Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
I was so in love with this boy that it was almost too much for my heart to contain.
This was life. This, laughter and happiness, connection and play. The simplicity of this day had made me feel more alive than I had in years. And love. Loving Cael had been the single biggest blessing in my life. Allowing someone else into my heart was a happiness that I had chased away for too long.
Not anymore. I wanted to hold on to what we had with every morsel of strength. Now that I had him, I couldn’t imagine losing him.
An older man sprayed orange water at Cael. He retaliated by throwing a blue ball of powder all over his back. Laughter and hugs were shared, and I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face. As if it was a beacon to Cael, he lifted his head and searched the area for me. Just seeing how thoroughly he looked for me made my heart beat faster.
He was pummeled with water and powder as he stopped to find me, only relaxing when our eyes met over the crowd. The expression of relief, then love that shone from his handsome features almost made my heart burst.
Cael strode through the crowds, colored powder and water still hitting every part of him. When he ducked into the alcove that gave me shelter and a hiding place, he laughed. “You suit all these colors, Peaches. How’s that possible?”
I laughed too. It felt amazing. “You suit them too.” I smudged a mess of pink and red and blue on his cheek with the back of my hand.
“You okay?” he asked. Several hours had passed and the streets were slowly clearing, the city readying for the evening’s calmer celebrations.
“I’m good,” I said and held Cael’s hand. I didn’t know what had happened this morning, but the thread I felt tied us together had pulled even tighter, grown stronger. His hands ran up and down my bare arms, mixing the paint. Goose bumps spread in his wake. Butterflies invaded my stomach, and I felt breathless. There was a shift between us somehow.
“You look beautiful,” he said, and I felt those words right down to my bones.
I couldn’t stop touching him. I felt the lightness coming from him as powerful as the midday sun in Georgia. It was a glimpse of what we could have. Of what our future could be like. Us, healed and unburdened of our heavy grief. A glimpse into a future where we could laugh often and not awake in pain. Where we could remember Poppy and Cillian and not feel like we were drowning but floating instead—twin feathers drifting on calm seas.
“I love you,” Cael said and ran the tip of his nose down my cheek. I knew he was feeling this strange new turn in our relationship too. Like we were soldered together, unable to be parted. My heart was beating a rhythm of his name, wanting to brand him to my soul. I wanted him closer somehow. No, needed it. Craved it. I wanted him to know every part of me. I wanted our souls to collide. I tried to pinpoint when we had reached this new turn in our relationship. It had been coming on so gradually that it had snuck up on us both silently. But it could have been the way we had both opened to each other, bearing our fears and deepest scars. It could have been how we had learned to trust one another by holding each other up in our times of need. Or it could be the laughter we had shared when we allowed ourselves to be free and temporarily unburdened by grief.
Or it could simply be that we finally understood that we were soulmates, and only sharing a lifetime could possibly make us closer than we already were.
Cael kissed me then. It was deep and all consuming, but there was an affirming touch to it too. It was a kiss that I could feel changed us. A kiss that promised a future, a partner, a bright soul to help carry us through any path of darkness we may encounter.
Cael’s hand wrapped loosely around my ponytail. “I can’t believe I met you,” he whispered against my lips. Familiar flutters dove through my body. Butterflies that answered solely to the command of Cael’s kisses and touch. “Every day I wake up, and I thank the universe that it brought you to me.” Cael shook his head as in disbelief. “How have I been so lucky?” He exhaled. “I don’t deserve you, Sav. And I won’t ever take you for granted.”
His heartfelt words made me breathless.
Cael kissed and kissed me. He kissed me until the crowds dispersed and the first part of the day was done, a spilled rainbow on the ground the only evidence of the celebration that had taken place. When Cael lifted his head, I stared into his eyes and saw my love and affection pouring right back at me.