Page 140 of Go Find Less

Do it.

Say it.

Tell her.

“Falling in love with you.”

There’s a heartbeat, maybe two, of silence, and I panic. What did I just do? Did I really just say that to her?

But before I can spiral out too far, her face splits into a megawatt smile and she launches herself at me, climbing into my lap and peppering my face with tiny kisses until her thighs are straddling me.

A surprised laugh falls out of me, and I grip onto her hips, letting her shake her hair out of her face. Piper stares down at me, swallowing before she replies “It was easy for me too.” She takes a breath, and then says “I mean, not at first, because you were kind of an asshat, but-"

I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers, holding the back of her head to me until we’re breaking apart, panting, and I let out a strangled sound.

“I tell you I love you, and you call me an asshat.”

She gasps. “That’s not what I was saying, or what I was trying to say, I-"

I kiss her again.

“Fitz, you’ve got to let me finish-"

When I press my lips to hers again, she nips at my bottom lip so hard I draw back, shocked.

“I love you, too.”

Oh, shit. The words do something to my insides - they go molten as I stare into Piper’s baby blue eyes, which are shiny and filled with something I can’t place. No, I can place it, I realize. Because it’s the same look she gave me after I punched out the guy at the races. It’s the same look she had today in the bathroom, meeting my gaze through the mirror.

It’s love. True, unbridled, passionate love from a woman just as unbridled as that feeling. It bores into me in a way I feel to the tips of my toes, like a shock to the nervous system.

When I kiss her again, it’s long and languid and that shock just keeps rippling through me, hitting me in waves like the crest of an orgasm but in a way that’s making my heart flutter, not beat wildly. And she kisses me back, just as passionately, wrapping her arms around my neck, my shoulders and pulling me to her. Slowly, that kiss turns into tangling tongues, and I pull away, tilting her head back and kissing down her neck, trailing the same spots with my tongue and feeling the way she shudders against me. It takes just a second for my body to react, and when it does, she’s grinding against me, the fabric of our shorts bunching together while she makes soft little moans that go straight to my dick.

Gingerly, I thread my hands into her sweatshirt, feeling her skin underneath and finding that she’s naked again - my favorite kind of surprise from this woman in my arms. She gives me a wicked smile, her head still leaned back, eyes half closed as my hands rake up her sides and back down to the hem. I tug up, pulling it over her head and letting her curls fall over her shoulders, now bare except for that string of pearls. Without hesitation, I lean forward, letting her grab my shirt and tug it over my head, until our chests are pressed together and I’m kissing a line across her collarbone, across her shoulders, the tops of her breasts.

“I love you,” I breathe into her skin, and her hand in my hair tightens. “Of the handful of people I’ve ever said that to, I mean this the most.” She lets out a watery laugh, and when I meet her eyes, she’s crying.

"Fuck, what-"

“It’s fine,” she garbles out, waving a hand between us. “I’m sorry, I’m just an emotional mess all the time.” She sniffs, wiping at her eyes. “I’m also on my period, which isn’t helping.”

Ah.

I swipe her curls behind her ear, letting her forehead press to mine.

“I love you, and it terrifies me,” she says after a heartbeat. I try to sit back, but she holds my head to hers, both hands on the back of my neck, her eyes fluttering closed. “I’m terrified to love someone again, tolet myselflove again. But damn it.” She sits back, startling me as her eyes meet mine. I notice the way her breasts bounce when she moves, and it’s like a straight shot to my groin. Focus, man. “We both deserve love.”

“We do,” I agree with a nod. Piper presses her lips to mine again, this kiss long and sweet, and when she leans back, I shift her off my lap, standing.

“What?” She looks confused, a little hurt, but I hold out my hand and she stares at it. “What are you doing?”

“Getting the woman I love in the shower,” I answer, shrugging. “And if I’m lucky, she’ll let me hear how much she loves me when I make her come on my fingers.” Her eyebrows shoot to her hairline, but that wicked smile slides across her face as she pushes up, following me into the bathroom and letting the door click behind us.

Piper

We were not, in fact, quiet enough in the shower on Saturday, as Carla has reminded me about sixty times this week, practically every chance she gets.

“I don’t ever want to hear those noises again,” she says dryly, pushing around the cereal in her bowl, an afternoon snack we’re both partaking in like a normal Saturday afternoon. Except, Carla is fully clothed, ready for an afternoon of final prep for the reunion, while I’m standing in our kitchen with my hair in curlers, in a robe and just my underwear.