The Crush List

Chapter Nineteen -Everything I Didn’t Know I Needed

The wrap party had come and gone, champagne flutes clinked and goodbyes exchanged beneath the soft glow of string lights strung above the studio lot. Cal had delivered another unforgettable performance, of course. Emery had watched from the side, proud and impossibly full—of admiration, of affection, of something deeper she hadn’t dared name until now.

They were finally heading home.

Back to the quiet rhythm of coastal mornings, back to the mansion that now felt more like theirs than just his. Back to their routine—whatever that looked like now that their lives were so deeply entangled.

The plane touched down just past noon, the California sun greeting them like an old friend. Emery leaned into Cal as they exited the jet, her oversized sunglasses slipping slightly down her nose. His hand grazed the small of her back, protective and effortless as always.

“I missed this,” he murmured near her ear.

“The coast?”

He shook his head, glancing sideways at her with that half-smirk. “You. Without half a film crew trailing me.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the grin tugging at her lips. “You were the one working. I was the one keeping your trailer from blowing away.”

“And doing a damn fine job.”

By the time they arrived back at the mansion, Emery’s shoulders had finally relaxed. The house was just as they left it, quiet and sun-drenched, a soft breeze slipping through the open patio doors.

She kicked off her shoes and walked barefoot across the polished floors, taking it in. It felt warmer now. Lived in. The evidence of them was everywhere—her favorite blanket draped across the couch, their grocery list still magnet-pinned to the fridge, a pair of his reading glasses on the kitchen counter.

They were home.

Cal came up behind her, looping his arms around her waist. “We’ve got a week,” he said softly, his mouth brushing her hair. “No cameras. No flights. No press.”

“No chaos?” she asked, tilting her head to glance up at him.

“Just you and me.”

Emery closed her eyes, letting herself lean fully into him. For once, she didn’t feel like she was rushing to catch up to her life. For once, everything was exactly where it needed to be.

Cal didn’t waste time.

The moment they stepped inside the bedroom—their bedroom now, whether either of them said it out loud or not—he turned and looked at her with that familiar fire in his eyes.

“I need you,” he said, voice low and rough. “We’ll talk after. But right now, Emery… I just need you.”

Her breath caught as he reached for her hand and gently tugged her closer. Her body answered before her words could.

Clothes became a blur—her soft top, his hoodie, the thin layers between them dropped to the floor like petals in a storm. He backed her toward the bed, his lips brushing hers, soft at first, then more urgent. Each kiss spoke of missing her, needing her, grounding himself in the one person who saw through it all.

Cal lowered her gently onto the sheets, hovering above her for a moment. His gaze searched hers, a thousand unspoken things passing between them. He wasn’t just looking at her—he was seeing her. Every inch of her. Every thought, every doubt, every quiet moment they’d shared while the world spun loudly around them.

He slid his fingers down the side of her face, brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. “You feel like home,” he whispered.

Then he kissed her like he meant it.

There was nothing rushed about it. He took his time, learning her all over again—each breath, each sound, each curve. His hands roamed with purpose, mapping her skin like he’d been starved of her for too long. And maybe he had. Maybe this—they—wasn’t just passion, but need wrapped in comfort and something dangerous enough to feel like love.

Emery clung to him, her back arching as he pressed against her, into her, until nothing existed but the heat between them and the pounding rhythm of shared need.

He whispered her name more than once—against her mouth, into her neck, as he held her afterward, their bodies tangled in sheets and sunlight.

No cameras. No distractions. Just the two of them in their room, hearts racing and the unspoken promise of forever lingering in the silence.

After the warmth of their kiss faded into a cozy silence, Emery nestled deeper into Cal’s arms, fingers tracing idle circles against his chest. The room was dim, hushed, the kind of peaceful that made it feel like they were the only two people in the world.

Cal reached over her for his phone on the nightstand and opened their shared list. “Okay, so where are we with this thing?”

Emery laughed softly, a sound muffled against his skin. “You’re still keeping tabs?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “I take your self-actualization journey very seriously.”

She rolled her eyes playfully but turned her attention to the screen as he began reading:

✅ Make a friend for life – Lianne

✅ Have a one-night stand with a lead singer – Jace

✅ Kiss someone you just met – also Jace

✅ Kiss someone you shouldn’t – you kissed me, remember?

✅ Get drunk and dance like no one’s watching – at Liam’s party

✅ Skinny dip at a party – same party, same night

✅ Fall headfirst in love — even if it ends in heartbreak

✅ Go on a spontaneous trip without planning — France

⬜ Tell someone how you really feel, consequences be damned

✅ Let someone see all of you — no walls, no pretending

He glanced over the list, then to her. “Damn, Blake. You’ve almost graduated.”

Emery smiled, eyes soft and heart full. “Number nine’s the only one left, huh?”

“Apparently,” he murmured, locking his phone and placing it facedown. His voice lowered. “But if you’re not ready, I’m not rushing you.”

She shifted so she could face him more fully, her fingers gently brushing his cheek. “That one’s tricky because… it’s not just about blurting something out. It’s about being ready for what happens next.”

He nodded, quiet. Listening.

“I love you,” she said softly. “And I’m terrified of what that means if this doesn’t work. But I still want this… you. Every messy, public, beautiful part of it.”

Something flickered in Cal’s expression—a spark of emotion, raw and unguarded. He cupped her face in both hands and kissed her, long and deep, like it answered every unspoken thing between them.

“You just crossed off number nine,” he whispered against her lips.

Emery’s kiss deepened with purpose. Cal let out a soft groan of surprise as she shifted, sliding over him with graceful confidence. It was rare for her to take the lead like this, but tonight something in her had shifted. She wasn’t the unsure girl who stepped out of her childhood home without a plan—she was a woman who knew what she wanted. And she wanted him.

All of him.

Her hands moved with slow, deliberate intention as she kissed along his jaw, then his throat, and lower still. Every brush of her lips was a declaration, every glide of her fingertips a vow. She didn’t say the words again. She didn’t need to. Her touch told him she loved him. Fiercely. Unapologetically.

Cal’s breath caught when she looked down at him, her eyes dark with desire, framed by that soft golden light of their bedroom. “Let me,” she whispered. “Just feel.”

And he did. Oh, he felt everything.

The way she took control unraveled him—mind, body, and heart. Emery moved with purpose and confidence, coaxing his pleasure while showing him just how deeply she felt. She rode the line between sensual and sweet, fierce and loving, until Cal was gripping her hips and gasping her name like a prayer.

By the time they collapsed against each other, their bodies tangled and flushed with satisfaction, Cal could only stare at her like she’d knocked the wind out of him.

Because she had.

And when Emery curled into his side, wearing nothing but her smile and that quiet, glowing confidence, he knew with absolute certainty: he was hers. Completely.