Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 94903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Oh, you’re a clown.”
He rolls his eyes, making me smile.
My stomach knots as I feel how he touches me. It’s tender and with respect. But there’s an underlying strength that reminds me that he’ll protect me and, by the feeling of his cock hardening under me, that he’ll fuck me too. And I think I’ll love one just as much as the other.
Chase is everything I’ve never allowed myself to have. And I can’t rid myself of the nagging voice that reminds me why I haven’t ever had someone like him. That voice worries how I’ll feel when this ends between us.
If it ends.
When it ends.
I sigh. “Can we stop talking and make out instead?”
He laughs. “I’ll compromise.”
“Do I get your cock at the end?”
“Always.”
I kiss him quickly. “Then let’s compromise.”
He shakes his head, entertained by my antics. “Let’s make a new agreement.”
“Fine. What do you want it to say?”
“I want it to say,” he says, looking me in the eye like I’m not listening, “that I want you in my bed. I want to kiss you whenever and wherever I want. I want you, and you’re important to me. Okay?”
Oh my gosh.
No one has ever said that to me before. I’m not sure I’ve ever been important to anyone besides my mother. And Iyala Nails, if I believe that—but only when it benefits them.
“It’s time that I start factoring myself in my life for a change,” he says. “I don’t think I ever would’ve bothered or even noticed until I met you.”
It would be wonderful to grab his words and let him prove that he means what he says. But I can’t lose touch with reality … and why we weren’t doing this.
“But what about Kennedy?” I ask.
“We’ll take it slow. She likes you, and I think you’re good for her. Kate has lots of opinions and most of them favor me getting to know you.”
I grin. “I think I like Kate.”
He squeezes my ass cheeks and kisses me not-so chastely.
“You’re such a fucking distraction,” he says against my lips.
“You knew that when you met me.”
He swipes his tongue through my mouth. “That wasn’t all I knew.”
I hop off him and start to unbutton my pants. His eyes glimmer with mischief as he pulls his pants down too.
“No one can see us down here, can they?” I ask.
He spreads his knees while I climb on. “Nope.”
“Good. Because I’m going to make you come inside me so hard that there might be fireworks.”
He laughs. But the laughter turns into a prolonged hiss as I sit down on his cock. Finally, he grips my waist before I can move.
“Um, Chase? I want to ride you.”
“I know. But before you rock my world, I want to hear you say you’re my girl.”
My cheeks blush. “Really?”
He seems to be as surprised as I am that we’re having this conversation but also … not. It’s as if he’s resolved that this is the way things are, and he’s cool with it. Happy with it.
That’s good because I am too.
“I thought having you around would be the problem,” he says. “Turns out that having you around and not having you locked down is the real distraction.”
I swivel my hips, my body flooding with heat I can’t extinguish.
I don’t know what I’m doing with this—this man, this relationship, this life. It could all go wrong—he could change his mind—and there’s little doubt it would break my heart. But instead of panicking and feeling like an impostor, I give in. I lean into Chase’s smile. His sincerity. I let myself soak up his words.
“Turns out that having you around and not having you locked down is the real distraction.”
How did I wind up here? How did I get so freaking lucky?
Chase nibbles at my bottom lip. “Tell. Me. You’re. Mine.”
“Okay,” I say, breathlessly. “I’m yours.”
He grinds me down on him and captures my lips with his. The force frazzles my brain.
Chase takes over, moving us together in a slow, easy dance. It’s not the fucking I think it’s going to be. It’s sweet. It’s intentional. It’s something different altogether, and if I’m not careful, I might misidentify it as the beginning stages of something more than lust.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Megan
I rustle against the sheets.
My head is foggy—heavy. The cloud of sleep is thick in my brain. I’ve partially woken, only to be trapped between awake and asleep a handful of times.
Dreams have been vivid since I drifted off shortly after midnight. Chase has been featured in all of them, regardless of the setting. That makes waking up a bit better. I get to remember our conversation on the swing, sharing a shower with him after, and then sneaking back to my room to avoid a walk of shame from Chase’s room to mine in the morning and bewildering Kennedy. And having to answer a lot of questions I’m not prepared to tackle—especially not alone.