Page 104 of His to Cherish
I swallowed, my cheeks flushed with pleasure and embarrassment as we regained our sense.
His breathing slowed, while my heart still beat rapidly against my ribs.
“That was incredible,” he murmured.
It was. Oh my gosh, it wasincredible.My lips tilted up. “Imagine how good it could have been if you were here.”
“Soon,” he said, his voice shaky but deep. “Good night, Chelsea.”
—
Some mornings I dreaded waking up and would rather curl under the covers, staying cocooned in my warm bed. Wearing nothing more than yoga pants and an old shirt, I could have lost myself in aGilmore Girlsmarathon. I never did, because I’d have been bored in an hour, but even if I had wanted to, today was not one of those days where I was even allowed the guilty fantasy.
Aidan and I were not only going to over to Beth Johnson’s house, we were welcoming Shane home for the first time in a month.
I was still uncertain whether having additional people at his house was best for his homecoming, but Beth assured us that he wanted to see us.
He wanted us to see him doing well…better.
Which made me smile, because I felt as if we were all doing a little bit better. It’d been almost three months since Derrick’s death and school had ended yesterday. With summer quickly on the horizon, Aidan’s construction business was picking up, so we didn’t see each other except for late at night and on weekends.
His laughs started coming quicker and a little bit louder. His smiles were more frequent and his eyes weren’t constantly tinged with sadness.
He had his bad moments, the sad hours and the mournful days, like I knew he always would.
But today as we drove toward Shane’s house, I felt as if nothing could stop us.
Nothing could keep all of us from continuing to heal and remembering there was more to life than loss.
There was more to life than pain.
There could be joy even in the mourning.
“You okay?” Aidan asked, squeezing my hand as he parked in the Johnsons’ driveway. “You’ve been really quiet today.”
“I’m good,” I said softly. “I’m looking forward to this, but I don’t want to overwhelm him.”
He squeezed my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles before opening his door.
“We’ll only stay for a little while so he can get some rest. Besides,” he said, hopping out of his truck, “I’ve got plans for you tonight.”
The door closed and my body began to come alight with anticipation.
We hadn’t made love since before our first date, which was two weeks ago. Aidan hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he wanted us to slow down and do things right. The night on the phone was the last time we’d found our release together. In the succeeding nights, we’d slept together, but Aidan put a stop to any activity as soon as it became too heated.
Sometimes, the lack of physical contact brought out my insecurities that lingered just below the surface, the ones that told me he might not be into methatway anymore. But then Aidan would flash me a look like the one he was giving me now, and everything on his face showed how much he wanted me.
He just wanted to wait.
I admired his self-control even though I desperately wanted him to lose it.
“Draws out the anticipation,”he’d said to me before.
I had rolled my eyes then.
And I did it again when he took my hand and helped me out of the truck.
“You’re blushing.”
