“I started having crazy thoughts, thoughts that should make no sense. But then the field trip was over and I had no way to find you. You had my phone number, but I didn’t have yours, and I hadn’t learned your last name.”
“What thoughts, Asher?” she whispers.
I swallow a big ball of tension, and then I tell her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Autumn
It’s so freaking difficult not to explode into tears as I listen to Asher. He speaks with a new intensity, his tone even rougher than before. Leaning forward, he stares at me as though, no one else exists, as though I’m the only person he’s ever going to need.
“The moment I saw you,” he says, “my whole world changed. It reshaped itself right there, in that instance. I knew I had to have you. I knew I had to be with you forever, to share a family with you, to share a life with you. I can’t explain it, Autumn, and I know how it sounds. I know you’re probably wondering just what you’ve gotten yourself into here. But it’s the truth.
“I fell for you, and I fell hard. But the feeling came so suddenly, I didn’t know how to react. I tried to fight it. I tried to tell myself the age gap was too much, that it’s impossible to feel this way about a woman after only just meeting her. But none of it worked. Toward the end of the field trip, I almost took you aside and told you… but my doubts won, and then it was too late.”
He pauses, never taking his eyes from me. “I never stopped feeling that way. I didn’t stop thinking about you. For three years, I’ve had you in my thoughts, my dreams, my everything. For three years, I’ve been counting down the moments until I’d get to see you again, even if I knew – I thought – it would never happen. I was so pissed at myself for not getting your last name or even the name of your college… you’ll probably remember there were several colleges there that day.”
He pauses again, letting out a shaky sigh. “But then, maybe I could’ve found you. Maybe I could’ve tracked you down. What the hell could I say, though, this stranger appearing out of nowhere, telling you that you're his? Because you are mine, Autumn. Every single part of you, from your sharp mind to your curvy body to the way you smile so radiantly. I see a future with children and laughter and happiness. I see a future that shines so, so bright.”
He sits back, watching me, his lips pressed tight as though he expects me to tell him I don’t feel the same. I can hardly form words. My eyes are brimming with tears and my heart is pounding in my chest as I struggle to take in everything he’s said.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I know this must be a lot to take on.”
“I feel the same,” I whisper.
He flinches, and then stands and walks around the table. He kneels at my side, making me think of the day when he’ll propose, if he ever does.
Taking my hand in his, he stares up at me with those feral eyes.
“You… what?”
“I feel the same.” I blink as tears slide down my cheeks, fueled by hope, by the urge to believe this can truly be happening. “I can’t believe it, Asher. The second I saw you… it was exactly the same, everything you’ve described. Oh, God, I thought I was going crazy. I was thinking of all the same things you were, a future, a life together. I tried to tell myself it was just a silly crush, that you’d never be interested in me—”
“There’s nothing silly about the way you feel,” he growls. “The way we feel. And I’ve never been interested in anyone or anything more than I am in you. You sparked something in me. You light me up…You really feel the same?”
I nod as a choked noise escapes me, and then he leans forward and cuts off my next sob with a kiss. I sink against him, gripping onto his shoulders to feel the presence of him, digging my nails in as our mouths open and our tongues find each other.
A hot sensation surges through me, making my sex tingle, my clit warm, and the space between my legs flood with wetness as though telling me to start our future together now.
Breaking off the kiss, he cradles my face in his hands, his palms against my skin making me feel safe, protected.
“Who do you belong to, Autumn?”
“You,” I whisper, as our foreheads rest against each other, our eyes locked, our noses tickling each other. “I can’t believe this is happening. Do you mean it? You really mean it?”