Him by Carey Heywood (reading strategies book .txt) 📕

We both look up at the sound of the elevator’s arrival. Will captures my mouth the moment the elevator door closes behind us and doesn’t release it until it dings to let us know we've reached our floor.

I push off his chest. "Remember we're just talking tonight."

He nods, but his eyes say another thing altogether. He takes one of my hands from his chest and pulls my bag behind us as we walk to the door of Brian and Christine's place. Their place seems smaller with Will inside it, his height making the high ceilings seem less so. Maybe it's my feelings towards him.

"Want a drink, Miller Lite?"

I have to laugh. "No one has called me that in…"

His hands cup my face. "Seven years?"

I nod as he lowers his lips to mine. I lose myself for a moment before turning my face away from him.

"Will, we need to talk."

His lips move to my jaw line. "This is more fun."

"Will, I leave the day after tomorrow."

He nips my earlobe before pulling back and smirking at me. "Drink?"

I need a clear head. "Just water."

I sit in one of their armchairs while Will goes to the kitchen to get our drinks. He makes a face at me when he sees where I'm sitting. I sat here on purpose so he can’t touch me. His fingers brush mine as he hands me my glass. He sets his beer on the coffee table and removes his bow tie. I watch riveted as he tugs his dress shirt from his pants and unbuttons it. He has a white undershirt on, and once his dress shirt is off and draped over the back of the other armchair, he sits on the sofa and takes a drink of his beer.

Neither of us had said anything while he was taking it off, and I feel uncomfortable now having stared at him so intently while he did it. I flush, turning to look away, and take a loud gulp of my water.

"Alright, Sarah. Let’s talk."

I take a deep breath and let out a whoosh of air. "I'm scared, Will." There, I said it. "This whole thing scares me. I have no idea what we're doing, and it's all happening so fast, and then there's the fact that I live in Colorado and you live here and you have your hands full with your mom. You have to know I'm a planner. This not knowing what is going to happen is not something I'm good at."

He quietly chews on the corner of his mouth and stands, walking over to me and scooping me up into his arms before I can react. He turns and walks back to the sofa as I wiggle and complain in his arms.

He sits, holding me in his lap, his lips at my ear. "I'm scared too, Sarah, but I know that this is going to work out. You and I are going to happen. There isn’t anyone else for me. I'm not going to let you run again, I'm not. Things might suck for a bit while we figure all the details out, but we can't let that stop us from being together. Did you ever think we would have a normal relationship? Does that even exist? Our feelings are as real as it gets. When I kiss you, it's real. I know you feel it too. I feel like I've been sleep walking for the last seven years, and then I saw you on the plane, and it was like I was awake again."

I sag against him. I want to believe him. I do.

He eases back further onto the sofa, and I move with him, my head on his chest.

Trailing his fingertips up and down my back, he goes on. "I was wondering if you'd tell me more about your company. How many people work for you? Is there any possibility of you moving here and working remotely?"

I nervously spin my ring as I think about it, Will patiently waiting for me to say something. "Counting me, there are five of us. I guess it doesn’t really matter where I'm based because of all the traveling I do. I'm usually out of the office at least three days a week anyways. I just don’t know. My team is more than just employees to me. They’re my friends. I think I need to wait until I'm back home to talk it out with my team. We've talked in the past about not renewing the lease on our office space and working remotely instead. Maybe I could move back if I did that." I look up at him and see his grin. "Don’t get too excited. I'm just throwing out ideas. I want to talk with my team first."

He doesn’t stop smiling and leans forward to kiss my forehead. "It'd mean a lot to me if you would come over tomorrow and talk to my mom with me."

I tense, and he feels it. "Please, Sarah."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Will."

He rubs his hand through his hair and sighs. I hate that I'm still intimidated by her, even after all of these years. Her words still cause me pain, but I have to think about Will and what is important to him.

"If you want me to, I'll go," I say after some time.

He crushes me to his chest. "If I want you to? Does that hold for everything?" His voice is husky in my ear.

I laugh. "You are impossible."

His lips move to my neck. "Haven't we talked enough?" he murmurs against my skin.

"Will." He ignores me. "Will!" Still ignores me. "WILL!"

He lifts his head. "Yes, dear?"

"We're not going to do stuff on my brother's couch."

I gasp as he stands up, taking me with him. "It’s cool. They have a spare bedroom."

He carries me across their foyer and pushes a door open with his foot. The room is dark. He