The Summer of Us
Page 22
I falter to a stop when his eyes fill. “Well Jesus I didn’t mean to make you cry,” I groan. “This fucking beach, I swear that it’s cursed my vocabulary. Only here does this happen.”
I stop because suddenly he’s on me, sliding his arms around me and wrapping me in the tightest hug. His lips find mine and he kisses me deeply and wetly until I’m lying on the towel under him, my thoughts blown away like sand in the wind. He pulls back suddenly and I groan going after his lips, but he grabs my face.
“Yes!”
“Yes?” I query, raising up and chasing his lips, wanting them on me now.
He laughs. “Yes I’ll marry you Johnny. I’d like nothing better than to be yours.”
I smile, tears in my eyes now. “You’ll always be mine love. This is just the icing on the cake.”
“I like the icing, particularly if you’re naked and wearing it.” I laugh until he seizes my lips again with a throaty groan, and it fills me inside instead like a bottle of champagne shaken up. We kiss with open mouths, our tongues tangling and hands beginning a groping that is a bit too obscene even for a deserted beach. I pull back when his hand goes down the back of my underwear and suddenly he pauses. “Did you get a ring made for you as well?” I nod and he smiles. “I know what I’m having engraved on yours.”
I smile up at him. “What?”
“‘And I feel your warmth and it feels like home’. It’s from Depeche Mode’s ‘Here is the House’”.
I smile, emotion a lump in my throat. “I love you.”
We kiss for ages and then I pull back. “You do know what this means don’t you?”
His pupils are blown and he watches my lips as I talk. “What?”
I laugh triumphantly. “I’ve still got it. This beach is not cursed. We are free to have life changing conversations on here whenever we want without the fear that I’ll turn witless. Life is good. I am once again the Lord of Words.”
He smiles pityingly at me. “Walk don’t run babe. You did use the words gigantic twat in your wedding proposal.”
“Well, shit!”
The End
Matt and John’s Playlist
Wouldn’t it be Good – Nik Kershaw
Supreme – Robbie Williams
Long Hot Summer – The Style Council
Know Yourself – Citizens!
Temptation Waits – Garbage
Absolute Beginners – David Bowie
Pure Shores – All Saints
R U Mine? – Arctic Monkeys
Angel – Massive Attack
I Can’t Help It – Michael Jackson
Dark Necessities – The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Not Enough Time – INXS
Magic - Coldplay
Gravity – Embrace
Hard to Concentrate – The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Thanks
Thank you to my wonderful, funny husband. Thank you for providing the answers to very personal questions about your penis! I know now that the Bread and Cakes aisle in Sainsburys on a Saturday afternoon is not the best place for asking these questions. Thank you for answering and then shrugging and saying, “You’ve asked me weirder questions!”
Thank you to my sister who is the first person to read every book that I write. I couldn’t let anyone else read them before her because she is always hilariously honest.
Thank you to Natasha Snow for such a beautiful cover. You took all the information that I gave you and created something that was better than anything I could have imagined. Plus you did it with a great deal of patience with the seemingly endless search for the perfect cover model and my eternal muttering of, “He just doesn’t look like the man in my head.” I’m sure that you often needed a strong drink after one of my emails but I never knew it!
Lastly thanks to you, the readers. Thank you for taking a chance on this book. I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The story would never have happened if it wasn’t for all those readers who wrote to me asking for more Matt. Matt was never intended to be more than a one line character when I started writing ‘Keep Me’, but somehow he kept working his way into scenes and ended up being one of my favourite characters, so I loved giving him his happily ever after! As a thank you I’ve written a short story about Matt and John’s wedding and it can be found on my website in the Extras section.
I never knew until I wrote my first book how important reviews are. So if you have time, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads or any other review sites. I can promise you that I read every one, good or bad, and value all of them. When I’ve been struggling with the writing, sometimes going back and reading the reviews makes it better.
Contact Me
Website: www.lilymortonauthor.com
This has lots of information and some fun features, including some extra Beggar’s Choice short stories. I’ve written a short story about Matt and John’s wedding and you’ll find that here.
I’d love to hear from you, so if you want to say hello or have any questions, please contact me and I’ll get back to you:
Email: lilymorton1@outlook.com
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