Then You Saw Me by Carrie Aarons
39
Austin
My pillow smells like her again, and I wish I could bottle this moment up and carry it around with me forever.
“I wish we never had to leave this bed,” I whisper.
“Me either,” Taya whispers back.
Outside, a bird chirps, and the sun shines through my windows. My fellow graduates are probably out with their families right now, having celebratory dinners or being congratulated for this major life moment. A smidge of sadness creeps in, because I had no one there to cheer me on, but this is exactly where I want to be.
The only person I want to share this milestone with is Taya, and it’s even better that we’re naked in bed.
Oh, and that we’re in love. Obviously, I knew it before, but to hear her say those words? That’s the only graduation present I need.
“I hate that we’re leaving tomorrow.” She pouts, and I run my fingers over her silky hair.
“It fucking sucks. But it doesn’t matter. Because I’m not leaving you, I mean it. I’m never letting you go.” I repeat what I told her earlier.
“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear that.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to stop being an idiot. I was just … I have had so much going on this last semester. I want you to be with someone who could give you all of their undivided love. I wasn’t sure I was worthy of the job.”
Taya shakes her head and smiles. “Austin, just because you have baggage doesn’t mean I don’t want you. I want to carry it with you. Haven’t you learned by now, that we’re so similar in the way we lay down our problems and pick up other people’s? I love you for that.”
“And I love you. Every part of you. I will hold you and care for you like you’re the most fragile, precious glass.” I’m quoting her back to herself, but I mean it.
“Well, you don’t have to be too gentle.” Taya reaches beneath the covers and puts her palm over my cock.
I just pulled out of her mere minutes ago, and yet I’m ready when she says go. I groan, tightening the hold I have around her and protesting up to the ceiling.
“I don’t want to leave. I’ve never wanted to stay at Talcott more. Hell, I’d even go back to Webton for you.” I’m not lying when I say that.
“I would never make you do that.” She says this seriously.
Taya knows I’ll rarely venture back there. There is nothing for me now. I’d do it for her, but I love that she knows how big of an ask that would be.
Kissing her forehead, I relish the moment. “How do we slow time down?”
“Well, we do have one thing to look forward to.” Taya smirks.
“Another round?” I roll on top of her, my cock thickening as it hits the smooth skin of her inner thigh.
She pushes at my chest and laughs. “No. Well, yes. But I was talking about my internship. We’ll be apart for a little, but then we have six weeks in New York.”
Joy, pure and bright, seizes my chest. “How the hell did I forget that? I was lying here, gloom starting to take over at the thought that I don’t know the next time I’ll see you. But I do. And we have a whole summer to spend together in the most adventurous city in the world.”
The thought of everything we could do in the Big Apple together ignites a new kind of excitement in me. And there’s no doubt I’m asking her to come live in my apartment. It might be a shoebox that we can barely fit both of our clothes into, but I’m not hearing of any other arrangement.
“Now about that other round …” She swings up and straddles me, her slick wetness coating me.
This woman is attempting to drive me wild. Together, apart, or a three-hour drive away, we’ll make it work. We’ll make the most of the time we have together.
Until she’s by my side, permanently. Taya may have spent years trying to get my attention, but I’m going to spend years proving to her just how much I love her.
Starting right now.