he Resolution of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence, #6)(32)

I nod. ‘More than anything.’ Then I hesitate. ‘Is this what you want, though?’

She eyes me over for a moment or two longer like she’s searching for a hidden answer somewhere inside me. She must find it because suddenly she’s dropping the board onto the ground and throwing her arms around me.

‘Of course this is what I want.’ She hugs me more tightly than one would expect those thin arms of hers to be capable of. ‘I’ve wanted it for a long time.’

I hug her back with everything I have in me. ‘I think I have, too, but was afraid to admit it to myself, afraid to let myself have something good.’ I pull back to look at her. ‘Sorry it took me so long. Do you forgive me?’

‘There’s nothing to forgive.’ She slides her hand down my arm and threads our fingers, beaming as she looks up at me. ‘Now, let’s go see it.’

I scoop up the now soaked whiteboard and lead the way across the park to the sidewalk where we trot up the stairs of building number three.

When we reach the second floor, I take the key out of my pocket and nervously unlock the door, fumbling a few times before I finally manage it.

‘Welcome home,’ I say, then push the door open.





Chapter 15


#156 Welcome Home (Yeah, I know it’s the same as #155, but it seemed too epic not to get two numbers. Plus, the first time around it got erased).



Callie


‘It’s really small,’ Kayden says as he steps aside to let me enter our apartment. Yes, our apartment. ‘But it’s what we can afford, so …’ He trails off, ruffling his damp hair into place as he closes the door.

‘That’s okay.’ I take in the space that I’ll now call home. It’s not furnished yet, so it probably looks bigger than it really is. There’s a living room, which I’m standing in, and it’s attached to the dining room/kitchen that has a doorway that I assume leads to the bedroom. The space in front of me is about twice the size of the dorms, which sounds big, but it’s really not. I don’t care, though. At all. ‘I could live in a storage room and be okay with it as long as you were there.’ I’m starting to sound like one of those sappy romance books, but oh well – it seems fitting for the moment.

‘So you’re okay with it?’ Kayden stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans, appearing anxious. His brown hair still has drops of snow in it and his cheeks are red from the cold, and I just want to throw my arms around him and hug the crap out of him again.

So I do.

‘It’s perfect,’ I tell him, squeezing him tightly so he’ll know just how happy I am. His arms circle around me and we share our first hug in our very first home. ‘But I have to make sure’ – I slant back and tip my chin to look up at him – ‘that you’re okay with this because we’ve only been talking about it and then all of a sudden you get a place, and I just want to make sure that it’s what you really want because I don’t want you to feel pressure or anything. I can wait if I need to.’

He snorts a laugh, and when my brows knit, he says, ‘Sorry. It’s just that you kind of sounded like a teenage guy right there trying to convince his girlfriend he’ll wait to have sex with her.’

My cheeks heat, but I start to think about if he ever used that line on Daisy and my elation sinks. But then I realize that it doesn’t matter what happened with Daisy because he and I are here and he’s mine now, not hers.

‘You want to show me the bedroom?’ I give him my best come-hither look that probably comes off more along the lines of looking confused. At least, that’s what I think until his eyes drink me in and he bites at his bottom lip hard.

‘You’re starting to get a dirty mind.’ His smoldering gaze and husky voice sends warm tingles across my skin.

‘It must be Seth’s influence on me.’ My voice is off pitch. ‘Sometimes, it’s like he’s still going through puberty.’

Kayden shakes his head, laughing softly under his breath. ‘All right, no more talking. Let’s go show you our bedroom.’

We’re about halfway across the living room before our lips connect and the clothes start coming off. Shirts are discarded, shoes are kicked off, and we end up leaving a trail of clothing to the bedroom. It’s a little chilly in there, but I don’t care. Kayden can keep me warm, which is exactly what I tell him as we sink to our knees on the tan carpet and I yank his belt off.

‘We should do this every night,’ he says, unhooking my bra and pulling it off. ‘Only in a bed.’

‘No way. We should totally do it on the floor,’ I mutter between the kisses he’s showering me with on my lips, the arch of my neck, the spot where my heart beats.

He mutters something else, but trails off as my fingers skim down his chest to the top of his jeans. Flicking the button undone, I slip my fingers into his boxers and he groans, biting at my skin.

‘Callie …’ The sound of my name in that raspy voice he uses covers my arms with goose bumps. I become impatient, more than I ever have been before. It’s crazy, but the last few weeks have been intense, and I can feel myself changing, becoming more comfortable with myself and who I am with Kayden, so I let my hands wander downward and grasp onto his hardness, something I’ve never done so boldly before.