“I feel like recovery has really just begun. Today, there’s a party, and tomorrow is Halloween. It’s a lot all at once.”
“You’re being hard on yourself. You’ve come a long way. The first weekend might be a challenge. Hell, it might always be a challenge,” she said, reaching out and threading our fingers together. “But you have people who care for you…people who want to help.”
My eyes bore into hers with all the intensity from our time apart. She bit her lip and then glanced down at my mouth. I was about to respond when she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. It was tentative at first. As if she couldn’t believe she had done it in the first place. Then, her hand knotted in my shirt, and she pulled me closer. My hands went into her hair, and I cupped her face.
Every day that I’d spent without her, I pushed into that kiss. Fear that I’d lost her forever. Regret that I’d probably deserved it. Hope that she’d changed her mind. Despair that I hadn’t thought she would. Lust…so much lust. And more…so much more.
I didn’t want to ever stop kissing her. She tasted like cherry and turned my world upside down. The way she used her tongue heated my blood. Her body under my practiced hands sent shivers up her skin.
This was paradise. Nothing more than that one perfect kiss.
When she finally drew back, pink-cheeked and breathless, she smiled and dropped another hasty kiss on my lips. “I’ve wanted to do that since I picked you up.”
“Same,” I admitted, just as short on breath.
“Then, why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was pushing you. I thought that maybe you didn’t want me at all.”
“Oh, Austin.” She leaned her forehead against mine. Our breath mingled in the short distance. “Our second chance destroyed us. I thought I wouldn’t want you…that I couldn’t want you again. But then…something happened.”
“What happened?”
“You and I…we’ve healed. Not completely,” she said, pulling back to look into my eyes. “But I’d rather work on fixing all those wounds with you than without you.”
“I want that with you, too. I want everything with you.”
“How about we just start over?”
“Do you think we can do that? After everything I did?”
“I don’t like how you reacted when you hit rock bottom or that I was hurt when you did it. But I can’t ignore that you’ve done everything to make yourself better, and that includes with me. I wasn’t sure how I felt, and then I saw you. Now, I know that I want to try again.”
“I’m going to be a better man for you, Julia,” I assured her, pulling her in for another kiss. “That’s a damn promise.”
Thirty-Eight
Julia
“I can’t believe you made me wear this,” Austin said.
We’d just pulled up in front of Sutton’s house. He got out of the car and tugged on the Captain America T-shirt I’d gotten him for Halloween when I went out that morning, looking for something to wear.
“Shove it, Wright. Walk around naked if you prefer.”
He laughed. “I just think I’m more of an Iron Man guy myself.”
“Of course you are,” I droned sarcastically.
“But maybe we should have gone with the Hulk. Doesn’t he end up with Black Widow?”
His eyes scanned the black leather pantsuit I’d stuffed my body into. It all fit once everything was in place, but it’d been ridiculous, getting to that moment.
“All right. Take off your clothes, and I’ll paint you green.”
He laughed as we walked up to Sutton’s front door. “Captain America, it is.”
“Smart choice.”
I knocked on the door, and I heard Sutton yell, “Coming!”
She pulled open the door to the house she and Maverick had lived in together. I couldn’t believe that she still lived here with all the memories. Or maybe she just couldn’t let go of it yet.
“Thanks for showing up, y’all,” Sutton said. “I’m still trying to get Jason into his costume. He loved it when he picked it out at the store, but now, it seems he’d rather be a streaker.”
“We’re happy to be here,” I said, pulling Austin inside.
We’d volunteered to walk Jason around the neighborhood with Sutton for Halloween. I’d known that she needed the company and that it would be hard for Austin to come right back to life in Lubbock on a party night. Halloween had always been a night to get wasted unless you had kids. So, the whole thing worked out for us.
“Yeah. I’m excited to steal some of Jason’s candy,” Austin said.