Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Who knew?
Who knew that broken hearts could still beat so fast?
I turned toward him, and he turned toward me. I reached for his hands, and he took mine into his. The warmth of his touch sent electricity throughout my whole system. I felt a wave of nerves pooling in my stomach.
“Kai?”
“Yes?”
“You’re the best fake boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
“Holly?”
“Yes?”
“You’re the best person I’ve ever known.”
And there it goes.
My heart now belongs to you, Kai. And you have no idea.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asked.
“Please do.”
“I’m starting to like you so much that it freaks me out a little.”
“Kai—”
“You don’t have to say anything, Holly. I didn’t say that to get you to say it back or to have you admit to having feelings for me because you don’t have to. You don’t have to feel anything other than friendship with me. But I don’t know how long I’d be able to hide this feeling. I don’t know how long I could pretend that you aren’t the person I think about first thing in the morning and that you aren’t the person I think about last each night.”
I inched my body closer to him, crawling into his lap. He let me do so. He wrapped his arms around my body as I melted into his. My head lay on his shoulder, and his hands rubbed my lower back. He rested his chin on the top of my head, and we slipped right into our placements as if we were the missing pieces to one another’s puzzle. I liked the way we fit together. I liked how he held me as if he’d been waiting for the opportunity his whole life.
My breaths fell against his neck as I whispered, “I feel it, too. I feel it so much that it scares me.”
“We can be scared together,” he offered. “And still fall for one another.”
“Together?” I asked.
“Together,” he promised.
He bent down and kissed my forehead. His lips contacting with my skin shot a current to my tired heart. He kissed it again—another spark of light.
I tilted my head up toward him. Our eyes locked for a moment before his stare fell to my mouth. My tongue slowly brushed against my bottom lip as he studied the gentle movement.
His hand rose, trailing my bottom lip with his finger before leaning closer to me. Our uneven breaths intermixed as my heart rate intensified. I breathed him in as he inched closer and closer to me. His lips grazed against mine. My nerves were seconds away from overheating, and all I could think about, all I wanted was for him to kiss me.
I didn’t want it to be any kiss, either.
I wanted the ‘pull me in and make love to my lips’ kind of kiss. The kiss that I’d daydream about for the rest of my life. The kiss that would change us from us into…us.
That was what he gave me. He kissed me, and I felt it shoot to the unhealed parts of my soul. His kisses felt like the heavens falling over me. His kisses felt safe and warm, and real.
It felt so, so real.
I hadn’t felt anything real in such a long time.
I’d never felt safe the way I had in Kai’s arms. I pulled away from him a bit and looked into his eyes. Those brown eyes with flakes of emerald that I was falling head over heels for.
He looked at me the way he told me someone would someday…
Did his stomach sit in knots when he looked my way? Did he feel comfortable around me, like I felt when I was near him?
“Kai… What do you see when you look at me?” I asked quietly. Almost so quiet that I wasn’t certain he’d heard me.
He placed a hand against my cheek. “Everything,” he replied. “I see everything when I look at you.”
“For how long?”
He snickered and shook his head. “Long enough for Mano to mock me about it daily for weeks.”
“Can you do something for me?” I whispered, snuggling into his side.
“Yes.”
“Hold me until the morning?”
He pulled me closer to his body and held on tighter. “Yes.”
I woke in the middle of the night to find Kai holding me close. It was my favorite way to wake up. I felt safe in his arms, knowing there wasn’t a chance he’d let me go any time soon. I nuzzled closer to him as he pulled me in. His eyes were still closed, but he muttered, “Are you okay?” noticing that I was stirring slightly.
“Yes,” I whispered back.
He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
I tilted my head up and kissed his lips. I kissed him gently, and he kissed me back sleepily. Then, I kissed him deeper because sleeping was the last thing on my mind. My hands fell against his chest as his tongue slowly parted my lips. My mind became dizzy as his sweet kisses pulled me under his spell. I wanted to feel connected to him until the sun came up. I wanted to feel his warmth as he slid into my body with his. I wanted to feel the tremble of my legs as he worked me from every angle.