“I was going to do whatever it took to get you back.”

Aiden’s statement made my heart soar.

“All you had to do was show up,” I admitted softly, taking in the way he was looking at me. It filled me with so much emotion it was difficult to take a breath.

He leaned closer and his eyes dropped to my lips before he sealed his lips over mine. I reached out and put my hands over his cheeks as he kissed me. His touch calmed the storm of anxiousness inside of me.

I brushed my thumb against his cheek when he ended the light kiss. My stomach was still doing somersaults and I was struggling to catch my breath. It felt like I had run a mile.

My tongue swept across my bottom lip, I could still taste him. I wanted him as desperately as I had the first time we had been together. It was the most addictive thing I had ever experience with another person.

“I wish none of this other stuff had happened. It should have been as simple as just feeling the way I do.” I touched my thumb to his bottom lip, trying to soothe him. “But there is nothing simple about love.”

“Love?” he asked, our gazes held.

It was time to reveal to him how much he meant to me. I could argue I should have told him sooner but it would be a wasted task. All that mattered was here and now.

I nodded. “I love you too.”

He smiled before touching his forehead to mine. He closed his eyes briefly. “You don’t know how good it feels to hear you say that.” He paused. “I wasn’t sure we would make it here. This feels right.”

He had put into words exactly how I felt. Like everything that had been spinning my world out of place had calmed and there was just him. I smiled. “The same as it felt when you told me the same.”

He brushed his lips against mine gently. “I feel like we have wasted so much time.”

I shrugged. “Maybe we needed all of that stuff to figure out how we really feel. Nothing like feeling I had lost you to know that I didn’t want to be without you. Before I was in no way ready to be honest about my feelings but now I can embrace it.”

“I didn’t know how to deal with feeling so strongly about you so quickly. My heart made me irrational especially when it came to you and Max. I knew that there was nothing going on between the two of you but the fact that you hadn’t been as upfront and honest as I had wanted gave way to every insecurity I had harbored. My mind went crazy with every worst case scenario. And it didn’t help when I arrived at your house to fix things to find the person I was most afraid could take you away from me, telling me he had been there when I hadn’t. It set something off in my I couldn’t control.” His hand flexed.

It was something I had never thought he would ever be capable of. It just showed how crazy love had made us.

“I allowed the negativity of how we came together to cloud everything else. I had been cheated on before and I knew what it felt like. It hurt and undermined any confidence I had. Never once would I have believed that I would have been capable of doing that to someone. And when it happened, it rocked me in a way I struggled to cope with. I wanted things to be simple. If you cheat you are automatically a horrible thoughtless self-centered person. And then when I did it to Max, I had to question things and take a closer look at how my past relationships had ended the same way. Trying to make sense of it wasn’t easy while trying to figure out what you meant to me. And why I had done the worst thing I had believed possible to have a few stolen moments with you.” I sighed. “It felt like a rollercoaster and then add in Lacey. It was just too much. I had to compartmentalize everything to be able to cope. So I put what I felt for you in a box, closed it and tried my best to be there for Lacey. It was in no fair to you to do that, you didn’t deserve that. I wasn’t brave enough to take a closer look at how I felt for you, I was in no place to start something new with so much going on.”

“I get it,” he said as he took my hand in his and he held it. I loved the feel of his fingers intertwined with mine.

“I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t fair to you. Like you I have regrets over how I handled some things. But you know we live and learn. We can’t hold onto the past. If this has any chance of succeeding we need to make peace with our mistakes and make a fresh start. No more guilt, and no more insecurities.”

He nodded. “There is one more thing I need to say before we let go of the past.”

“What?” I was more than curious and a little anxious despite his declaration of love.

“When I suggested we date non-exclusively I want you to know I never had any intention of dating anyone else. You were the only one I want.”

“Then why did you suggest it?” I found myself asking. Deep down I had known it hadn’t felt right and now he was admitting as much.

