My Favorite Souvenir(91)

“Fuck yes, I can.”

I couldn’t take her mouth fast enough, letting out an exasperated breath that she likely felt at the back of her throat. With each second that passed as I devoured her lips, I realized it didn’t matter why she was late, why there was a random kitten here, or why her hair looked like she’d been electrocuted.

I was just happy to have her in my arms. That was all that mattered.

As I lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around my waist. And I got the sudden urge to carry her over to the wall.

She worked to unbuckle my pants as I slid hers down. Within seconds, I’d moved her panties to the side and pushed myself into her beautiful, warm pussy. Hazel raked her fingers through my hair as we fucked against the wall in a primal frenzy. As I rocked into her, it felt like I was letting out all of the tension and fear that had built up inside of me over the past twenty-four hours.

When I felt her muscles squeeze against my cock, I let go, holding the back of her head in the palm of my hand to protect it as I came hard inside of her. It was the fastest sex we’d ever had, but probably the most intense orgasm of my life.

“I love you so much, Hazel,” I said, panting as I looked down at her.

“I love you, too, Matteo. I thought I’d never get here in time to tell you. And Happy Valentine’s Day. I bought you something, but I realized when I got to the airport that I’d forgotten to pack it. I guess today has been one screw up after the next.”

I pushed the hair from her face. “There’s nothing you could give me better than the gift you just did—your heart. Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.”

When the kitten meowed, that was my cue to slowly put Hazel down. She escaped to the bathroom as I tucked myself back into my pants and the kitten circled my legs. It still felt surreal.

When Hazel reemerged, I held out my hand, leading her over to the bed. She rested her head on my chest as she started to explain things.

“I missed my flight. There was a huge traffic backup due to construction on 95. So even though I left for the airport several hours early, I didn’t make it in time. And the only flight that would get me here at a reasonable hour was one that landed at an airport a few hundred miles away from here.”

My eyes widened. “You drove part of the way here? Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve left earlier and met you.”

She sighed. “Well, for one, my phone died on the plane.”

“Shit.”

“As soon as I landed and got a rental car, I drove to a gas station to get a charger, but after I took off from there, I got a flat before my phone could charge up.”

Shit.

“Oh, baby. I’m sorry.” I kissed her head.

Getting teary eyed again, she continued, “I didn’t want to wait on the side of the road. Since I wasn’t that far away from the gas station, I drove back there again on the bad tire. While I was getting it changed, this adorable stray kitten appeared out of nowhere. The mechanic told me the mother had abandoned a bunch of her litter. She was weaving in and out of my legs and actually really helped calm me down, because by that time, I was freaking out.” She wiped her eyes. “I couldn’t just leave her. So I took her with me and drove off.”

“And you drove straight here?”

She shook her head. “That’s not exactly what happened. About twenty minutes into my drive, I realized my phone was missing. I assumed I’d left it back at the gas station when I was getting my tire changed.”

I cringed. “Hazel, this story is crazier than the entire last three months put together.”

“It gets better.” She sniffled and laughed a little. “I was never able to find my phone at the gas station, so I drove all the way here with no phone.”

“Jesus.”

“But when I went to get my luggage out of the trunk just now, there was my phone. I must have dropped it there when I was looking for the spare tire at the gas station.”

As soon as she said that, the craziest realization hit. “Holy crap.” Trunk.

“What?”

“I came to town a day early. One of the things I did to pass the time was visit that psychic, Zara. She told me something that made absolutely no sense until now.”

“Uh-oh. What?”

“She told me an apple I’d be looking for was in the trunk of the car. I was thinking red apple, like the fruit. Now I realize she was seeing the Apple phone in your damn trunk.”

She chuckled. “It was no more an apple than I am a hazelnut, apparently.”

“No shit. This is crazy.”

“What else did she say?”

I scratched my head trying to remember. “Something about a bull…like the one that represents the Taurus sign. You didn’t stop at a saloon on the way here and ride one of those mechanical bulls, did you?”

Her eyes moved from side to side as she pondered. “You said Taurus? My rental car is a Taurus.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, mystery solved.”

The kitten jumped onto the bed and landed at our feet.

I placed my hand on Hazel’s cheek and stared into her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

She breathed in deeply. “It took me a while to get to this place—both literally and figuratively. Even though in my heart I knew you weren’t keeping that information from me to be malicious, it really hurt.”