He dragged in a few shaky breaths, his body slowly going from totally relaxed to a little tense.
“Jules?”
“I’m okay.” He pressed a kiss against the base of my throat. “Just basking.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m perfect. That was so good.” He ran the tip of his nose over my skin.
I hugged him tight.
“Thank you.”
“What for?” he asked sleepily.
“For choosing me.”
“It’ll always be you, Ash. Always.”
“Come on. As much as I want to lie here forever, we should get cleaned up before we fall asleep.”
“Yeah,” he said reluctantly. “It’s a bit messier without condoms.”
“Do you regret it?” I asked quietly.
The decision had been made in the heat of the moment, and a part of me was worried I’d pushed him.
“Nope.” I could hear his smile. “I’m glad it was you.”
“I’m glad it was you too.” I hugged him tight, needing a bit of an extra connection. “Okay. We need to get up now, or we never will.”
“You’ve got it. Getting up right now.”
“You’re not moving.”
“I’m moving, just not physically.”
I snorted and rolled away from him. “Come on. We can cuddle again as we go to sleep.”
He gave me a beaming smile that warmed me to my very core.
He took my hand and let me pull him up.
I’d meant it. I was so glad he was my first in every way that mattered. I might have slept with girls, but I’d always kept a part of myself hidden from them. They saw what I let them see. I wasn’t a selfish lover. I’d always made sure we’d both gotten off, but there’d always been a disconnect there.
With Jules, I never held anything back. He saw all of me, and the crazy thing was that he seemed to like it.
It may have taken us five years to get to this point. Five years of bickering and hating each other, but in this moment, I knew this was exactly where we were always meant to be.
He was mine, and I was his.
Always.
19
JULES
“Idon’t want to do this,” I grumbled as Ash pulled onto the off ramp.