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“Because you were sitting there with this lonely look in your eyes.” He brushes a thumb along my jawline. “I wanted to be the reason you didn’t feel that way anymore.”
I settle for the strands of his hair and rock my hips against him. He groans in response, working his tongue against my clit. Without slowing, he peers up, focusing on my face. My skin flushes, not from embarrassment, but the pure lust gazing back at me. It’s the way every woman hopes to be looked at by a man, like an object of pure desire. Something to be worshipped, not possessed.
“Good girl,” he growls, biting his lip to contain his victorious smile.
“Fuck, look at us, angel. Look at the way your pussy grips my cock. It’s like I belong inside you.”
“Reid.” I draw out his name in careful amusement. “Why do I get the impression you don’t want me to leave?” He swallows thickly and sticks his hands in his pockets. “Because I don’t.” My stomach flips at the surprising, yet simple, honest answer. “Why?” His chest rattles with a sigh. “I have a feeling that once you go, I’ll never see you again and I’m not looking forward to that.” What? I struggle to wrap my head around his confession. “And,” he goes on, “I have a feeling if I ask for your number, you’ll say no.”
The chemistry between us is far more explosive than I’ve ever experienced before. It makes me wonder if what I felt for my ex was even real.
My lips twitch with the desire to smile. I shouldn’t like that he’s bossing me around, dammit.
“This doesn’t have to be a big deal.” He leans in and presses a gentle kiss below my ear. “Night, Via.” He pulls back, but with an “oh,” he quickly ducks close again and brings his lips to my ear. “I can fuck you better than my dad ever could.”
“I wanted to fuck you so bad the other night,” he confesses, his voice husky. His lips skim over mine for the briefest of moments. “Spank your ass raw for going on a date with my dad.” “I-I didn’t know.” A small cry escapes me when he rocks his thick erection against me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’d give anything for our clothes to slip away. “Unknowingly or not, I want to mark you so you remember which Crawford you belong to.” My lips tremble beneath his kiss. Why do I find that so fucking hot?
“Feel the way I fuck you?” His lips brush my ear, eliciting a rush of tingles. “How good it is? How your pussy was made for me? I’m going to ruin you, Via, the same way you’ve ruined me. No man is ever going to make you feel this good. Not the way I can.”
I hate the way my heart swoops over the idea of having Reid’s number. What is wrong with me? I’m like a giddy teenager being noticed by her crush.
“Sometimes, even if you don’t know every detail about a person, they can light up your soul.”
If my friends knew how often she’s on my mind, they’d think I lost my mind and tell me to play it cool. They’d swear that the way to get a girl is to play disinterested. I call bullshit on that.
I hate mind games. They’re a waste of fucking time. It’s so much easier to be clear about my interest. Though most people, apparently, don’t share my mindset.
“Does that hurt?” She points at my forehead. “A little.” I have a headache now, thanks to my clumsiness. “Do you want me to kiss it and make it better? That’s what my mommy does for me. It helps a lot.” “That’s okay, but thank you.” “Are you sure?” She puckers her lips. “Just one little kiss?” