Tend To My Heart

43

Evangeline

"You know I have no issue strapping you to the couch, right?" Tristan says from behind me, his hands sliding to my waist while I wash the dishes we used for breakfast.

"I do know this, yes" I chuckle and reach for another plate.

"So, what are you doing? This doesn't look like relaxing. I never thought I'd have to educate someone on relaxing" he sighs, pressing his body flush against mine and trailing kisses across my shoulder.

It was such an intimate thing and I feel as if this whole day has been some kind of daydream. A world of bliss that won't last very long according to the doubt nipping at the back of my mind.

It was as if a weight was lifted off of my chest after confessing how I feel and hearing he feels the same only for a whole new weight to be placed there, leaving me to wonder where we go from here.

"Believe it or not, Fuller, cleaning is relaxing for me" I tell him, a playful smirk on my lips as he continues to kiss and hold me as if he's afraid I'd run if he let me go.

"You're so lame" Tristan murmurs against my neck making me laugh.

When I place the last of the dishes away, I dry my hands and turn to face the clingy man before me, those baby blues watching me as if I were the most fascinating thing he's ever seen.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask, my own hands sliding up his arms and giving them a squeeze.

I gasp when he yanks me closer, his arms engulfing me into a hug while he nuzzles his face into my neck.

"I don't want it to end...I didn't think I could get anymore attached and now you've spent a night here and I don't want you to go" Tristan confesses.

He's always been good at that, better out of the two of us at expressing how he feels.

I envy it.

"I'm not leaving yet, you kicking me out already?" I tease and thread my fingers into his hair.

"If it were up to me, you'd be moved in yesterday" he whispers and my heart speeds up very quickly.

"You're insane" I let out a breathy laugh, Tristan squeezing me a little tighter.

"If you say so" he mumbles.

With his arms still around me, Tristan lifts me off of my feet making me groan and drop my head back in annoyance.

"We need to set boundaries on this whole, carrying me around, situation" I huff and then he plops us onto his couch, arranging us so the I'm straddling his lap.

Those baby blues scan my face and I know he sees the gears turning in my head. He always does. I don't think I've ever met someone who can read me as well as Tristan Fuller.

"You gonna make me ask?" He asks me, his hands sliding up my bare thighs, his thumbs tracing my skin. I have to swallow a shiver, his touch doing immaculate things to my heart.

"I was just wondering...where we go from here...are you like...my boyfriend now?" My tone is teasing and a smile is on my lips but he and I both know I mean every word.

Tristans eyes bore into mine, reaching the deepest parts of me as his grip tightens.

"Evangeline, you're the first woman I've said I love you to and meant it. I think it's pretty damn clear that this whole thing is exclusive" he says, no teasing tone, no messing around, just thick and raw truth.

"You're mine" he finalizes and my heart swells like it's been doing every time something beautiful flies from his mouth.

"You can't go throwing around words like that around a girl like me, I'm already in love with you" my voice sounds all soft and unlike me. He's good at that too, bringing out the pieces of me that I've locked away.