She was so cute in my sweats, still fiddling with her fingers and eyeing me as she over thought her response.
Her eyes held mine for a moment, and we shared something between us, in the silence. I only wish I could put a label on what I was feeling.
“Ty…” She whispered.
“You leave tomorrow, and that terrifies me. I can’t let you go again, Ry. I just can't.”
She reached out one of her hands out, and she rested it up against my face.
She felt so cold.
I pulled her towards me, and she nestled into my chest in a way that was so normal for us. She fit there in my arms as if they were made to hold her and, right now, I was pretty sure they were.
“Ty, I can't stay.”
I remained quiet for a second, just memorizing the way it felt to hold her again.
“What if I move to the city?”
She pulled away from me slightly, moving so she could look up at me. “Ty, you can't. You bought a place here, and you have your dream job. This is your home.”
I finally knew how she felt all those years ago. I was ready to risk everything for her, and she wanted to protect me from making a decision she thought I’d regret.
I stared at her, a familiar expression mirroring mine.
“Ty, I love you.” The words left her lips in a whisper, but the instant she said them, it gave me so much clarity.
The way we’d looked at each other all those years, in those moments of silence and longing. The friendship, the connection. It was love.
I love, Ryder.
“You don’t have to say it back.” She reassured me, “I just needed to say it.”
I stared at her for a moment, brushing some hair from her face. My fingertips tracing down her cheek to rest below her chin. “Ry?”
I didn’t wait for her to acknowledge me, I nudged her lips up to meet mine, and leaned down to kiss her.
I touched my lips to hers, resting them there until our lips parted against each other at the same time. Then, in a moment of raw emotion, we crashed our mouths against each other, with a desperate groan.
Fuck. My tongue traced hers, soft, and slow. Savoring each moment, like it might be our last. I felt her whimper softly into my mouth, and it drove me mad with impatience.
I eased her back on to the blanket, never breaking my lips from hers, until she lay flat on her back. Then, as I broke the kiss, she lay there staring up at me, the silence between us now undeniably, loud.
Wow.
“What?” She asked quietly, breaking into my thoughts.
“I love you, Ry.” I finally said out loud, for the first time.
I watched her eyes flood a bit with tears, and she looked away from me. I reached out to turn her face back to mine and caught sight of a tear gliding down her cheek.
I lifted my thumb to her face and brushed it away. “I mean it, Ry. I’ve always loved you.”
She stared up at me with an expression that, suddenly, had so much power over me now that I knew its meaning.
I leaned down to kiss her again. Only, this time, my kiss was brash, and demanding, with a hunger for her that had only grown with time.
I caught her mouth with mine, and she lifted her shoulders up off the ground to indulge in the same addiction that I’d succumbed too. Her arms came up, reaching for me, pulling me down against her mouth with the same deep seeded need that was burning inside me.
I felt one of her hands dip down between us, tugging at my shirt. I sat up quickly, pulling it off and tossing it to the side.
Her hands found my bare skin, and her fingers traced the ridges of my body.
I groaned.
Ty, wait. This is, Ryder. A familiar voice warned me. Only this time, I smiled.
Yes, this is Ryder.
My own hands worked at the zipper of her jacket, pulling it open, eager to feel her skin against mine as I pushed her shirt up over her head. I tossed the articles of clothing next to us, on the floor. Then, I felt her slender fingers shoving at the waistline of my sweats.
I broke our kiss. “Here? Are you sure?”
“Ty, please.”
I needed no other explanation, as I grabbed the edge of her sweats and shoved them down her legs. My eyes tracing over every detail of her body, as she kicked them off the rest of the way.
I found my rightful spot back between her legs within seconds and traced my lips along her neck.
It had been five years since I’d last been with her, and right now every second I wasn’t inside of her, felt like many more were passing.
We were moving even more urgently now, pushing, and shoving each other out of the last layers of clothes that separated us.
Then, when my bare body rested against her own, I sighed in undeniable relief.
“Say it again, Ry.” I whispered against her ear as I shifted back between her legs, once more.
I felt her lift her hips up, to brush against me, and I groaned.
“Ry, careful.” I warned.
She smiled. “I love you.”
The second she said it, I caught her gaze and thrust into her without a moment of hesitation.
We both managed a strangled cry of relief, as I felt her body constrict around me for the first time in years.
“Ry…” I growled, as I pulled out and thrust into her again.
Her small frame shifted against the
