Always There

Chapter Ninety

Bryce kisses the top of my head. "Not true. You could've moved without me."

I scoff a little. Just when I think that Bryce is always able to read me, he totally overlooks what I was trying to say.

"No, Bryce," I whisper. "The moving is only part of it. You've done so much more for me than just what you've done today. You helped me build the confidence over the last year and a half to get a job and actually make enough money to be able to afford living in an apartment. Sure, I would've gotten to this point in my life by myself eventually. But you helped me speed up the process so so much, and because of you and the way you've supported me, you helped me reach this point in my journey so much quicker than I would've on my own. So, thank you, Bryce."

Bryce remains silent for several moments.

I glance up at him only to find him watching me with a very confusing expression on his face.

He has a small smile on his face, just wide enough to show his dimples. One of his eyebrows is quirked up ever so slightly, and there's an almost mischievous twinkle in those beautiful amber eyes of his.

"What is it?" I ask him, a little bit nervous.

He merely grins at me, lifts his hands from my lap, and takes my face in his large hands.

"And you have done the same thing for me, Blossom. Who knows where I would be right now if you hadn't became part of my life again? I don't even know if I would still be alive. All I know is that you've changed my life, and though I wish our relationship could've lasted forever, I still genuinely believe that our relationship is the best thing to ever happen to me," he says quietly.

And then, he tilts my chin upwards so that our faces our totally aligned and I'm not able to look anywhere else other than into his eyes.

I feel my cheeks flush slightly at the intensity I find in his gaze, the intensity that's there because of me.

Bryce tilts his head to the side, bites down on his lower lip.

I find myself unintentionally holding my breath.

And then Bryce leans in and seals his lips over mine.

I freeze for a moment, my mind taking a second to process that oh my God, Bryce is kissing me.

But as soon as my brain catches up, I find myself kissing him back with everything I've got.

Bryce's hands slide into my hair, tangling in the hair at the nape of my neck as he holds my face close to his. I allow my own hands to wander around Bryce's body, feeling the hard muscles of his chest and abdomen first through his T-shirt until I slip my hands underneath the bottom hem so that my hands can roam free against his bare skin.

I relish the feeling of his smooth, bare skin and the light sprinkling of hair on his lower abdomen, the happy trail that I love so much. I feel Bryce's breath hitch when my fingertips then find the waistband of his pants, but he immediately distracts me by prying my lips open with his own so that he can kiss me harder, deeper.

His tongue meets mine and all I can feel is fireworks. I feel this kiss all the way down to the very tips of my toes and it just makes me want to arch farther into his touch until all I can feel is his body against mine, his taste in my mouth, his hands in my hair.

My brain currently seems incapable of thinking about anything other than Bryce Bryce Bryce and I am certainly not complaining.

I hook my fingers in the waistband of Bryce's pants and he growls against my mouth before taking my bottom lip between his teeth and tugging, hard. I gasp, kissing him harder, not caring that his teeth are clashing against mine because I just want more.