His fingers moved over my trembling lips before he took my hands into his and blew warm air on them again. “Money means nothing to me. I’ve always had loads of it. What I really need is your happiness.”
“You don’t need to buy your redemption, Hayden. As long as you trust me, love me, and treat me with respect, I don’t need anything else.”
“But I need to make you happy. You’ve forgiven me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I treated you in the worst way possible. So now I want to make things right. Don’t refuse me that. Your happiness is my happiness, and if going to Yale is going to make you happy, I’m going to do everything to make that happen.”
I had no way of explaining to him how much I appreciated him. He was all I ever wanted in a guy and so much more, and knowing we would have to separate soon was tearing me up little by little.
“But if I go to Yale, what will you do? Do you want to go to college?”
His face turning dismal, he embraced me and cradled my head against his shoulder. “I never had dreams or plans for my future. I never even knew whether I’d go to college or not. But now I know. I want to be close to you. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I decided to pick a college close to Yale, and we’ll rent some place and live together—”
“Whoa. Wait.” I pulled away from him so I could look him in the eyes. I’d never even thought about that option, and now that he suggested it... “You want us to live together?”
“That’s it. I’m taking you to a doctor tomorrow. You’re definitely deaf.” My smile grew bigger, along with my excitement. “That’s what I said, Sarah. We’ll rent a place that’s near our colleges, and the problem is solved.”
Hayden and I would be living together? This day just got so much better.
“Hayden, you’re amazing!” I jumped at him and hugged him, sending him a few steps back because he wasn’t expecting it.
“Hey, easy! My ribs!” he complained, but then he burst into chuckles. His fingers threaded through my hair affectionately as his other arm wound around my waist to hold me against him.
We had a way to be together. We didn’t have to be separated. I was ecstatic!
“You’re the best! I love you, Hayden! I adore you!”
I grabbed his face and pulled his lower lip into my mouth greedily. He angled my head and explored my lips before his tongue flicked against mine, which warmed my body from the inside out. Our hands were restless, roaming over our bodies as we tried to get as close as possible to each other.
Without warning, he pushed me down, and I rolled over the snowy ground. He covered me with his body before I could move, his laughter becoming louder when I shot him a glare.
“Are you crazy? It’s freezing! And I hate snow! I—” He dumped a snowball directly on my face, which sent some of the snow into my mouth. I coughed, bowled over. “Hayden! You!”
I reached for the snow, rushing to give him a taste of his own medicine, but he grabbed my hand and pressed it against the ground above my head.
“I don’t think so,” he said with a smirk and smeared a handful of snow on my face with his free hand.
I thrashed against him. “Hayden!” My heart threatened to burst in my chest as I fought for dominance.
His laughter rang through the air, drowning out my grunts and complaints, before he sent us rolling across the ground, completely coating us with snow. I fell on top of him, straddling him with his hands on my hips, and supported myself against his chest that was now rapidly rising and falling.
“Now you’re right where I wanted you,” he murmured seductively.
I was more than aware of how perfectly our bodies molded together, and I forgot about the snow or the cold. His glimmering dark brown eyes bore into mine, and his laughter diminished. His hands slid down my hips and over the front of my thighs.
“You’re devious,” I told him, growing hotter under his touches. His hand cupped my butt, pressing me against him, and the motion sent a pang of pleasure through me.
“You’re beautiful,” he replied.
My already red cheeks burned at his words. “Thank you.”
His stunning smile took my breath away. He was truly a work of art. “No, thank you. You helped me more than you can imagine. It’s thanks to you that I was able to calm down and feel like this.”
I ran my finger across his lips and cheeks, stopping on his scar. I caressed it softly. “Feel like what?”
“Happy.”
I flicked my gaze back and forth between his eyes and soft lips, mesmerized by him. I smiled back at him. My Hayden. “I’m so happy when you’re happy. I’ll always help you whenever you need me.”
“I always need you.”
He pulled me in for a kiss, and we ended making out for a couple of intense minutes that had me restless and hot. I felt the happiest ever, exhilarated at the prospect of my future with Hayden as we got closer to each other every day.
We were both damaged—both imperfect—but despite all our issues and setbacks, we were perfect together. I felt like I found my home, and despite the darkness in ourselves and the world, we found our peace, and it was something that was going to help us continue on the right way. And I didn’t need anything else.
Chapter 16
“IT’S GOING TO BE ALL right, Sar. Don’t let one argument ruin the whole night for you,” Mel told me as she applied a dark gray eyeshadow on my eyelids. “And it’s not any night. It’s the night, so don’t you dare get all depressed. This party is definitely not my idea of fun with Steven’s stupid friends there, but if I can get excited about it, you can too.”
“Mel is right,” Jess said. She put her eyeliner on next to me. “I’m sure Hayden will calm down and everything will be all right, so don’t worry much about it.”
I wasn’t quite sure about that. I hadn’t heard from him since our fight this morning.
Hayden and I had a huge fight because he found out I helped Carmen with housekeeping to earn money. It all started when he noticed that my car was missing from my driveway. I told him about my current money issues and that I didn’t want to accept Carmen’s money without earning it.
He got so mad at Carmen anyway, and I barely stopped him from picking another quarrel with her.
“I didn’t even know about this shit,” he’d told me. “You should’ve told me you had serious money issues. I never would’ve let you work as a fucking cleaner at my house.”
“And what’s wrong with working as a cleaner? That’s an honorable job.”
“It’s wrong that you have to work so much when I can easily help you.”
“I don’t want you to help me that way. I want to be independent, and I can’t accept others paying for me when I can do it by myself.”
“But working at my house? Do you seriously think I can be okay with that? My girlfriend cleaning my room? No. I don’t want you to keep doing it.”
I blew my top at that, exasperated because he was leaving me with no choices, even though I was supposed to stay calm. “Then what do you want me to do?! I need money, and I won’t accept yours! What other job will leave me with enough time for school and my job at the retirement home?”