Page 108 of Running
His eyes light up as the connection sinks in. “As it is here, with us,” he says softly.
“Yes.”
I snuggle into him closer, and his arm squeezes me. “Meant to be,” I hear him say under his breath.
A beat passes while we absorb the moment, and then he chimes in again.
“Grace, sorry I messed this up earlier, but can we make this official? Like use labels and everything?”
I give myself a full inhale and exhale to think about how I want to respond. But it doesn’t take more than that because I’m certain—the last few weeks have been some of the best in my life.
“Yes,” I say easily. “Be girlfriend and boyfriend officially, you mean? Yes.”
A big grin crosses his face, and he leans over to give me a firm kiss.God, maybe it’s good we’re dating in secret, because we’d probably drive everyone nuts with all our kissing.
I giggle at that thought.
“What?” He looks confused.
Oh shoot, bad timing on the giggling right after our commitment and a kiss. I explain why I laughed, and he chuckles too.
“Can’t blame me for wanting to kiss my beautiful girlfriend whenever I can.” He emphasizes the point by kissing me again.
We bask in the moment for a while, kissing, resting, teasing each other in turns.
“This day did not end up as I expected,” he says after half an hour passes.
“You didn’t go to the Waves facility at all today?”
“No, with the bye week, I really try to take a break, especially early on. Recharge a bit. With the storm, everything will be shut down for a few days most likely anyway. Did you end up having your morning class?”
“Yeah, but everything else has been canceled for at least two days.”
He starts stroking my arm.
“So we could just stay here in this closet, live off Annie’s organic crackers, and have alone time for two days?”
I giggle. “Wouldn’t you get bored? And achy? Two whole days of this big old body stuck in the closet?”
“Not with you. I’m never bored with you. And this body…well, I suspect it will have plenty of action.” He grins at me.
A flash of longing hits me again. It’s crazy. A few weeks of being together with Johnson, and now a turn of phrase from him has me turned on.
He’s definitely unlocked a side of me that had stayed closed off with other guys. The trust we’ve built, the way he cherishes all sides of me—I feel so safe just letting my bodyfeel.
And so when I turn my head back up to him and see matching heat escalating in his eyes, I don’t hesitate. I take the initiative, shifting on my knees so my face is level with his, and bring our lips together.
“Yup, officially could do this for a few days,” he mumbles into my mouth after a few passes of our lips.
Suddenly, a thought shoots through my mind. It has been floating in the ether for days if I’m being honest.
“Johnson…”
“Mmmm?”
I pull my head back and catch his eyes. “I think I’m ready.”
At first he looks confused, but then after a few beats, understanding dawns. “Ready to…”
