“How do I know they’re not going to shrivel up and disappear again?” Her voice cracked. “You really hurt me, Drew.”
“I’m so sorry. And I know right now my word isn’t worth much to you. But I swear to God, Em, if you give me another chance, I won’t fuck things up this time.”
Her eyes welled up. “You’ll be living in Atlanta, and I’ll be here every day—some days working at the college with Baldwin. How would it even work?”
“However you need it to work. We’ll take turns. One week you’ll come to Atlanta; one week I’ll come to New York. Or every other if that’s too much on you. And we’ll do a fuck of a lot of sexting and FaceTiming. I don’t have it all planned yet, but we’ll figure it out. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it. I love you, Emerie. I’d go three hundred and sixty-four days thirsty if it meant I got to drink you in for just one.”
A tear slid down her cheek, and I caught it with my thumb. “Please tell me these are happy tears, Em.”
“I don’t think a long-distance relationship will work.”
“We’ll make it work. Please. Please give me another chance.”
She shook her head rapidly. “No.”
“But—” I attempted to change her mind, but this time she silenced me.
Emerie pressed her lips to mine.
The kiss was filled with so many crazy emotions that I could feel them pulsing through my veins and into our connection. When we finally broke, she was panting, and I was in a fucking panic. She’s saying goodbye.
“It won’t work long distance.”
“Em, we’ll make it work.”
“No. I’m going with you to Atlanta.”
“We’ll figure it—wait…what?” I stared at her, incredulous. “Repeat that.”
“I said I’m going with you to Atlanta.”
“What about the job you applied for at the college? Your patients?”
“I’m a TA for the rest of this semester. I just interviewed for the guest adjunct position. They may not even hire me. The semester ends in three months. We’ll commute back and forth until then. With a little experience on my resume, maybe I’ll have an easier time finding a part-time adjunct job down there. And most of my clients are portable—they were doing video-counseling sessions before. Maybe I’ll even keep a few and come back and forth while you keep your clients here. You need to be near your son, and I want to get to know him, too. He’s part of you.”
“You’re serious? You almost gave me a heart attack saying long distance wasn’t going to work.”
She smiled. “Good. Serves you right after what you’ve put me through the last few weeks.”
Without warning, I lifted her into the air. She yelped, but the smile on her face told me she was happy. Her legs wrapped around my waist, arms wrapped around my neck, and I squeezed her so hard, I worried I might hurt her.
“God, I fucking love you.”
“You better.”
“I do.”
I took her mouth in another kiss and walked with her in my arms until I could find a clear surface to set her down on. That surface happened to be the kitchen counter, which also happened to be the perfect height. My dick was already hard, feeling her heat through my pants.
Somehow we managed to rip each other’s clothes off while keeping connected the entire time. I sucked beneath her earlobe, and my fingers explored the crack of her ass while she unbuckled my pants. When my pants fell to the ground, I slipped down my underwear, and my cock bobbed against my stomach.
Looking between us, I said, “We missed you.”
She laughed. “I missed you both, too.”
I needed to be inside her so bad. “The foreplay is going to be short, but I’ll make it up to you on the back end. It’ll be postplay instead.” I reached down and grabbed my cock, lowering it to half-mast so I could use it to rub her wetness all over her. She was slick and ready, and I was impatient as hell, so I pushed inside. Emerie looked down between us, watching my cock disappear inside of her as I slowly pushed in.
When I was fully seated, I lifted her chin. “Watching you watch me put my cock inside of you is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She smiled. “I’m glad, because I really liked watching it.”
I stroked her cheek with my thumb. “On second thought, this smile right here, this might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I began to move, slowly at first, gliding in and out. Something was different about this time, like all the barriers between us had been removed, and I was finally free to love her.
I kissed her lips gently. “I love you.”
She searched my eyes. “I love you, too, Drew. I didn’t know it until I felt the real thing, but I’m not sure I was ever really in love before I met you.”