob, then that could be the both of us, waking up early in the morning, sipping our coffee over the rose bushes.
Keaton would get a kick out of that.
“Morning,” my mom calls as we step out of the car.
Regina and Rob turn, both greeting us with a cheerful wave.
I’m itching to get inside, but don’t want to be rude, so I stand and join in the conversation until Regina graciously gives me an out.
“Keaton’s awake if you’d like to go see her,” she says.
I thank her, taking her and Rob’s cup inside with me so that they can head to the store.
I hear shuffling around in the kitchen and head that way.
Keaton stands at the counter, making herself a cup of coffee. Her hair is wet and hanging down her back. I can smell her warm honey scent from here.
I step up behind her, placing the empty cups on the counter, and circle my arms around her waist.
The sigh that leaves her when she rests her weight against my chest fills me with so much happiness. If you had told me a year ago that I could ever feel like this, I would have told you that you were fucking crazy. But here I stand, head over heals in love with this girl.
Reaching up, I pull her hair around to one shoulder, and nuzzle into the crook of her neck, kissing the hollow beneath her ear.
“How was your first night?” I ask between kisses.
I know that I need to be gentle with her, but just earlier this week I thought that I might never get to hold her again, and the feeling of her warm skin beneath my lips, my arms circling her waist… it has me wanting to strip her bare right in this kitchen, just to make sure the moment is real.
“Honestly, you could have told me I spent the night in a five-star hotel, and I wouldn’t have even questioned it,” she says.
My chest rumbles against her back with laughter, and I place another kiss along her neck, slowly making my way down the column of her throat.
“That good, huh?”
“I passed out as soon as you left,” she admits, tipping her head to the side as I pull the sleeve of her shirt over her shoulder, trailing kisses over her as I go.
“Feeling refreshed?” I ask.
I slip my hand beneath her shirt, dragging my knuckles over her stomach. The sensation makes her tighten her abdomen, and I smooth the palm of my hand over her middle.
Her head drops back against my shoulder, and we just stand there like that. Her chest rises and falls in sync with mine. A gentle and consistent reminder that she’s still here with me.
When she turns around, the expression on her face mirrors every thought in my mind.
“Bodhi,” she whispers, her breath ghosting across my face.