“Love makes you do a lot of stupid shit. I was convinced I could protect myself if I devalued what we had. By dating you and implying that there was a potential for others I was trying to prove to myself that I didn’t feel as strongly as I did. I was stupid and you should have slapped some sense into me. I don’t even know how you’re still willing to give me a chance.”

I listened intently.

“It didn’t feel right. I knew I couldn’t watch you with someone else when I knew how I felt about it. I just couldn’t do it, no matter how much I wanted to be with you. Suddenly, you weren’t acting like the same guy I had fallen for. I wanted the guy I that guy, not the one you were pretending to be. You weren’t the only one to make a mistake or handle a situation badly. Like I said, I did a lot of stupid stuff. I don’t even know how you’re still willing to give me a chance.”

“We both did stupid shit, I can list all my mistakes but the main thing is that despite everything we screwed up, we are here together. Can you forgive me?” he asked in a whisper.

“There is no need for forgiveness.” I touched my lips to his. “It’s time to let it go.”

He nodded.

“I was reminded of something today at the hospital,” I said.

“What?” he asked, with a slight frown.

“Being reminded of what Lacey went through reminded of how fragile life is. I don’t want to waste a moment of it. Just look at what Lace and Adonis are going through. Look at everything they have overcome and they are still aren’t together. We are very lucky and I’m not going to throw that away.”

He nodded. “He really loves her and she doesn’t remember any of it. It’s hard to watch. I couldn’t imagine what he is going through. I don’t know how he copes.”

“I think it was one of the reasons why things were so intense from the beginning. It was a stressful situation, where a life hung in the balance. Maybe if it hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I would never wish what happened to Lacey on anyone but I’m so glad that we found each other. I don’t want to overthink, how it unfolded. I just want to be together.”

This time I nodded and I smiled. “I want that more than anything.”

He kissed me. He had had my heart and I had his. A love that had pulled us through the toughest time and brought us together, joined us now.

A few months later….

I was lying on bed relaxing. I had showered and was ready for bed. It was a Friday night but I had no plans to go out.

It had been a busy few months. In the time Aiden and I had begun to officially date, Lacey and Adonis had managed to get together. It hadn’t been easy, they had over come a lot to finally realize how much they loved each other. Lacey had remembered everything which had stopped her downward spiral into alcohol to cope with her missing memories.

Everything seemed to be going well for them. I loved that my friend was happy and she had finally found happiness with Adonis. He adored her and he would do anything to keep her happy. I was finding I didn’t carry the entire responsibility of my friend. They were head over heels in love with each other. They had moved in with each other. To anyone who didn’t know their story, they might have believed it was too much too soon but I didn’t believe that for a second. They had been in love with each for so long and they knew there was no time to waste.

Aiden had been great. Unlike before he hadn’t been some needy stranger, or maybe it was the fact that he felt secure in what he had but he fit in where he could.

It was also easier that my parents knew about him and didn’t disapprove of him spending the night at our house in my bedroom. Some parents would have been dead set against it but mine weren’t. They had sat us down and had the talk about responsibilities and repercussions.

My window opened and I sat up. Aiden climbed through my window and my heart raced at the sight of him. Even now he could still make me feel so much, it was like my heart was about to burst from my chest.

“You know you can use the front door,” I said as he straightened and approached the bed.

“It’s more fun this way,” he raised his eyebrows into a suggestive movement.

I shook my head and smiled. “You’re terrible.”

“You love it,” he argued, discarding his shirt.

The sight of his naked chest and abs were enough for me to feel the butterflies in anticipation of what was going to happen. It never got old, he still made my heart race like the first time and I wanted him as much as I did when we first got together.

“What time are we meeting up with Adonis and Lacey?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.

“Lunch time,” I answered.

It was still strange to be an official couple, no more hiding it from Max like we had in the beginning or hiding it from Lacey for fear of what it would trigger if she saw Aiden. We could all the things normal couples did and I never tired of it.

“Good, we have time to sleep in.” The smile on his face made my stomach dip and I felt suddenly short of breath. He had that affect on me with just one look.

