Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“I’m glad I met this version of you, too.”
Abby’s long brown locks blew in the evening breeze. She looked more beautiful than ever. I wanted nothing more than to take her upstairs and worship her body tonight. It was the first time I’d yearned to be inside of someone for reasons other than escapism in as long as I could remember. But I vowed not to go there. I was leaving. But God, did I want it, did I crave her.
She shivered.
“Are you cold?” I asked.
“A little.” Her teeth chattered.
I thought about grabbing a sweater from inside but instead—despite the vow I’d just made to myself—I prompted her to sit on my lap. “Come here.” Abby settled in as I wrapped my arms around her.
“I wish I had more time here with you,” she said, resting the back of her head on my chest. “Actually, I wish I could freeze time right now.”
“Me, too.” I rubbed her arms. “But I have one thing to look forward to when I get back.”
“What’s that?”
“Not needing to kill every man at work for making a move on you.”
She turned to look at me. “Were you really jealous?”
“Unfortunately, I was.”
“Is it because I’m carrying your baby? Or something more?”
“Well, considering I started feeling this way before I knew you were pregnant, pretty sure you have your answer.”
“You like me, Sig, but you don’t know what to do with it.”
I squeezed her. “I have some ideas tonight.”
“You won’t go there, though.”
“Is that a dare?”
“No, it’s not. I think you’re too scared to fuck something up, especially before you leave tomorrow. And I get it.”
“You’re underestimating my weakness.” I nuzzled her neck, feeling my dick stir. “Have you looked at yourself lately?”
“Not really…”
“You’re blossoming into kryptonite. I can’t stop looking at you.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“I’ve never been good at hiding it, have I?”
“Is it just physical attraction or something more?”
“It’s definitely not just physical attraction, Abby.”
After a long moment of silence, she muttered, “Britney was lucky.”
I blinked, taken aback. “Because she’s dead?” I quipped, immediately regretting my sarcasm.
“No, of course not.” She squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry if that sounded insensitive.”
“I know you didn’t mean it that way. I was being a sarcastic arse.”
“I meant because you loved her so strongly. I think we all have to learn to love ourselves, so it doesn’t matter whether anyone feels as strongly about us as we do about ourselves. But finding someone who loves you that deeply is really rare and special. Of course she wasn’t lucky to have passed. I didn’t mean to imply that. But she was lucky to have found you before she did.”
I swallowed. “I didn’t know I was capable of love until I met her. Didn’t even know what it felt like.”
“It takes a special person to bring it out in someone so resistant to it.”
I sucked in some air, anxious to change the subject. “Were you in love with that boyfriend—the one who hurt you?”
“I definitely thought I loved Asher. But in retrospect, I couldn’t have possibly loved someone who didn’t love me back. One-sided love is a delusion. Because how could you love someone who doesn’t return it? Him hurting me took away any love I thought I had for him, if that makes sense. It was erased.”
“Of course.”
“But you know, in the end, the breakup didn’t hurt me as much as it should’ve. It wasn’t like I couldn’t eat or anything. I would think losing your great love would nearly paralyze you.”
Boy, did I understand that. “Yeah.”
“So I don’t think he was ever the one. Which means it wasn’t that great of a loss.”
“Probably not, if you got over it fairly quickly.”
She sighed. “Lucky me. That probably means my greatest heartbreak is yet to come.”
“I hope not.” What I wanted to say was, I hope it’s not me.
She hopped off my lap. “As much as I don’t want this day to end, I think we should go upstairs.”
I stood. “I never properly showed you the upstairs, did I?”
“Lead the way.”
I took her hand as we reentered the house and headed up to tour each room. Abby would be sleeping in the bedroom Leo had stayed in all those years ago, while I took my old room for nostalgia’s sake.
We were standing in her room when she said, “Thank you for an amazing day.” Abby placed a firm kiss on my lips, and that was all it took. When she pulled back, her eyes fell to my crotch. “Are you saluting me?”
My dick was completely hard and clearly not ready to bid her adieu yet. “It’s saying goodnight.”
“Ah.”
My eyes went to her breasts. She hadn’t been wearing a bra all day, which was torture. At nearly five months along, Abby was showing only slightly, but her swollen breasts were another story altogether.
“Do you want to touch them?” she asked, her voice barely audible.