Always Yours by Amicia Bianchi (best books to read fiction TXT) 📕

"I was already here and I wasn't sure if you saw any of it," he defended.

"Well I have and I laughed through all 20 episodes of the 'you won't answer your phone' show," I said and he smiled. "And I was going to let you off over the 'I miss you' text in the afternoon since you were here but if you're going to laugh now you're in deficit and you owe me."

"Really? No mercy?" he pleaded.

"Of course not," I answered. "And by the way do you walk around the card section in the Hallmark store to find stuff to send me?"

"No!" he immediately denied, perplexed, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You've got to be lying because some of that stuff sounds like you took it from a Hallmark card," I laughed at his mounting confusion.

"No, I wrote all those texts myself," he refuted. I shook my head and took a step back.

"I don't know about that," I teased taking another step away from him.

"Where are you going?" he reached for me but I evaded him. "Believe me," he followed me, reaching out again.

"Make me," I challenged as I took off running around the car. Bryce, wasting no time, chased after me. Even though I made a valiant effort he still eventually caught me and caged me in against the car. As I looked up into his amber eyes he looked at me with a wolfish grin, in triumph. He bent his head down and molded our lips together.

"And where did you think you were going?" his body pressed against mine holding me in place, leaving me trapped against the car and stared down into my eyes as we fought to catch our breath. "I'm not letting you go," he eventually closed the gap between us again and I kissed him back yielding to the magic of the moment.

When we finally pulled apart he leaned his forehead against mine and even though neither of us had our eyes open I could feel the smile on his lips against my own. I playfully nipped at his bottom lip.

"You better not," I slid my hands into his hair and, when he laughed, pulled his head closer to resume our kiss.

"I may be going back to New York but that doesn't mean the end, it's not like I'll be dead, I won't be gone for good. I'll always be there for you whenever you need me, okay?" he whispered soothingly to me but his words brought Skylar back to mind.

"Okay," I nodded with my eyes trained on his chest, not able to look at him.

"I'm not talking about doing the impossible here," he continued talking in that soft tone as he lifted my chin "We can test it out for this semester and if you really don't like it I could always come back," my eyes flew to his.

"What?!" I exclaimed. "It's been your dream to go New York, how could you give up everything you've worked for?"

"I'd do anything for you, Alyssa," he said seriously and I didn't know what to respond at first. "If staying would make you more comfortable I'm more than willing to do just that."

"I could never make you do that. You've wanted this for too long, this has been your dream since forever," I had to decline. I might be miserable when he's gone but I can't let him give up his dream for my convenience knowing how hard he'd worked to get a full ride scholarship to NYU?

"What I want is the happiness of the most important girl in my world, so if that'll make you happy then that's what I'll do for you. Dreams can change but my happiness will always include you," he whispered in my ear. "But like I said we don't have to make any changes as of yet, once I'm not here anymore and get to bawling about how much you miss me you'll either be clinging to me whenever I get back or sneaking your way to New York," he teased me, winking, as he backed away.

As we drove Bryce's phone vibrated, thinking it was my mother calling back I looked down and was surprised to find that it wasn't. The person calling was actually Emy Hickens. For a moment I found myself not able to do anything trying to decide whether to accept or decline the call.

"Who is it?" he asked glancing over at me when I continued to let it ring. The sound of his voice jarred me out of my trance and as I looked over at the innocent curiosity on his face it reminded me of this morning. He'd already made it clear that he didn't want to talk to her so I have nothing to worry about, I told myself.

"Don't worry about it, it's not important," I answered him. He accepted this answer probably believing it was a wrong number.

When we got to the airport Bryce parked but since it was still early neither of us moved to get out after he turned off the engine.

"Come here," he lightly tugged on my hand. He helped me crawl over the gear shift on his lap, leaving his hand on my hips, and I straddled him as he slid the seat back. When I almost hit my head on the ceiling he laid it back as far as it would go. Looking at his face all I could think about was how much I would miss him.

