Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Slowly, I sank down next to her, careful to give her space, but close enough to let her know we weren’t dropping this.
“Let’s just get some sleep,” she tried.
“Not until you talk to me.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“Well, that’s just too damn bad.”
Her mouth popped open as she looked over her shoulder at me.
“You don’t get to do this,” I said, pointing at her and then the space between us. “Not with me. You may have everyone else convinced that you’re happy go lucky no matter what life throws at you, but I see through it. You’re not okay right now. And that’s fine. But you need to admit it, and you need to stop trying to hide your fucking emotions. Face them, and talk to me.”
“Fine,” she said, ripping the comforter off her and sitting up to face me. “You want to talk? Then let’s talk. You want to be real? Let’s be real. You,” she said, pointing her finger into my chest. “Kissed me this morning.”
Her little nostrils flared with that, and fuck if I didn’t want to kiss her again.
“You held me,” she continued. “You told me everything would be fine. And then, you ignored me. All day long. And I know it was part of our stupid game plan,” she added, putting air quotes around the words. “But you didn’t have to act like I didn’t fucking exist. You say you can see right through me? Well, I see right through you.” Her chin wobbled a little, but she held it even higher. “And you don’t have to tell me. I already know what you’re too scared to say.”
She held my gaze for a long moment, letting the words sink in. Then, she turned away from me before emotion could warp her face again, wrapping herself up in the comforter.
My heart was pounding, breath wreaking havoc on my tightened lungs as I traced the curve of her back. This woman called to me the way nothing else in the world did. My entire body, my entire being responded to the sight of her balled up and hurting.
And whatever decision I thought I’d made, whatever right thing I thought I should do?
I fast pitched it all out the nearest window, and I crawled in behind her.
I tugged on the comforter with one hand, and she stiffened, clutching it tighter. But I slid in anyway, pulling again until she relented, until I could slip under the covers and lie on the floor with her.
She was so warm, so soft. I couldn’t help the sigh that left me when I aligned myself with her — my chest to her back, my hips behind hers, our legs curling around one another. My heart softened its pace as I burrowed my face into the back of her neck, inhaling the scent of her hair.
Sweet orange and salty air.
Grace was frozen until I pulled the comforter up around us like a fortress, covering even our heads. It was like blocking the world out, and she melted — just a little, but sufficient for me to know she’d lowered her walls enough for me to climb over.
“What is it you think you know?” I asked against her skin. “What is it you think I’m scared to say?”
The muscles of her jaw worked, and I heard her swallow several times before she could speak. She was trying not to cry, and some sick part of me wished she would just let it happen.
I hated that she was upset, but I hated that she was hiding that fact even more. She’d done it her whole life, masking what she really felt because she didn’t think there was space for her.
“Grace,” I prompted, nuzzling her neck. “What do you think you know?”
“That you don’t want me.”
She whispered the words so softly, and yet they broke me like a brutal hit against the glass. Then, she curled in on herself like a little kid.
I weaved my arm around her waist, pulling her into me again, lining us up in every possible place. I wanted her to feel my heart beating when I told her the truth.
“You think I don’t want you?” I asked against the shell of her ear. Then, I laced my fingers over hers where she’d tucked it under her pillow, and I held onto her tighter as I rocked my hips.
She sipped in a shallow breath, arching her back and meeting my movement with tentative reach. I pressed my erection into the crease of her ass, tangling my fingers with hers and savoring the little moan she let loose.
“Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
Grace rolled her ass against me, and I stifled a groan, letting out a heated exhale against her neck.
Both of us were barely breathing now, our bodies winding and rolling and intertwining in every possible way. She twisted in my arms to face me, and as soon as she did, we tangled ourselves up again — my fingers in her hair, hers curling around the back of my neck, my thigh sliding between her legs, her forehead dropping to mine.