He slipped out of his jeans and the only item of clothing he still wore were his boxers. His boxers were the next to be removed. He was good looking but when he was naked, he was magnificent. To me he was perfection, everything I had ever wanted. Emotionally we were in tune and physically we had never had any issues. It’s like we were meant for each other. There was no other way to explain it.

He got onto the bed and I lowered myself as he moved above me to kiss me. Gently at first. His arms on either side of me as he held himself above me. I automatically opened my legs and he lowered his hips to fit against mine. Only the thin fabric of my panties the only barrier between our bodies as my night shirt had ride up to my upper thighs.

He kissed me deeply, toe curling before he broke it to lock my bedroom door. We didn’t want any embarrassing incidents where someone might walk in on us.

I switched my side light off, the moonlight from outside illuminated my room and I caught him moving back to the bed to kiss me again. He parted my lisp with the thrust of his tongue and I groaned.

I was addicted to him, and I doubted I would ever get enough. When his mouth moved down my neck I felt breathless as I arched into him. He rested back on his haunches to lifted my night shirt up and I lifted my arms. The item of clothing dropped to the floor, his eyes surveyed me and I blushed.

“You are perfect Reece,” he whispered, like he was seeing me for the first time. It was an indescribable feeling.

I tugged at his arm and he lowered himself to close his mouth over the tip of one of my breasts. I gasped as he sucked gently, heat pooling between my legs. I wanted him so bad, and he was taking his sweet time as he repeated the action of the other breast before he moved lower.

My breath hitched his kissed me above my panty line. He pulled the side down and I lifted my hips to help.

When I was completely naked he kissed me softly on the inner thighs. My one hand threaded through his hair and I lifted my hips off the bed when his tongue slid across my sex.

I couldn’t wait. It was too much, I was about to explode and I wanted him. He brought me to a breath away from coming and then he worked his tongue against me. I shuddered feeling the orgasm ripple through me as I moaned his name aloud. My body arched from the bed, my fingers tightened his hair. There was no part of me left unaffected by him.

I slumped back on the bed, trying to catch my breath. I was still sensitive when he lined our bodies up and softly touched his lips to mine as our bodies joined slowly. The warmth of his body covered mine. My nails dug into his bicep, feeling the pressure of him in me.

I’d slept with other guys before but what I shared with Aiden was unlike anything I had ever experience with any one else. I believed our physical closeness was heightened by the emotion we held for each other.

He covered my mouth as I gasped when he began to rock into me, slowly at first but increasing the tempo and pressure as we worked our bodies to the same goal.

I circled my arms around his neck and held on as I came again. I groaned slowly as he caressed my tongue with his. He strained against me and grunted as he came.

We were both breathing rapidly when he moved to lie beside me. I looked to him. My heart was filled with so much love for him.

“You rocked my world,” he said and I smiled.

“Good to know.”

He chuckled. I moved onto my stomach and stared at him. I still struggled to believe it was possible to be as happy as we were.

His moved onto this side and lazily trailed his fingers down my back and I closed my eyes.

“That feels nice,” I murmured. The cool air made me shiver and he stopped.

“Don’t stop.” I smiled as his fingers started the comforting motion again.

“You looking forward to tomorrow,” he asked.

I opened my eyes to stare at his features. He became more handsome every day we spent with each other. It wasn’t possible, was it?

“Yes,” I whispered. My hand reached out to touch his cheek. “I can’t believe it’s going to be the first time we officially go out as a couple.”

“You think it’s going to be weird?” he asked.

I shook my head. Nothing that felt this right could feel weird, even if it had started very differently to how it was ending.

“They seem very happy,” he murmured.

“They are. If anyone deserves to be happy it’s the two of them. They have overcome so much, it’s nice to see them enjoy the simple things like living together.” I sighed. “There was a time I wasn’t convinced it wasn’t going to end happily ever after for them.”

“And us?”

I smiled. “We are already living it.”

And then he kissed.