Falling Down(129)

"Unh," she shouts and I grin. She doesn't realize she does that, but I know what it means when she does. She did the same thing when we met in Chicago.
When her body stills, I roll us to our sides, our gazes still locked.
Her eyes drift closed.
"Hey, no hiding," I tell her quietly.
Her eyes open, full of tears. "It's just so much."
I nod. "But it's ours."
Her lips quiver. "It's ours," she whispers.
"I knew it'd be you," I confess.
"What'd be me," she asks, sniffling.
"I knew in Chicago that it'd be you that I loved."
"What?" she whispers.
I nod and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't want to leave you that day and if it hadn't been for the bodyguards I probably wouldn't have."
"I didn't want you to."
"I know. The timing was off then, just a bit. You were too young and I wasn't ready for you."
"And you're ready now?"
I consider that for a minute. "How can anyone be ready for… this? For you? I would have probably run away if I hadn't been smacked upside the head when you sang. You're so beautiful, you're an extremely talented actress, and you've got the voice of an angel--well, with a little devil mixed in," I say with a smirk and she giggles.
"Best. Sound. Ever."
"What?"
"When you giggle."
"I don't giggle."
I lift a brow. "You just did, Luce, and it's an amazing thing. Hearing you happy… yeah. Best sound ever--aside from you screaming my name out when you come because, baby, there is absolutely nothing better than when you do that."
She giggles again. Her eyes widen and she does it again.
"Well, Jesse Kingston, not only do you get me to fall in love with you," she tells me, running her fingertip down my cheek, "you also get me to giggle."
My heart swells when she tells me she's fallen in love with me. I swear it's going to burst. There's no way it can get much bigger than it is right now without exploding.
"I think you win, though."
"How's that?"
"Well, you captured my attention six years ago, enchanted me with your voice the first minute of our second meeting, left me wanting more after the first time we had sex--that never happens, I'm just saying. Then I wanted you around, in my life, in my bed--all the time. You got me to want a relationship and you opened my heart to love. I'd have to say you win."
She shakes her head, those damn tears slipping down her cheeks. I reach up and wipe them away. "No, Jesse. I think we both win, don't you?"
I know my smile is probably goofy and huge but I don't care. "Yeah, Lucy. I'd have to say we both win."
"Always on equal terms. That's how love should be. If it's not, then it's not love."
I nod. "Thank you," I whisper.
"For what?"
"Not using this against me, my--," I draw in a breath, "my vulnerability. It's difficult for me--to feel this without feeling weak or exposed."
"Oh, no, Jesse. Never. Never, ever would I do that. That's not love. That's cruel and I could never be cruel to you. What--?" she breaks off, unsure if she should ask.
"It's okay. I'll tell you. There's a reason why I swore to never be in a relationship and it's a pretty f*cking good one."
"Okay."
"You see, my parents never really loved each other. They hooked up at a party one night and one night turned into a series of nights that they f*cked. They didn't care about each other. They just wanted to f*ck."
She nods.
"So, when the condom broke and my mom found out she was pregnant, her parents flipped their shit. Being as she'd grown up with my dad, her parents knew his parents and next thing you know there's a shotgun wedding."