Unbreak My Heart(16)

Give. Take. Come. Stay.

I can feel the warmth from her hand. One stretch for us to reconnect, so I wait. Wait for her to put her hands on my face and press her lips against mine and kiss me like it’s been killing her not to.

But I can’t wait.

I break first, saying her name in a lonely, desperate rasp. “Holland.”

“Andrew.” Her voice is a whisper.

“Go with me,” I blurt out.

She blinks. “What?”

I shake my head.

Leaving the kitchen, I stalk to the living room, pacing like I can sort out what to do if I get just a few feet away from her.

She’s right behind me, her hand on my arm. “Say it again.”

I swivel around, and with her blue eyes on mine, her body close, I break to pieces. With her, my heart beats too fast, my blood pumps too quickly. I have no will to tell her to stop being so near to me but not near enough to make everything better.

“Say what again?” I ask, as if I’ve forgotten.

“Ask me,” she presses.

And she wins. She fucking wins. “Go with me. Come with me.”

She squeezes my arm. “Is that what you want?’

I cup her cheeks. She gasps. I’ve shocked her. Let’s shock her some more.

Her lips part, and she whispers my name. “Andrew.”

It’s like the stars are glowing. Like the sky is blazing at night. “You know what I want.”

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t know you anymore.”

“But you do,” I insist.

“Do I?”

I bend closer, giving her the time, the space, anything she needs to stop me. She doesn’t. She lifts her chin, an invitation.

I RSVP.

I drop my mouth to hers, and the second we make contact, I’m high.

She tastes fantastic—like strawberries and desire. I brush my lips over hers, and this is like riding a bike. I will never forget how she likes to be kissed. How she craves a slow build. How she wants to get lost in kisses that start as whispers.

Her lips dust mine, and a sweet sigh falls from her mouth. I catch it on my lips and swallow it, and her lips part wider. She opens for me, and I kiss her a little harder, a little rougher, until she’s angling her body to mine, and we connect.

This is the way we were.

We can be that way again.

She can be the one to make me happy.

I lift her up, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her to the couch.

As I lower her, our mouths disengage, and I wait for a sign. A cue. A word like stop. But it doesn’t come. Instead, she slides a hand into my hair and yanks my face down to hers.

“Kiss me again,” she commands.

I smile as I kiss her lips, as I travel over her jaw, as I nibble on her ear.

She arches against me and lets out a moan.

This kiss isn’t a solo rider. It’s heading to all the lands where we used to travel. Since she returned, the energy between us has pulsed. The air we breathe has been charged.

She wraps her legs around me, gripping me tight, tugging me close. She seals her mouth to mine, a hungry, consuming creature. Yes, Holland, you can have me.

When she kisses me, my world spins on its axis. When she ropes her hands in my hair and pulls me closer, I’m home. She’s better than any pill. She’s stronger than any combination of chemicals. The effect she has on my brain is only bested by how she exhilarates my heart. It ricochets in my chest as I kiss her, as I rock into her, as I can’t get close enough to her.

She writhes and pushes and presses, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted. It’s all I need to get through a day.

She lets out a little cry chased by a long, lingering one. She’s not stopping either. She wants this. She wants me to grind against her till she gets there.

God, there’s nothing I want more in the universe than to get her off.

My entire body sizzles. My brain goes haywire, all hot static and mind-bending pleasure.

Endorphins explode in me. I feel something good, something great, something mind-blowing.

I want to spend the summer fucking her. Making her come over and over. Making her fall apart. I want to numb my head with pleasure, cover my broken heart with sex.

Sex is the answer. Sex with her will make every second better.

She seems to have the same idea, but then her hands slam on my chest, and she pushes me.

I rise, breathing hard, breathing recklessly. “Are you okay?”

She nods, panting. “I want to, but we can’t.”

“Why?”

“Andrew,” she says, like I should know.

“Why?” I ask again.

She shakes her head, doesn’t answer me.

“Are you sorry we kissed?”

“No.” She straightens her shirt and sits up. “But there’s something you need to know.”

Nothing good has ever come of those words. My shoulders slump. “What do I need to know?”

“I was already planning to go back. To Tokyo.”

I don’t process the enormity of her statement. Only the immediacy of it. “You were?”

She nods. “The job I mentioned? The one that was looking promising?”

“Yeah?”

“I got it, and it’s in Tokyo.” A sneaky smile spreads on her face.