Page 69 of Sinister Red
Sofie opens her eyes again, her lips parting to form words that could break my heart or mend it, but I shake my head and decide now is the time to spill my guts. Now or never, really.
“Things are different, so much has changed, but the one thing that has never wavered is how much I fucking love you. Even when I was angry and hurt, when I thought we wouldn’t be able to be civil to each other, when I wanted you to hate me so I could try to hate you…” She stares at me with tears in her eyes, but I keep going because if I stop… if I stop I might lose her all over again. “Through all of that, I still loved you more than I have ever loved anyone and I would be a fool to let our past ruin the possibility of a future that I want so badly I can practically taste it.” I take a deep breath and squeeze her hand on my chest. “Things are different though, I know that, and I know the idea of me running the club as president and having a bigger involvement than I did before could be a reason for you to shoot this all down right now. I know that, it scares the hell out of me, but I’m asking you to take a chance on me again, Sof, because if I didn’t, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
Without uttering one single word, Sofie pushes up on her toes and kisses me, then takes my hand as she stands and starts leading me across the yard.
“Sofie?” I’m a little concerned about what’s happening right now, but not enough to stop her. I just want to be sure she’s not dragging me to some secret entrance to the crematorium or some shit. And let’s face it, the fact that she hasn’t said so much as my name after that little speech has me wondering if it was all in vain.
She looks back at me while she adjusts our hands, lacing our fingers and holding tight. “It’s too busy to talk out here.”
Fuck.
I’m going to assume that this isn’t going to be a good talk, or at the very least, it won’t be one she wants to have in public. Otherwise, why bother taking me to her house—which I now realize is where we’re going—if what Sofie has to say isn’t going to be totally crushing.
But I follow her anyway, let this woman lead me through her front door, then wait while she closes and locks it. In another perplexing move, I allow Sofie to pull me through the space I never had the chance to see before, up a set of stairs and into a loft that is definitely her bedroom.
“Sofie… Cookie, what—“
She grabs the collar of my shirt, tugs me toward her and crushes her lips to mine. Sofie kisses me hard, slanting her mouth to deepen it, fisting the fabric in her hands so tight the buttons start to pop.
“I love you,” she whispers against my lips before owning them again, and that’s when my brain short circuits.
My hands move to her shoulders and I reluctantly put a little space between us, barely able to focus on the dreamy, confused look Sofie is giving me because of what she just said. Words I never thought I’d hear from her, which is why I ask for clarification like a dumbass. “What did you say?”
Sofie licks her lips then takes a slow breath. “I said, I love you.”
I just blink.
“Don’t look at me like that, not when I’m trying to be as honest with you as you were with me.”
“How the hell am I looking at you?”
“Like I just sprouted a horn or something.”
My brow furrows in confusion. “What?”
“Stop saying that.”
In lieu of askingwhatfor the hundredth time, I keep my trap shut and wait.
Sofie straightens up as she looks me right in the eye, stands tall and proud as if she needs to use all of her strength to say what she has to say and protect herself from my reaction to it. “I love you. I have since we first met, and I can’t keep it to myself anymore.”
“But why…” I shake my head. “You never—“
“I know. I know, and I’m sorry. I was going to tell you on my birthday, was going to say it back after you said it to me, but…”
I nod. “You never got the chance.”
“I didn’t, and then everything happened and I didn’t think I ever would, but like you said, it doesn’t change the truth. I’ve been in love with you for eight years and denying that or pretending like I don’t, hurts me so much more than anything else that’s happened between us. I love you, Sammy, and I want to be with you, want us to be together the way we always should have been.”
My heart is fucking racing. It is beating so damn hard, so goddamn fast that I might have a heart attack, but I would die the happiest man on the planet because this woman—my Cookie—told me she loves me and always has.
That is exactly why I pull her to me without uttering a word, and slam my mouth down over hers.
In a flurry of movement, I slide my hands down her arms, skimming her sides, before I move to the back of her dress in search of the zipper. Sofie follows my lead without skipping a beat and immediately starts unbuttoning my shirt before pushing it as well as my cut off my shoulders, only stopping long enough to free herself from the straps of her dress once I have it undone. She steps out of the silky blue fabric as she fights with my belt, kissing me just as fiercely as I’m kissing her.
“Fuck,” I grunt against her lips as my Cookie shoves her hand down my pants and grips my cock. “Fuck, Sofie, I—“
“I want you, Sammy. I love you and I want you right now, please.”
