“Please don’t cry, Sarah,” Gabe whispered as he kept one arm wrapped around me. He cupped my face with the other. Lowering his head, he leaned his forehead against mine. “Please don’t cry,” he said as he looked into my eyes.
Smiling up at him, I whispered, “Happy tears.”
“Happy tears?” he asked. He shook his head. “No one cries when they’re happy.”
Smirking, I asked, “Have you ever cried when you’ve laughed?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Your point?” he asked.
Releasing a light chuckle, I emphasized, “My point is…” and smirked up at him.
“Sorry.”
Giggling, I said, “My point, Gabe, is that sometimes when an emotion fills you completely, you can’t help but cry. Your heart is so overwhelmed with two very different sides of the spectrum.” I held one hand up. “Happiness.” I held the other up. “Sadness.”
“Okay,” he said with a confused expression on his face; eyebrows scrunching and head tilting to the side.
“Without one,” I started, “you can’t have the other.”
“Okay,” he said with a little bit of understanding.
“Gabe, most of the time people cry out of sadness. Whether it’s a death, a break up, someone is angry with you.” Shrugging, I said, “They cry.”
Looking up at Gabe, I saw he was studying me. Waiting for me to continue. So I did.
“That emotion takes over every sense of awareness in you. It overtakes your soul. Your being. Your brain.” Lifting my hand up to his face, I watched as his eyes closed and I smiled. “You, Gabe, have filled my heart, my brain, my body…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “…my soul with love and happiness. A desire for something I never thought I could see for myself, and you have given me that hope. A hope and a desire for something that I now want. That I want only with you.”
Opening his eyes, tears spilled as he looked down at me.
Tilting my head, I asked, “Why are you crying?”
And in one simple word, he said, “Happiness. I love you, Sarah Thompson.”
Feeling butterflies swarming in my stomach and a quickened beat in my heart, I smiled. “I love you, too.”
Wrapping his arms around my middle, Gabe pulled me to him and held onto me tightly.
As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I buried my head in his chest and took a deep whiff of his musky cologne. To anyone else it would just be a simple cologne. But to me? That smell is sprayed on someone who keeps me safe, loves me, and wants me.
Smiling at me once more, Gabe nodded his head to the side. “You want to go get something to eat, babe?”
I always loved when he called me that. Nodding, I said, “Sure.”
“Great,” Gabe said with a lop-sided grin appearing on his face. Taking my hand, he lifted it up to his mouth and gave it a kiss, never breaking eye contact with me.
I couldn’t believe that he still gave me butterflies to this day. And I had a feeling that he would always give me butterflies and goose bumps and keep my heart beating twice as fast for the rest of my life.
As we walked hand in hand to the food court, I had a smile on my face. Turning to look at Gabe, who also had a bright smile on his face, my smile widened. For this one moment in time I was happy and grateful. I was content with the way everything was going.
After ordering deep fried shit, we walked over to an abandoned table away from everyone. We didn’t want to be surrounded by others. We wanted to be in our own little hideaway where we could talk and laugh and just be ourselves.
“So when can I get in that tight little * again?” Gabe huskily said before taking a bite of his cheeseburger.
I started to choke on the bite I was chewing. As I coughed a little, I turned and looked out at the other tables to make sure no one else had heard that. I heard Gabe laughing, and turning around, I picked up a fry. Tossing it at him, I reprimanded, “Gabe Prescott!”
Waving his hand, he said, “Relax, babe. No one’s in hearing distance.” Taking another bite of his burger, he chewed it up. “So when can I, Sarah?”
Shaking my head, I said, “You’re unbelievable. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. But—” Leaning in as far as he could against the table, he picked up his hand and curled his finger.
Leaning in, I said, “Yes.”
Making a groaning sound deep in his throat, Gabe closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked like he was reminiscing. As he opened his eyes, I couldn’t believe how dilated his pupils were and how heavy his breathing was. “Your *, Sarah Thompson, is un-fucking-believable.”
My mouth dropped open immediately. I couldn’t believe he had just said that. How sexy it sounded. And how all of a sudden I was a panting dog wanting to be licked and touched by Gabe. My breath shortened. My heart raced. Goose bumps formed all over my body. A tingling sensation formed in my lower belly and my * kept pulsating and constricting.
I needed him—now more than ever. I felt like I was already on the verge of coming. I knew the instant he was inside of me it was over. It would be powerful and eruptive. Sexual and unrealistic.