Something about the request shattered a wall I’d kept in place between us. Its destruction let me fully sink into the sensation. I released the control I usually held onto so tightly. As I came apart, I felt everything. And I knew I’d never settle for less again.
31
ADDIE
I couldn’t stop smiling. It was honestly a little pathetic. I think I smiled in my sleep last night and definitely all morning. My cheeks hurt. But even when the muscles in my face twitched with fatigue, I couldn’t stop myself.
Beckett pulled me tighter against him as we walked down the street towards The Gallery. “Feeling okay?”
“Better than okay. Just like the last three times you asked.” I was a little sore, but it was in a way that I knew I’d remember the night before all day long. I liked that I would carry Beckett and those memories with me throughout my workday.
“Just making sure.”
We slowed to a stop outside The Gallery, and I stretched up onto my tiptoes to brush my lips against his. “I’m not breakable.”
“Good to know.” Beckett deepened the kiss, and I fought the urge to wrap my legs around him. When he broke away, I was a little bit breathless. His thumb traced my bottom lip. “Why couldn’t we call in sick again?”
I grinned. “We have people who are counting on us.”
“Right.” Beckett sent me a mock scowl. “Why do you have to be all noble?”
I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “Really, it’s selfish. If you call out sick, you’ll just have to work longer days the rest of the week to catch up.”
He brushed the hair out of my face. “You have a point there.”
I stepped out of Beckett’s hold before I was tempted to give in to that sick-day idea. “Go. You don’t want Dolores to be mad at you because you’re late.”
He gave an exaggerated shiver. “Definitely not. See you at five?”
“I’ll be here.”
“You’ll wait if I’m a few minutes late?”
“I promise.” The days of me walking to and from work alone were gone. I understood it, and now that Beckett and I were more, it didn’t feel oppressive. It felt protective. He cared, and I wouldn’t give him a hard time for that.
I gave him a little wave and strode into The Gallery. Gizmo let out a happy little bark and charged towards me in his wheelchair. I bent down, scooping him up. “Hey, buddy. I missed you, too.”
He licked my face in answer.
“Did my eyes deceive me, or were you playing tonsil hockey with one of Wolf Gap’s most eligible bachelors out there?”
My face heated as I took in Laiken’s wide grin. “Tonsil hockey sounds gross.”
She rolled her eyes. “The term might be gross. But you two? Hot. When did that happen?”
“Last night?”
“You say that like a question. If you’re not sure, Beckett isn’t doing it right.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just… I feel like we’ve been more than friends for weeks now. It wasn’t romantic; it was something else entirely. Like our souls recognized something in each other. A kindred spirit, maybe?”
A flicker of sadness flashed across Laiken’s face. “If you’ve found that, hold tight to it. You don’t want t
o lose it.”
“Laiken—”
She turned and headed for the back room, cutting off my words.