I looked up at Alyssa and could no more protect myself from the feeling of guilt then I could stop a bullet as her eyes reflected her sadness and inner turmoil. I was torn between wanting to soothe her and trying to distract her with laughter. At first I did neither because as much as it pained me seeing her like this I felt that it was a mostly selfish impulse and it wouldn't help in the long run. It'd only succeed in making her feel better for a while and me less guilty but after I left she'd be depressed again. I watched her, carefully considering what to say to her next.

"Alyssa, we'll make it through this together, okay?" Although she was looking at me and her hands rested against my chest it was as if I wasn't there. We were so close yet so far away, "I know all of this is hard for you that's why I want to do everything I can to make it easier for you. I'm here for you. You can call me anytime because we're in this together so if there's anything you need me to do while I'm still here or anything you want to ask me or tell me…" I trailed off waiting on her response. "Anything you think will help you be more at ease or something you need to know before going forward," I added when she still hadn't answered. She continued staring at me but this time I could tell she was thinking about what I said, then a slow smile spread across her face.

"Thank you," she said sliding her hands up my chest and cupped my face.

"What for?" I asked confused.

"For reminding me of something important," I raised my eyebrows, "all day you kept saying how you wanted me to have fun, and I did. I really enjoyed today but knowing you were leaving was killing me however you're still here with me and I plan to savor the time we have left," she elaborated before leaning down to kiss me.

There was so much meaning in that kiss, everything that I couldn't put in words and all of my emotions were poured out into him. I gave him everything and in return he didn't give me any less. I broke the kiss while I rearranged myself so that I was flush against him and he moved his hand to caress my cheek.

"Alyssa," he whispered on my lips as ours came back together. In his arms I felt safe and loved, not wanting to let go I burrowed further into his embrace. Bryce smiled against my lips then took the kiss deeper making me feel vulnerable as I almost compulsively gave over to him but within seconds all my tumultuous emotions were calmed and my wolf who'd been unsettled was finally assuaged.

For moments after that kiss we stayed close marveling in this new development in our relationship. I'd felt the shift once it'd happened, I've found comfort in Bryce before but this was different. It was almost scary how easily he'd eased the storm of my emotions even though I knew he was just trying to be supportive, how could he quiet my inner turmoil so quickly? I hadn't told him about Skylar and her ultimatum but somehow he sensed something was wrong. When all my pent up emotions came boiling to the surface he took them on and cancelled out the chaos. He didn't ask questions and I got that he wasn't going to, he wanted me to know we were in it together and he'd wait until I was ready to talk about it.

Bryce pressed his lips against my shoulder and I purred then he breathed deep, dragging in my scent into his lungs until they were full then slowly exhaled. He turned his head into the crook of my neck and started the process all over again. He did this as he traveled all the way up my neck as if he was looking for the right spot. At some point he murmured something against my skin but I hadn't been paying enough attention to make out what he said. I let him get his fill for a moment longer before pulling him back to me. He searched my eyes for what I had no clue but by the time he'd opened his mouth I was impatient. I crushed our lips together and let my demand be known but he pulled away chuckling a short while later.

"I have a question," he announced after gazing at me in silence for a while, I groaned.

"You've got to be kidding, your girlfriend is lying on top of you and you have a question?"

"I'm not about to do what you're clearly thinking and plus we don't have enough time anyway. And for the record the first time we do that is not going to be in a car, you deserve better than that," he explained with a touch of humor in his eyes and something else.

"Fine..." I gave in with a sigh, "so what's your question?"

"Earlier you asked if I had any doubts about our relationship and I'm still very aware that we're working on our relationship and in order to move forward we have to get better at communicating even when it's hard. Especially now because if we can't most likely we won't survive the damage this time," he stated.

"I know," I agreed.

"So, do you have any doubts?" he watched me closely for my response.

"I don't really have doubts," I answered slowly trying to gather my thoughts, "it's more like insecurities. In the past I didn't say anything to you