“Me too.”
He begins to move slowly, in long, steady strokes. He’s not pounding me, he’s not fucking me.
He’s enjoying me. Every inch of me.
I’ve never felt so beautiful in my life.
He links our fingers and pins my hands over my head as he moves a little faster, just a little harder, as though he just can’t help it.
“Is this okay?” he whispers.
“So much more than okay,” I reply, watching him. I can’t stop watching him. His muscles are all flexed tight, and his stomach as he moves in and out is just . . . well, it should be fucking illegal.
“You are so sexy,” I moan.
And that does it. He swears under his breath, releases my hands, and buries his face in my neck as he comes, pushing in one last, hard time as he lets go.
My hands are skimming up his back and down his sides, my feet resting on his calves.
“God, what you do to me,” he whispers in my ear, kisses my neck, and pushes up to smile down at me. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“THIS IS GOOD,” Jake says, his mouth full of grilled cheese with turkey and tomato. He passes me the bag of Doritos.
After we snuggled—I can’t believe I’m a freaking snuggler—and cleaned up, we decided we were starving. I don’t remember the last meal I had. So I made us the hearty sandwiches and we piled back onto the couch with our food.
“I think the sun is about to come up,” I say, gazing out the window. “How long did we snuggle?”
“For a while. You’re so crazy about me, you couldn’t bare to let me up,” he says with a shake of his head. “You should be so embarrassed.”
“You’re hilarious,” I reply dryly and roll my eyes. “That’s some ego you have there, Keller.”
“It’s not ego if it’s all true.”
I smirk, then shrug. “Okay, I guess it’s true. I might like you. A little.”
He sighs deeply, chewing on the last bite of his sandwich. He’s sitting on the opposite side of the couch, in just his jeans, and I can’t take my eyes off his tanned, toned torso.
And then I giggle at the alliteration in my head.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I nibble my sandwich as he sets his empty plate aside and begins to rub my feet, his thumb digging into my sole. “I think I love you for this alone.”
“Yeah, my thumb skills are impressive.”
I send him a smug grin. Yes, he’s good at planting that thumb against my clit and making my world explode. “I should know.”
“You’re such a naughty girl,” he says with a smile. “I love it.”
“I warned you a long time ago that I was.”
“And you weren’t lying.”
“I don’t lie. About anything.” Finished with my sandwich, I set my plate aside and settle back to enjoy the massage. “It’s a waste of time, and then you have to try to remember what you said.”
“It’s a good policy to have.”
“I also don’t waste my time with liars.” I’m looking him in the face now, hoping he understands what I’m saying. He stops rubbing my foot, reaches for my hand, and tugs me into his lap, cradling me close.
“I’m not a liar either, sweetness.” I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on tight. Is he really here? Is this real? His hands are firm and warm over his T-shirt as he rubs them up and down my back. “But I do notice that you’re a thief, always stealing my shirts.”
“I like them,” I mumble against his neck.
“Addie, I can’t promise you that there won’t be times I fuck up or that things won’t ever feel broken.” His voice is a shaky whisper, his mouth planted against my temple. “But I can promise you that I will never walk away from us.”
Us.
Not me. Us.
I hug him tighter as tears form at the corners of my eyes. “That’s the best promise you can make.”
My eyes are getting heavy. His arms are strong around me, his breathing is long and steady, and before long, I feel myself drifting.
The next thing I know, he’s lifting me and carrying me through the condo, turning off lights and checking that the door is locked before carrying me into bed. He lays me gently on the bed, then shucks out of his jeans and joins me, turning me away from him so he can spoon up behind me.
But I want to see him, so I turn around and thread my legs through his, hugging him around the middle and burying my face in his chest.
“Just go to sleep, baby,” he whispers against my forehead.
“I don’t want to.”
He tips my face up, frowning down at me in the darkness. “Why?”
“Because what if I wake up and you’re not really here? What if this is just the best dream I’ve ever had?”
“I’m here,” he replies softly. “I’m here for as long as you’ll let me stay.”
Forever.
I’m not ready to say that out loud yet, but damn this feels so good. So right. I missed him so much.
“Sleep,” he says again, and I can’t resist it. My eyes close, and I fall asleep with Jake’s heartbeat in my ear and his arms locked around me.
Chapter Twenty
Jake
I have to convince her that I’m sorry, and that I love her. I need her with me, always.
God, I miss her so much.
I wake, the anguish washing over me, just as it has every day since I stupidly walked out of Addie’s apartment, and then I take a long, deep breath.