A Broken Forever(32)

"Fine, I'll go, on one condition."

Stefan crossed his arms across his chest and nodded his head for me to continue. "Name it."

"I get to pick the place."

He looked around the room, as if he was trying to find an answer and make me wait just a little bit longer. Eventually his lips pulled into a full-on, absolutely beautiful Stefan grin. I had seen him smile and I had seen him smirk, but I had almost forgotten how incredibly special his grin was. My heart fluttered, warming at the sight while my lips spread into a matching grin that I had no control over.

"Deal. As long as you let me guess it to see if I know what you're thinking."

"And what do I get if you're wrong?" He took another step closer, closing the space between us, his eyes alit with amusement as he threw an arm around my shoulders, pulled me into him and leaned his lips down to my ear.



       
         
       
        

My eyes closed at the overwhelming sensation of his body against mine. I could hardly hear him whisper over my beating heart. "Trust me," he breathed out. "I'm not wrong."

My attempt to pull away failed-horribly. Instead of removing his arm from around me, I somehow managed to lean into his body even more. I felt his hold tighten as my pulse beat even more rapidly. I couldn't breathe, couldn't stand the way every goose bump on my body was aware of the feel of his hard, toned arms curling around me. My eyes were on the verge of rolling into the back of my head, but I still managed to keep my legs from completely turning into jelly.

"So, um … " I said, trying desperately to regain control of my overactive senses. "Are you going to, er …  tell me where?"

I tried to slink away, but was fruitless as he tightened his grip and began walking us toward the door. "Nope, I'll just show you."

"Oh, well … "

Nothing else came out as Stefan placed a single finger across my lips. The smirk in his eyes said he knew what he was doing, but I still sat here damn near hyperventilating as I held back the need to flick my tongue out and taste his skin, even if just for a second.

"Shh … have faith, Greyson Rose. If I know anything in this world-it's you."

My mind was a swirling tangled mess of emotions; the need to pull him to me and wrap my arms around him the way I once did, when we would see each other after a moment apart. While on the other hand I wanted to shove him away and lay a good open-palmed slap across his face for touching me. Neither happened though, and instead I mindlessly let Stefan walk us out to his sleek, shiny black car in the parking lot.



Neither of us said a word in the car. As reluctant as I acted I didn't doubt Stefan knew exactly where I wanted to go. Stefan kept his eyes unfailingly locked on the road and for some strange reason-I couldn't look away from him.

I watched the way the sun shined and reflected on his beautiful skin, highlighted the contours of his face, brushing against the natural colors in his hair. The content and peaceful look upon his demeanor drew me in and made it impossible to see anything else. Had it really been six years since the last time I had been able to just stare at him? It didn't matter where we were; whether it be lying together in bed, on the couch, or driving in the car-I loved watching him. My heart fluttered while my body calmed as I stared into the face of this incredibly beautiful person. It wasn't just his face or his body that called to me-it was his heart, his stunning and slightly broken soul.

There had always been a side to Stefan that no one else saw-only me. And gazing into his eyes reminded me that every single day was a truly remarkable miracle that it was me that he wanted. 

Remembering those things and wondering why things happened the way they had, the memories only had a way of crushing my heart. It wasn't right to keep looking and feeling things like this. What we had was … wonderful. But those days were more than over, I ached to let them go, and truthfully-I wanted to forget what they meant. Memories only had a way of torturing my soul and it was already seriously battered. If I didn't find a way to move away from all of this, I had no doubt I would only open a world of pain that was tightly locked away in the deepest place in my heart.

But how do you say goodbye when you never imagined letting them go?

As if reading my thoughts, Stefan turned to me with a soft smile that hardly reached his sorrow-filled eyes. His hand reached out and gave mine a comforting squeeze. How was it possible that in a moment of silence and unspoken thoughts he always knew just what I was feeling and exactly what I needed?