Josiah stirs a little, one eye peeling open as it finds mine, a sleepy grin tugging on his lips. “Morning,” he rasps, the rough tenor of his voice like a grope to my balls.
“Morning.”
Even though there wasn’t a whole lot of talking done last night, a lot was said. I told him I love him. And he said it back, like it was the easiest thing.
Does he still feel like that in the light of day, though? I know I do. I mean it like I’ve never meant anything before.
“What time is it?” he asks, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.
Glancing at the clock behind him, I say, “A little after eight.”
He nods, reaching a hand out to rest on my hip. His thumb rubs along the bare skin, the touch electric. It’s not necessarily sexual. It’s… comforting.
“Did you mean what you said last night?” I can’t help but ask. I need to hear the reassurance, and I’m not even sure why. It’s not like we were drunk when we shared those words. But he could’ve said them in the heat of the moment. In an orgasm-induced psychosis. I don’t fucking know.
Josiah doesn’t skip a beat. “With everything in me, Segan. I love you.” He enunciates the three words, eyes searing into mine.
A goofy smile splits on my face before I can stop it. “Okay, just checking. I love you too.”
He kisses me softly, and I lean into it, drinking him in. Being with Josiah; kissing him, touching him, tasting him, makes me wonder how the hell I went without this for so long. I went almost an entire decade without the touch of another single human being, and it was fine. I never felt like I was missing anything, except missinghim.
Always missing him.
Josiah breaks away from the kiss, laying his head on the pillow as he watches me with sleepy, stormy eyes. “I think I’m going to sell the shop in Nevada to Dylan.”
My brows shoot up. “Really? I thought you wanted to keep it.”
“I did, but only because I wasn’t sure how the Nashville one would do, and I wanted it as a safety net should the new one not stay afloat.”
“And now you feel better about it?”
He nods. “Oh, absolutely. That shop’s done well since I took it over. And besides, after having to fly back there when something happened, I don’t want to have to do that every time. Not that something like that would happen all the time, but still. It was inconvenient.”
“And Dylan wants to buy it from you?”
“Yeah, we talked about it while I was there one night,” he says. “It’s been a dream of his for years, so this would be the perfect opportunity for both of us, I think.”
“Sounds like a great idea, then, Josie.”
Josiah chuckles, rolling his eyes. “I truly didn’t think I’d ever grow to like that nickname.”
My own smile widens. “And now you love it, huh?”
“I don’t know if I’d saylove, but it’s definitely grown on me.”
Scooting closer to him, I push my knee through his legs and wrap my arm around his middle. He so easily moves his arm around my shoulders, holding me close like it’s second nature.
“Thank you,” I murmur against his chest. “For coming here with me. It means a lot.”
Josiah presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’d go anywhere you needed me to go, Segan. I hope you know that.”
I look up, meeting his gaze, nerves swirling around in my gut. “So, where do we go from here? Like, when we get home.”
I’ve never had anybody look at me the way Josiah does. He looks at me like I hold the answer to all his prayers. Like I’m his saving grace. He looks at me like I hold the key to every want and need he could ever have. Like I’m his true north.
“I have tunnel vision around you, Segan,” he says. “All I can ever see, hear, think about, is you, and there’s truly nothing I want more than to live and breathe all of you for eternity. So, we can go anywhere you’d like, baby, but just know, I’m not going anywhere without you. Not now that I finally have you back.”
“Well, damn.” I blow out a laugh, my eyes stinging. “Who’s the songwriter here?”
