I felt the booth seat shift as he sat down next to me, and before I could react his arms were around me. I nearly stopped breathing at the wave of emotions that shook me to the bottom of my heart. I've had his hands on me, his arm around me, but nothing compared to the feeling of being surrounded by the only man who made me feel whole. The strength he held me with was one I could never forget. There was no warning in my head anymore-there was only Stefan. My arms wrapped around his shoulders, my face buried into his neck.
Breathing him in, touching him, holding him. I wasn't over it. For the first time in six years I felt like I was alive. My lungs filled with the fresh sweet scent of the man that would always have my heart.
It didn't matter that we were in a crowded restaurant. All that truly mattered was that he was here and I was here. I knew it was going to kill me when it was time to let go, but for now I was going to hold on as if my life depended on it. Stefan's hand pressed against the back of my head.
"Trust me, Greyson Rose. I'm not going anywhere this time."
For the rest of our stay at the restaurant we remained on the same side of the booth, his arm over the back and our bodies close together. Stefan managed to get us boxes and pay the check as quickly as possible, obviously sensing that I no longer wanted to be here. We made our way back to the car and settled in as we headed back toward the car shop. There was an obvious mood shift between us. Now that we had touched and he held me while I cried, we could no longer hide behind the silence.
My hands were folded in my lap as I stared out the window. I knew I couldn't let my emotions get away from me again, and looking at him was the start of it all. Keeping my gaze from him was only making me hyper sensitive to his smell and the deep rumble in his chest from the sound of him humming a wordless tune. I wanted to ask him to stop and sit quietly but I couldn't; in a strange and twisted sort of way I needed to hear him.
The way his voice rumbled throughout his chest soothed me the same, just as if he would have been running a finger down my spine. It was chilling, sensual and comforting, making me realize there was no way to simply get him out of my head when he filled every sense I had. I just needed to get past this day and then things would go back to normal.
Stefan suddenly stopped humming and I thought I would be in the clear. If I didn't have to listen to him and if I didn't have to see him, I could spend the rest of this car ride pretending these things didn't get under my skin.
Boy, was I wrong.
The soft, undeniable feeling of Stefan's hand moved beneath mine, and if that wasn't overwhelming enough, he laced our fingers together. I couldn't resist looking over into that face of perfection. It was then with my hand in his that I saw the truly broken man behind the cool façade. Neither of us had healed-we didn't know how to. It was almost as if time had stopped since we had been apart. We weren't really living just existing and definitely not feeling.
This onslaught of emotions was solely due to the fact that Stefan was back. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I knew letting go wasn't going to be nearly as easy as I originally expected.
Stefan brought my hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss against my thumb. I watched his lips pucker, I felt my skin tingle and I damn near sighed. I hated the way my body and reserve slipped away with the simplest touch. He smiled at me and I smiled back. With our hands twined together, I needed a moment to be closer. I reached my left hand over and cupped it into the crook of his elbow and let my head fall against his shoulder. Maybe this moment would be the last we would ever have together, but right now it was exactly what I needed.
I shut my eyes and let everything fill me and surround me. Maybe a single moment like this was all I required to truly heal and move on. My hopes were high that after this day I would be okay to breathe and live life again.
We returned to the dealership and received a notice that it would be less than an hour now before the car was completed. Stefan and I went back to the waiting room and sipped on good coffee that we picked up before returning. We watched court TV that played on the screen hoisted up into the corner of the room. I was lost in thought when a violent buzzing rang from my purse. My coffee almost slipped from my hands, but Stefan quickly snatched it up.
"Thanks," I muttered while I began digging for the source of the noise. My cell phone lit up with a picture of Richard, the same one I've had on my phone since our very first date.
My heart lurched, here I was sitting next to the man of my past while the man of my present had no idea.