I fuss with my purse, digging for my keys.
“Penny?”
My head snaps up at the sound of my name, and I stop right in my tracks.
Leaning against my front door, tall, brooding, and impossibly handsome, is Jesse. A smirk softens his beautifully chiseled face.
My throat stops restricting my breath as I take slow, cautious steps toward him. His stare is relentless, never leaving me as I near.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, embarrassingly winded.
Jesse smiles, his green eyes glistening. That’s when I look down and notice a small black duffel bag by his feet. My lips start to pull to the side.
“I missed you.” His voice is husky, vulnerable. He says it so matter-of-factly, no shame in it.
“Oh…” I take another step forward, mindlessly touching my messy hair.
“I know we have a whole weekend together in two weeks, but I figured I had”—he holds up his wrist, pretending to look at a watch that’s not there—“the next eighteen hours free.”
“And you wanted to spend them with me?” I ask, taking another step forward, closing the gap between us.
Jesse leans down, lifting my face to his with a tattooed knuckle.“Princess, I thought I made it pretty damn clear. I want every hour of every fucking day with you.”
My heart lurches in my chest, and I want nothing more than to push that door open behind him and strip every layer off between us. But I shake my head.
“But you said…we could do this…this long distance thing.”
Jesse throws back his head and lets out a throaty chuckle. “Yeah, I said that because I thought I could do it. But you’ve sunk your claws into me. Maybe that makes me a weak man, Penny, but I hate not being with you. I hate coming home and not hearing your laugh. I hate not seeing the house full of random pink items. I’mtrying, but I’m not sure how to do life without you anymore.”
“It’s only been four weeks,” I reason, even though every word out of his mouth is making my knees buckle.
Jesse bites his lip. “I told you, you’ve fully messed me up, and I’ve let you.”
I laugh now, and Jesse’s smile comes back. The most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.
“I have a confession. I was on my way home to pack a bag and come to you,” I whisper, scrunching my nose, and he grins wider.
I push Jesse aside to unlock my front door and grab his hand, dragging him over the threshold of my condo.
The first guy I ever let into my heart.
The first guy I ever let into my home.
And if I’m truly as lucky as he claims…he’ll be the last.
Epilogue
Penny
Four Months Later
I inhale the salty air and settle back into the chair. The front porch is quaint, and we are still unpacking everything, but it’s quickly becoming ours.
“You want this hung here?” Jesse asks, lifting Nan’s copper windchimes to the hook suspended from the porch ceiling. A ceiling I had Jesse paint haint blue.
“That’s perfect, thank you.”
The windchimes sound the moment Jesse lets go, wiping sweat from his brow.
