Page 75 of Feeding Hope
She felt him put his arms around her, but she didn’t tense up. She relaxed into his embrace.
Before she realized what was happening, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. A kiss. Gentle. Tender.
She wasn’t someone who showed a lot of emotion with people. At work, she worked hard. She fought shoulder to shoulder with her crew. Hell, she’d walked through fire with and for each and every one of them. What she didn’t do was ‘hang out’ with them.
She could count on one hand the number of times she’d been out socializing with them. If there was a fundraiser at Ciro’s for someone from the first responder community. She’d go and putin an appearance and drop off cash into the boot, but if it was just for camaraderie?
No. She spent her time with her son, trying to make sure she gave him the support she could.
She’d give one of the guys a smack on the back or a soft fist bump to the arm, but hugs?
Ahh... No thanks.
She just wasn’t comfortable being that close to anyone but Aidan. Settling into his embrace, slipping her arms under his and moving closer to touch her cheek to his shoulder. She felt surrounded by warmth. Protected. Cared for. In a word, it felt... perfect.
And that scared her.
Avery tensed and tried to pull back, but his arms felt like a wall around her. He hadn’t tightened his embrace. He hadn’t gripped her arms or put his hands on her back. It was just the slight weight of his cheek against hers. The subtle, almost imperceptible movement of his hand against her back.
“You’re not a failure, Avery. You never were.”
She wondered when her body would remember that she wasn’t the kind of person who leaned on other people like this. She was a woman how put her two feet on the ground and worked to raise her son. As much as she wanted to step back and put some distance between them, she wanted to get even closer.
She’d known he was different from the moment he changed her son’s life, giving him a chance to not only stay in school, but to succeed and have a future to look forward to.
But now, things were different, even better than before.
She felt something opening up inside of her that she hadn’t even known was closed.
The hinges weren’t just creaky, they’d been damn near frozen in place, but this man... This mountain of a man must have melted them somehow.
It might take a while to open them completely, but she had a feeling, he just might stick around long enough to see it happen.
“Wayne?”
She felt him still against her. And when he didn’t say a word, she shifted in his arms and leaned back to look into his eyes. What she saw almost made her smile. This big, strong man looked a little undone by her.
Smiling even more, she leaned in an inch more, biting into her bottom lip. When she was close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin, she stopped and breathed in his scent.
“Wayne?”
He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, she heard his voice, deep and warm. “Yeah?”
“I think I need you to kiss me.”
“Good,” he smiled and she frowned a little.
Why wasn’t he moving? When he spoke again, she heard the deep vibration of his voice and felt it in their close contact.
“I think I need you to kiss me, too, Avery.”
She wasn’t sure who closed the gap first. And really, she couldn’t care a bit.
Constance.
Roux Cantrell
Be warned there are triggers in these stories, relating to
