Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I flew apart, muffling the sound of my cry between his neck and shoulder as wave after wave of absolute bliss swept over me. He followed right after, his moan low as he shuddered against me.
It took us a couple minutes to get our breathing back under control, and he kissed me gently, sucking on my lower lip as we came down.
It was the most reckless thing I’d done since having Sutton eleven years ago, and I felt absolutely wonderful.
He smiled, caressing my lips with his thumb. “Now that we’ve taken the edge off, can I convince you to come upstairs with me?”
I laughed quietly, smiling right back at him. “We’re really doing this?”
“Yeah. I think we are.” He nodded.
“Exclusively?”
“Exclusively.” He cupped my cheek and pushed back a strand of my hair that had fallen from my messy bun. “There’s no one else.”
It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was a start.
“What about you?” Two lines appeared between his eyebrows.
“Only you.” Only ever you. I told my foolish heart to shut it. Then I blinked, realizing it wasn’t only my heart on the line here. “We can’t tell Sutton. Not until we know exactly what this is.” Breaking my heart was one thing. Crushing hers was unacceptable.
“Whatever you want,” he agreed.
I leaned in and kissed him, scraping my teeth along his lower lip just how he liked. “I want you to take me upstairs.”
He did. It was almost dawn when I finally crept back to my own bed.
14
Weston
* * *
Tuesdays were our days. Theo and I had noticed we had the heaviest bookings between Thursday and Mondays, so we declared that Tuesdays would be our day off, no matter what.
They also happened to coincide with one of the days Callie took, which meant Tuesdays belonged to us, especially when Sutton was at school.
Rule number ten, respecting quiet time, flew out the window, and we were as loud as we wanted to be. I took her in my bed and hers. She rode me on the couch. I laid her out on the dining room table. Each time we were together was better than the last, and even now, just a couple hours after we’d climbed out of bed, I was debating taking her right back there.
“I’m still not sure about putting it there,” Callie said, staring at the five-foot-tall Christmas tree we’d picked up and decorated over the weekend. “We’ve always put it against that wall.” She motioned to the living room wall that rose with her staircase.
“You’ve also always had a three-footer that fit on an end table.” I walked up behind her and kissed the side of her neck.
“It was easy.” She leaned back against me. “And I could always cover my tracks if I heard Sutton coming on Christmas Eve.” There was a definite glare as she looked at our bigger tree. “If she comes out of her room, I’ll be busted with the tree there. She has a direct line of sight from the landing.”
“Well, then I’ll sit at the top of the steps and play watch dog for you,” I offered, wrapping my arms around her. I couldn’t remember feeling this content in my entire life. Was it hard sneaking around behind Sutton? Sure, but it was so worth it to have Callie as my friend during the days when Sutton was at home, and my lover at night. And I understood her reasoning. I wasn’t keen on getting attached to anyone either, and the last thing I wanted was to be responsible for hurting Sutton if her expectations weren’t…meetable. “And remember, I wanted the eight-footer. So that’s a compromise.”
She scoffed.
The doorbell rang.
“Go away!” I shouted, half kidding. The plans I had for Callie this afternoon had absolutely nothing to do with anyone at the door.
“Weston!” Callie shook her head at me and laughed, pushing out of my arms and walking to the door.
She opened it and tensed.
“Hey, Callie.” Reed forced the fakest smile I’d ever seen and then looked over her at me. “Can we talk?”
Callie looked back at me, raising her eyebrows slightly.
I knew she’d shut the door in his face if that’s what I wanted, and it meant everything to me. My chest went all warm at knowing she’d take my side, no questions asked.
“Yeah,” I begrudgingly answered. “Come on in.”
Callie stepped out of the way so Reed could enter, then shut the door behind him. “I’m…um…going somewhere else.” She mouthed play nice, around his back, then headed upstairs to her room.
Reed rocked back on his heels, clutching a small box as the awkwardness set in.
It had been almost two weeks since I’d blown up at him on Thanksgiving, and we’d done a damn good job of avoiding each other ever since. But were going to have to deal with what had happened at some point. Might as well be today.