I finished my calls with Coach, my parents, and Samuel before I heard the sound of a knock on the door of my study. Iris stepped inside timidly, her hands wrung behind her back. The shirt she was wearing clung to every inch of her skin, and I could see her nipples playing a game of peek-a-boo.
Her dark hair was still wet and brushed back, just like how it was when I left her. I half expected her to tie it up, but something like pride filled my chest when I saw that she left it how I brushed it. I've never brushed a girl's hair before.
It was nice, and I enjoyed the little hums and sighs that came out of her pretty lips when I did. It made me want to make it a part of our routine.
To bathe her, lather her body up in soap, wash her off, then get her dressed in something of mine, and before we fall asleep in each other's arms, I brush her hair.
I missed the feel of being inside her more than anything, but there was some sexual gratification of tending to her like this. It had my heart swelling up ten times its size, and a part of me wanted her to get used to being treated like this.
She closed the door, and I expected her to sit on the chair in front of me, but instead, she came round the desk and sat on my lap, taking me by surprise. Her hands wrapped around my neck, and she nuzzled her face in my chest.
"Thank you for worrying about me and feeding me and kissing me." I heard her whisper the exact words she spoke once all those years ago.
My heart expanded inside of me to the point where my oxygen cut off.
"You don't have to thank me, chiquita." I breathed out.
"I know, idiot. I want to, though." She pulled away and held my face in her hands. "Why did you only stop by my office once?"
"I wanted to give you some space."
She rolled her eyes, "You can't just stop by and tell me you're going to marry me, and that you're going to beg me to forgive you, then just never show up again."
"I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to do something cliché or stupid and make it worse." I sighed, my hands gripping her wrists, "I fucked up. Twice. Broke my girl's heart too many times. I thought that you'd never take me back. I wouldn't even take me back. Yet you're here. You called me, wanted me to take you home. Me."
"I thought something was wrong with me that night, that maybe you were playing me because I knew your reputation. You never dated. I thought maybe I wasn't any different or special.
If I had known my father spoke to you that way, I would have said something. If you just came in that night and told me to run away with you, to come down, to anything, I would've done it, Rafael. I would have done anything for you."
"I know you would have." I bowed my head between us in shame, "I didn't deserve you then, and I don't deserve you now. We can't do anything about those ten years we spent apart, and I know we wish we could, but it's useless. The thinking, the what if's, they're going to ruin us."
I peered up at her to see her watching me intently, "I want to fix this, fix us, and I'll keep trying to make you forgive me if it takes me a hundred years because I don't want anyone else in my life, Iris.
I want the girl who looks at me like I've saved the world from an apocalypse, who makes me forget who I am when she kisses me, and if it's not you, then I don't want anyone."
Her hands fisted the material of my shirt as she rested her forehead against mine. "The first time you kissed me, you ruined me for anyone else."
I closed my eyes and let out a breath of air. "When you kissed me back, you ruined me for anyone else too."
YOU ARE READING
The Ache Between Us
Romance"Tell me what you want." He murmured, his finger trailing up and down my forearm. Goosebumps erupted at his touch and I shivered, my eyes fluttering shut at the trivial touch, and deep down I knew it was ridiculous that he still had any sort of asc...
