Page 80 of Running
His vision follows his finger, taking in the path he made on my body.
“I don’t dare touch you anywhere else right now. But I’m going to learn every inch of you as we explore what you like.”
An unexpected feeling pushes through me as a result of his words.Gratitude.
I’m grateful to him for wanting to be whatIneed. And I’m grateful to whatever forces put us in each other’s paths.
Because I know for certain that the freedom—the confidence—to unravel this side of myself would not be possible with anyone else.
I reach up and touch the side of Johnson’s face with my right hand. Propping myself up further with my other arm, I lean forward and claim a kiss of my own. Softer than his, savoring the feel of our lips against each other.
“Mmmm.” He starts shifting to get closer, but it’s hard because we’re naked and yet not supposed to touch each other. “This is going to get dangerous for our rules.”
“After we’ve been so good, too.” I kiss him quickly one more time and then pull back again.
“I hate to bring this up,” I say reluctantly, “but I do need to go back to Landon’s to sleep tonight, if that’s okay. Grover needs another walk before bedtime.”
I also don’t think I’m ready to stay over, but I don’t say as much. If I get immersed in Johnson any quicker, I’m not sure I’ll be able to guard my heart.
Johnson’s face is completely understanding as he takes in my words, thankfully.
“Let’s get dressed then before we start kissing again while naked and get distracted.” He chuckles.
Once dressed, we snuggle on the couch and watch half a movie before I get conscious of the late hour.
“Is it okay if we stop the movie here and I head to Landon’s? Otherwise, there’s a real risk of me falling asleep here.”
He kisses the top of my head. “Of course. We can finish the movie another night.” He bends down and pecks my lips. “Because there will be another night, right?”
He’s so open with his feelings, which doesn’t leave any room for any insecurities.
A smile crosses my face. “I’d say so.”
A few minutes later, he drives me back to Landon’s, walking me right to the door.
“A great date, Goldie,” he says before giving me a searing kiss goodbye.
Grover barks through the door as he hears us, which makes us break apart laughing.
“I’ll be right there, Grover.” I turn back to Johnson. “Night.”
“Night, I’ll text you in the morning.”
As I’m walking inside the house, a thought strikes me.
If only Landon knew about how Johnson treated me, he’d probably give him a pass.
Well, maybe without the details about the orgasms and the spicy list.
CHAPTER 25
Grace
Iwake up the next morning like I went to bed: beyond happy, and eager to see Johnson again.
Everything that I would have hoped for on our first date—it’d been there.
And now I want more, even though it’s seven-thirty in the morning, and he’d only dropped me off eight hours ago or so. He said he’d text me though, so I hold myself back from messaging him.AlthoughI don’t think he would complain if you did, a voice says in my head.
