I picked her up and turned her around, lips locked and glued to her body, until I reached the kitchen counter. I placed her on top of it, and our kiss broke as we tore at each other’s clothes. I helped her out of her jeans then yanked down my shorts, and before I knew it, I was inside of her.
She sighed my name and our lips found each other again. I was going to miss the hell out of this. She felt so good wrapped around me, so good in my hands. I never wanted to let her go, but I knew after she left, this would be it. No longer would I be able to make her mine. No longer would I see her bright smile as she walked into my classroom or smell her whenever she was nearby. I wanted to give Zara the world…but in order to do that, I had to let go.
“I’m going to miss you,” I murmured against her lips.
“I’ll miss you too.” I noticed tears in her eyes, but she tried to hide them by holding me closer to her.
“Don’t cry, Zara. This isn’t the end. It’s just for right now.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes.”
I wrapped a palm around the back of her head and used my other hand to steady her hips.
“Oh, I’m gonna come,” she said breathlessly, tossing her head back.
Those words and the way her pussy got wetter around me were enough to bring me close to the edge. She held on to me tighter, and I kissed her throat before groaning and coming too.
My cock pulsed inside her, and she released slow, ragged breaths, lowering her head again. Grabbing my face, she kissed me slowly, passionately, and my cock throbbed.
“I love you, Cole.”
This time, I didn’t feel like anything was blocking me from saying it back. I wanted her to know that yes, I did love her, and I always would. It would never change.
“I love you too, Zara,” I said back. “So damn much.”
Epilogue
ZARA
Three years later
* * *
I threw the strap of my purse onto my shoulder and clung to my cup of coffee as I hustled off the subway and toward the building that housed the publishing company that employed me. I still couldn’t believe I’d made it to where I was. I’d been lucky enough to score an internship at Breaker Publishing the summer before my senior year, and they loved me so much they told me to apply for an assistant editor’s position.
I’d moved to New York three months after graduating and hadn’t looked back since. I was grateful to Cole for what he’d done for me. Had he not, I wouldn’t have been able to finish college to achieve this dream.
As time passed in college, I hadn’t kept in touch with him as much. When we did speak, it was always a delight being on the phone with him, but things had changed, and we were on two different paths, him with his books and amazing author career and me with my studies and now my dream job.
I saw (through some minor Instagram stalking) that he’d had a girlfriend sometime the previous year. Of course, that killed me to know, but I wasn’t upset about it for long. They seemed to have split up only a month after getting together, and I couldn’t help but think how typical it was for Cole to end things so quickly.
I’d made a point to ask him how his girlfriend was after noticing she’d posted a photo on her profile stating she was happy and single, with a thirst trap picture in a bikini.
“You’ve been watching me, huh?” Cole asked, trying to change the subject.
“Nuh-uh. You don’t get to change the subject.” I laughed then slurped some noodles into my mouth. “What happened there anyway?”
“Well, it’s simple,” Cole said. “She wasn’t you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. All I could do was smile. I finished my noodles, and he changed the subject again to what his new book was about, which sounded incredible. I tried my best not to talk about commitment with Cole. I always chalked his comments like that up to him missing me and what we had. It didn’t mean he wanted to marry me or anything.
But I could have been wrong. Lately, he’d been texting me more and more, asking me about my job, the latest book I was helping Darla, the senior editor, work on, and the next hot author the company was buzzing about.
I waltzed into the building, saying hello to Cynthia at the front desk and the security guard, Chris, who always pressed the elevator button for me.
When I made it to my floor, I set my things down at my cubicle and went to the break room to snag a muffin. It was when I returned that I noticed Darla standing at my cubicle.