Seven Weeks to Forever (Love / Romance)

Chapter Thirty

I can hear what Riley isn't saying. He wants to go somewhere that isn't lit up with harsh fluorescent lights, and where our words won't bounce around the room for the barista or anyone else to hear.

"Yes."

He squeezes my fingers again and then lets go of them to lean over and scoop up his pen from the floor. He slips it inside of the messenger bag that hangs on the side of his chair. He does the same with the papers he gathers up from the table. "Okay, senorita. Let's jet."

I push my chair back from the table. The scraping noise makes the barista look up from his magazine.

"Thank you," he calls out.

Riley raises his hand to wave goodbye. As he lowers it, he reaches out to take my hand again, sending another tingle of energy through me. Our fingers stay joined together as we leave the café and step out into the evening air.

I let him lead, watching the energy surrounding him from the corner of my eye. Even if I wasn't able to see the sparks dancing around him, I would be able to feel them from the touch of his hand on mine. The color of his energy tells me he's nervous.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks. We get to an intersection and stop walking, waiting for the red light in front of us to turn green.

"You," I answer.

"Only good things, I hope. Not that I think I deserve that." His hold on my hand gets a little bit tighter, enough to let me feel how fast his pulse is racing. It matches mine.

"I think we're both to blame for this morning."

His free arm circles around me, nudging me closer. I let him pull me into a hug, my head buried in his chest. His chin comes to rest on top of my head.

"How did you know I wanted to see you tonight?" he murmurs. He keeps his arm around me. I realize then that I don't ever want him to let go.

"Something guided me here," I say, silently thanking Noah for the very thing I wanted to throttle him for earlier tonight.

"I can be kind of a jerk sometimes, I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." I move my head so I can look at him.

"I don't know why I do it," he continues. "I mean, I know why I do it. But I shouldn't do it." The nervousness that I saw in his energy seeps into his voice.

I squeeze his hand, bringing my free hand up to touch the side of his cheek. I don't say a word, because I know I don't have to. He turns his head to kiss the palm of my hand, his eyes still locked on mine.

My hand moves up to brush against the side of his hair and then he's lowering his head, his face close to mine like it's been before. This time, though, he keeps getting closer, until there's no space between us and his lips are touching mine. His kiss is feather light at first, like he's not sure how I'll respond. I bring my other hand up to join the one that's now tangling through his hair, and I feel his arms tighten around me. I've kissed someone before, in another body and another life, but I don't remember it feeling like this. The sparks of energy between us pop like little firecrackers, making me tingle from head to toe.

He captures my bottom lip with both of his and then grazes it with his teeth, and suddenly what was so tentative at first is filled with the intensity of the weeks gone by. His tongue traces the inside of my lips before we break apart, and I keep my eyes closed when I feel the lightest trail of kisses along my jawbone and neck.

His lips press against my collarbone and his head comes to rest there. I circle my arms around his waist, holding him close. We stay like that for a couple of minutes, just standing in the middle of the sidewalk. I don't know if anyone is watching us, and I don't care if they are. If I could capture one moment of my life and hold onto it forever, this would be it.