“No, I’m not finished. I’ve had two days to stew about this, so you’re just gonna have to listen.” He stopped and put his hands on his hips. “Where was I?”
I suppressed a smile. “I’m the only person you feel normal around.”
“Yeah, and damn you for that if you’re gonna freak out over a kiss.”
“You’re right.” I straightened my shoulders and let out a breath. “I got scared.”
“You got scared? Why?”
“I think you know why.”
“There you go assuming again. So let’s say I don’t know why. What do you have to be scared of?”
“You.”
Reid reared back as if I’d slapped him. “Why?”
Before I could answer, the swarm of ducks he’d been feeding padded onto the grassy bank and swarmed around Reid, pecking at the bag of leftover bread he held. He reached inside and tossed a couple of handfuls into the lake, sending most of the ducks paddling back into the water while the other stragglers stayed around his feet, searching for bits on the ground.
“That’s all I got, guys,” he said, throwing the rest of the loaf out into the lake. “Go on. Shoo. Go eat some fish. That’s right, protein’s better for you than carbs.”
As they all filed back into the cold water and swam off in search of another meal, he wiped the crumbs off his hands and faced me again.
“I feed bread to ducks in my spare time, for God’s sake. I’m not that scary.”
A smile simmered on the edge of my lips. “That’s just one of your many endearing qualities.”
Reid stared at me and slowly shook his head. “You’re confusing the hell out of me, you know that?”
“I don’t mean to. The thing is…”Just say it. He already knows, so say it.“I’m fucking crazy about you.”
Reid inhaled sharply, his eyes going wide, and I kept going before he had the chance to say anything.
“I only held back the other night because I didn’t want to be a mistake you wish you could take back. Idon’twant to be a mistake for you.”
“Ollie,” he said, his voice so tight it sounded like a strangled whisper. “You’re not. I wouldn’t.”
“You say that now, but?—”
“But nothing. You’re nobody’s mistake, especially mine.”
A warmth I hadn’t felt in years spread through my chest, and as much as I tried to bite back a smile, it broke free anyway.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Reid said, taking a step toward me. “What if I suddenly remember my life before you and somehow look at you differently?” He took another step, this time bringing himself within touching distance. “But all I can say is you need to trust that I can make my own decisions. I don’t understand what’s happening any more than you do, but at least I’m willing to try. Are you?”
I reached out for his arm and pulled him toward me, and he went willingly. His front brushed against mine, and since I had him by a few inches, he had to crane his neck a little to look up at me. No one else existed with him staring at me like that—the lake, the people walking by, all of it faded until all I could see and feel was Reid.
“Can we try this again?” I asked, giving him the chance to change his mind and move away if he wanted to, but when Reid’s tongue came out to wet his lips, that was the only cue I needed.
I cradled Reid’s head with my forefingers and swept his jaw with my thumbs. He took an unsteady breath as I searched his eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation.
“Kiss me, Ollie,” he whispered, and that was the final push I needed. Angling my head toward his, I made the first move this time, grazing my lips against his before taking his mouth for my own. His lips parted as he welcomed me inside, and his hands moved to my waist, holding on to me tightly. I couldn’t stop the shudder that rolled through me as I let myself relish the taste and feel of him. He tasted like the most delicious forbidden fruit, but one I’d convinced myself was mine for the taking.
As our tongues tangled, Reid moaned and his hands moved from my waist to my lower back, pressing me against him, letting me feel the arousal straining against my own. On a reflex, I thrust my hips toward his, and he gasped before hungrily chasing my lips for more.
I lost myself in him, right there in the middle of the lake as the sun faded into night, and it was better than anything I could’ve dreamed up. I would’ve kissed him there forever if it hadn’t been for a wayward bouncing ball bumping into the back of my calves.
We broke apart, just as a little boy about five or so came running down the bank after the ball, with his mother flying after him.