“You’re drunk.”
“You’re an asshole,” she sneers, refusing to move which only infuriates me more.
“Fran. You’ve got two choices. You can either come with me to my room, or I’m going to pick you up and carry you out of here. You choose.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” She glares at me, and I cock a brow, my lips twitching at her words.
“Oh, Fran,” I say, shaking my head, “haven’t you learned anything by now?” I stalk over to her and lift her up under her knees, throwing her over my shoulder.
“Put me the hell down!” she shouts, pounding hard on my back, making me grip her more firmly. “Put me down, Matt!”
After a few minutes, she finally stops protesting and I half wonder if she’s fallen asleep so I gently tug on her hair.
“Ow,” she snaps in response and it makes me chuckle.
“Don’t go to sleep on me. We have some things to talk about.” I say, determination filling every vein in my body.
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” she replies with a feisty, high-pitched voice.
“Good, then you can listen, smartass.”
I don’t let her down until I’ve got her tucked away in my room, but she stays close to the door as if it’s some sort of safety net.
“Hurry up.” She folds her arms over her chest and taps her foot on the carpet, staring at her watch. “I need to get back to Ryan.”
I flinch at the sound of his name, taking a hard swallow so I can continue. “Ryan…I’m not even going to ask what you’re doing with him.”
“What do you care?” she hisses, making me take a couple of steps toward her, while still giving her space.
“I want to show you something. Let’s go sit down.” I offer her my hand but she waves me off, so I nod toward the sofa by the window.
“I’m fine standing and you’ve got ten minutes before I’m going back downstairs.” She leans against the door and all I can think about is how damn sexy she is when she’s stubborn.
“Fran, stow your feisty side for a second and come sit down with me, please.” I beg her with my eyes, hoping they’ll be more convincing than my words.
She throws her hands up in the air and I smile. “Fine, but the clock’s ticking.”
After she sits down, I turn to face her while she fights to avoid my gaze. “Listen, I’m sorry I left this morning. I know I acted like a jerk but I kind of freaked out and I didn’t know how to handle it.” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the charm and hold it up, my heart thrashing loudly against my chest as I wait for her reaction.
It’s almost as if I can read her now, the pained look in her green eyes, the way she’s biting her lower lip, the cute little wrinkle in her forehead. I see the internal struggle playing out, the longing mixed with anger, and I’m just praying anger loses the tug of war.
She inches closer and squints to get a better look before she plucks it out of my hand. “Where did you get this?”
“My mom gave it to me…just before she died, and, when I saw you had one, too…well, I lost it.” I pause, wanting to get this right. “She told me that someday I’d find the other half of my heart, and I have found it, Fran, I’ve found you.”
My words seem to have little effect on her, the look on her face giving nothing away as she stares at it before thrusting it back at me. “So what, it still doesn’t mean anything.”
“It doesn’t mean anything? The hell it doesn’t.” I stand up and begin pacing the floor, struggling to find the right words. “It means something to me. You mean something to me. Jesus Christ, Fran, don’t you get it? I want to give you the fucking fairytale!” I scrape a hand through my hair, my feet wearing down the carpet. “My life, it’s never been a fairytale either, Fran, my mother and sister dying, my father walking out. But you, you blew into my life, like a strong gust of wind—actually, more like a fucking tornado—and now I don’t want to go back to the way I was before. I want who I am when I’m with you, who I became the day I met you!” My voice softens, the anger melting away. “You make me want, Fran. You brought me hope…but most of all…you brought me back to life.”
She doesn’t say anything. I can tell she’s trying to be resolute, but her eyes are filling with tears. I cover my head with my hands and try to rein in my emotions…and then I make a decision. I stalk toward her and lift her to her feet, crashing my lips to hers in desperation, removing the air between us, leaving her with no choice…but to hopefully accept me.
In the absence of words, the slide of her tongue, the way her hand slips to the back of my neck and holds me there, and the soft noises coming from her throat give me a sliver of hope.
I lace my fingers through her hair before I break the kiss, staying close to her lips, but far enough so she can see my eyes. “I didn’t even know what this feeling was until now…until you. Jesus, I think about you all the time. During the day I can’t concentrate because you invade my mind, and at night I can’t sleep because when I close my eyes, you’re all I see. Every little detail. The way you bite your lip when you’re thinking, that tiny freckle you have on the bridge of your nose, the way your eyes glimmer with that little spark and make me feel alive. Hearing your laugh and seeing you smile lights me up inside, fills me with a happiness I never even knew was possible. I love you, Fran. And even though it scares the shit out of me, and the thought that maybe I could lose you terrifies me, I can’t let you go without telling you how I feel.”
Her tears are falling heavily now, and my heart stops beating as I wait patiently for anything she might say, just as long as she doesn’t walk away from me. She cradles my face, tracing the angle of my jaw with her thumb. “I love you, too,” she whispers through her tears.
“Baby, thank God.” I sigh with relief, holding her tight because now that she’s told me how she feels, I’ll never let her go. I need her like I need air to breathe.
Her lips part and I hear a subtle intake of breath before I slide my tongue inside her mouth and she wraps around me, our sensual dance causing me to shiver and goose bumps to break out across the nape of her neck. I love the feel of her mouth, the softness of her lips. I want nothing more than to make ridiculous amounts of love to her all night long. But I have something I need to share with her first.
I take her hand and lead her over to the bed. “I want to show you something,” I tell her, and her eyebrows lift with her smile and I know what she’s thinking. My dirty girl. “Yes, I want to show you that, too, but not yet.” I chuckle, feathering my hand across her cheek. Pulling her onto my lap, I roll up the sleeve of my shirt to reveal a white bandage that I instantly peel back. Her mouth falls open and hangs there, staring at the tattoo sprawled around my bicep, the word “Sunshine” in black script.
Her eyes flare with tears as her mouth opens and closes and I watch her grapple for words…but sometimes there are no words. So I kiss her, and it’s a kiss that says all the things I now know we both feel. It’s a kiss filled with longing and need, and love, so much damn love my heart feels like it might burst.
She pulls away and I smudge the tears now staining her cheeks. “So you decided to finally shed your tight-ass image once and for all by getting a tattoo?”
“No. I wanted a reminder of you, sunshine, every day.”
“You’re insane…you’ve known me for seven days,” she says, and even though she’s protesting, the smile she’s trying to hide says she loves it.
“Yes.” I stare at the other half of my heart, my second chance. “But I’m going to love you for the rest of my life.”