And yet here I am, in a new city, wishing I were back at Bayside in the arms of a certain man.
Long after her conversation with the girls, when the streets were quiet and moonlight shimmered in the harbor, Serena lay in bed texting with Drake. She told him about her loft, which was efficient and cozy, though smaller than the cottage she rented at the Cape.
There's a view of the harbor, she texted. It's not spectacular, but at least I can see water.
His response came fast. Are there good locks on the doors? What's the neighborhood like? Safe? Did you find the grocery store? Gas station?
She smiled at his typical guy questions as she texted. Yes to locks, and yes, it's safe. I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow. It's only about twenty minutes away. I had ice cream for dinner.
He texted a scowling emoji. How will Supergirl survive without an all-night cookie bakery?
A better question would be how would she survive without seeing him except on weekends? Last night he'd opened a tap, and her emotions no longer eked out only to be swept away. They flowed like a river. But she had no idea where she and Drake stood, so she tried to keep those thoughts to herself and changed the subject. Did you eat cookies on my behalf for dinner?
Her eyes slid around the bedroom, thinking about how lame it was that she wasn't asking what she really wanted to know. But she was nervous, and he was taking a long time to reply to her text, which made her even more worried. She tried to concentrate on how different the loft was from her cottage. She entered the cottage directly into the living room, and she had a real bedroom. She entered the loft between the laundry closet and galley kitchen on the left and the bathroom on the right. The bedroom had two entrances, one from the kitchen and the other from the living room. Neither had a door, and the bedroom walls stopped about a foot from the ceiling, allowing moonlight to stream in. It felt strange, but she thought that was probably normal, since it was new to her.
Her phone vibrated, and she read Drake's text. No cookies. The only thing I want to taste is 100 miles away.
"Ohmygosh!" She pressed the phone to her chest, eyes slammed shut, an unstoppable grin on her face. The card hadn't changed his feelings.
Or had it? For the better, maybe?
She couldn't live like this. She had to know what they were doing, where they stood.
She thumbed out a message before she could chicken out. You know I stink at not knowing where I stand with ANYTHING, so I have to ask … What are we doing? She pushed send and held her breath.
Every silent minute that passed felt like an hour. After five minutes, a fissure formed in her heart. She set her phone beside her pillow, contemplating backpedaling with an apology, or saying he didn't need to answer. She closed her eyes, and her phone vibrated.
With her heart in her throat, she opened and read his text. Texting. You should get some rest. You'll need your energy for grocery shopping.
A kissing emoji popped up, and then a sleeping emoji with the message, Good night Supergirl.
"What … ?" she seethed into the darkness. "You can't practically start sexting and then go all big brother on me." She started texting exactly that and suddenly realized what she was doing.
She was chasing.
Her mother chased.
Serena did not. Not even for him.
She set her phone on the nightstand and burrowed down deep in the blankets. A minute later, the first warm tears slid down her cheeks. As she drifted in and out of her thoughts, it was Drake's handsome face that accompanied her, his rough voice threading through her mind: Nothing could ever delete tonight from my memory banks.
Except maybe a hundred miles …
Chapter Nine
DRAKE'S PHONE RANG at a little before two o'clock in the morning, and Serena's name flashed on the screen. He felt bad for the way he'd left things with her, but he'd had to get his head on straight and make a decision once and for all before answering her question. He put the phone to his ear, and before he could get a word out, her panicked voice rang through.
"Drake! Someone's banging on my door. What should I do?"
He clutched the phone tighter. "Slow down and look through your peephole."
"Okay," she whispered. "I'm so scared."
"Breathe, Serena. What do you see?"
"Hold on."
He listened to her hasty breathing through the phone, the frantic slide of the locks and chain, and then she was punching his chest, crying.
"You scared me! You jerk! Why … ?"
He dropped his bag inside the door and gathered her trembling body into his arms, closing the door behind him. He held her tight, kissing her tears away as she clung to him, gasping for air.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry. You asked what we were doing, and I had to say this to your face." He drew back, cradling her face between his hands, her warm tears colliding with his thumbs like accusations. He'd driven like a madman to get there, and he was glad he had.
"What are we doing?" she demanded.
"What we should have done ages ago." He lowered his lips to hers, and she smiled and cried against them, breaking his heart and then healing it again with the eagerness of her kisses.
He lifted her into his arms and opened his eyes long enough to navigate to the small bedroom. "I found your card this evening. It had slid behind the door. Thank you for never letting us go." As he lowered her to the bed, he said, "Everyone needs one person they can count on. Someone who isn't a lover or a parent. Someone who can watch out for them with nothing clouding their vision. I wanted to be that person for you."
"Maybe I'm not like everyone else," she said sweetly, confidently. "Because I want you, and you are that person for me."
He kissed her again, slow and deep, feeling all the chained-up pieces of himself unshackling. "I was never a selfish man, but with you, I'm shamefully selfish," he whispered, pressing tender kisses to her chin and cheek.
"Be selfish with me, Drake. I can handle it. I want to handle it." Her gaze turned fierce, and she said, "But if you ever scare me like that again, I will not forgive you."
He couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Says the girl who was sleeping in my favorite beach shirt. When did you steal that?"
"If you're good, maybe I'll tell you," she said lustily, and lifted the bottom of his shirt. "Off, please."
He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. She reached for him, and he knew every moment of his life, every decision he'd ever made on their behalf, had been the right one at the time, just like this.
"Do you know how many years I've dreamed of this?" he asked as he lifted her shirt over her head. Every second of his life had led to her, all right. They were made for each other. "You're a goddess."
She nipped at his lips. "What took you so long to notice?"
"Baby, I've known you were my kryptonite forever."
He lifted her into the cradle of his arms, kissing her as their bodies became one. Nothing could have prepared him for the surge of emotions engulfing him or the intensity of their connection. They both came away breathless. There were so many things he'd thought he'd say at this incredible, important moment. He'd profess his love for her, promise not to hurt her, to support everything she wanted in her career. But as he gazed into her trusting, loving eyes, he saw that she already knew all those things. Instead, he said what perhaps she didn't yet know.
"I'm yours, Serena. I've been yours since you set your mesmerizing eyes on me and nervously fumbled your way through asking if I'd sing a duet with you. I wanted you desperately then, and I regretted holding back, but it brought us to this magical place and time, and I will not let you down again."
Sometime later, as they lay tangled together, Serena drifted off to sleep and Drake wondered how they'd managed to give each other so much for all those years without ever giving each other this.
Chapter Ten
THE MORNING SUN snuck into Serena's loft as slow and sweet as a cove kissed the shore, bringing the most glorious morning of her life into focus. She lay nestled in Drake's warmth, his strong arms holding her tight even as he slept. He smelled heavenly and manly, like all the good things in her life wrapped up in one. She wanted to turn around so she could see his face as he slept peacefully beside her, feel his breath on her cheeks. But at the same time, she didn't want to move and break the spell they'd fallen under. What if things changed between them? What if it became awkward?
What if they changed for the better?
The urge to know was too strong to ignore. She turned within the confines of his arms and found him awake, smiling sleepily.
"Hey, Supergirl." He pressed a kiss to her lips.
Her heart somersaulted at the emotions in his voice. Gone was the underlying restraint, the pretense of being only friends, and she liked this much better.