Page 146 of Someone Like Me
Her face pinches into a grotesque mask of loathing, but her eyes fill. All at once, instead of being afraid of her, wanting to hide from her anger and my guilt, I want to embrace her. Comfort her.
But that’s not allowed.
“I’m sorry for everything.” And then I step around her and aim for the door.
“He wants you to forgive him,” Grandma mumbles.
I don’t pause when I hear Lottie scoff, and I’m in the doorway when my grandmother repeats herself, louder this time.“Anthonywants you to forgive him.”
I drive home in a fog, raw and empty, with just one thought in mind.
Evie.
She’ll come over tonight. I’ll take her to bed, love her, and wake up beside her in the morning. And then maybe I’ll be able to face whatever tomorrow will bring.
But when I climb the stairs to the apartment, I hear the scratching and clicking of canine toes on wood. And before I reach the top step, she is there, saying my name.
Thank God.
Evie crashes into my arms, and Gemini jumps on my legs, and everything that felt empty and raw a moment ago now is full and soothed. I’ll be damned if I will cry again today, so I laugh instead. And laughing, I scoop this beautiful, bewitching woman into my embrace, and as if on instinct, she wraps her legs around my waist before I carry her inside.
That’s when I smell the most tempting aroma of marinara and oregano. I am suddenly starving.
“God in heaven. What is that?” I ask spinning her around to find a cardboard box bearing the Pizza Village logo on my table.
“It’s just pizza,” Evie says, shrugging, her voice soft and humble.
“Just pizza,” I echo dumbly. I look back at her as though I’ve just caught her levitating. Honestly, at this point, that may not even faze me. “You are an angel. A fairy. A goddess.”
She tips her head back, laughing. The flesh of her fair throat tempts me, and it’s too much. I dive in for a taste. I let the tip of my tongue graze her flawless skin and ride the length of her neck up to her ear.
Her laughter turns breathy, and I let my lips hover over her ear’s dainty shell. “You bury me,” I tell her. “I’m completely gone. You give me what I need before I know I need it.”
Though I’m damn grateful for pizza, she’s got to know I mean more than that. For what just happened at the hospital. And a million other things.
I’m not really ready to examine what just happened at the hospital, but I know it wouldn’t have happened without her.
I’ve never loved anyone, anything, like this.
I’ve never felt loved like this.
I kiss Evie. She’s still clinging to me, and I’m pretty sure I could hold her and kiss her like this for years. At least eight. I don’t even think my arms would get tired.
“You bury me,” I say again after freeing her mouth.
Evie shakes her head, brushing plump lips against mine. “I don’t want to bury you. I want to feed you.” Then she wriggles in my grip. “Put me down, love.”
I ease her to her feet. “I don't have any plates. Just napkins.”
Evie shrugs. “We’ll eat over the box.”
Yeah. I want to marry her.
“Cheese and pepperoni seemed like a safe bet,” she says, lifting the box lid.
The mouth-watering scent of hot pizza has me moaning. “Mmm. God, pizza.” It’s one of the things I still haven’t had since getting out. I grab a slice, remember my manners just in time, and offer it to Evie. She accepts it with a smile, and then I dive in, scoop up a giant slice, and take the world’s biggest bite.
And it’s mind-blowing.
