Page 67 of Almost Ours
Even in this dire situation, she feels so fucking nice. She smells even better.
“You’re alive,” I laugh, holding onto her and breathing her in. “You made it.”
She slowly lifts her head, cheeks flushed, mascara slightly smudged, hair sticking out in about twelve unnecessary directions.
She looks wrecked.
She also seems to be the kind of girl who would attempt this again if dared.
“Oh shit,” she whispers, hazel eyes going wide in horror. “Did I hit you?”
I nod, trying not to enjoy her closeness too much. “Multiple times.”
“Is your face broken?”
“No.”
“Is the window broken?”
I glance at it. “Somehow, also no.”
She drags a hand down her face. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I’ve never known embarrassment like this.”
I shake my head, steadying her by the waist because she’s not let go of my shoulders yet. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Josh. I was stuck like a feral raccoon trying to escape a bin.”
“That’s…” I grin, “quite an image.”
“It’s the truth.”
She doesn’t pull away. If anything, she seems to sink into me a little more, her grip on my shoulders loosening without letting go. The panic is leaving her slowly, but I’m becoming more aware of every place we’re touching as it does. Her face is close enough that I can feel her breath when she exhales, and my hands are sitting at her waist which is making my heart pound.
When she moves slightly, my fingers tighten around her, and a hot pull goes straight through my stomach.
“Are you aware you’re still holding on to me?” I ask, and every breath I take moves her slightly against my chest.
She blinks once, then looks down at her hands, surprised they’re still on me. Instead of dropping them, her fingers curl slightly. “Oh. Yeah.”
“Are you planning on letting go?”
“No,” she mutters instantly, holding tighter. “I don’t trust myself.”
That makes two of us, although for very different fucking reasons.
Chapter Seventeen
Saturday
October 17th 2015
Ruby:
"Why are you smiling like that?" Josh asks, green eyes zeroed in on my face.
“Like what?”
“That.”
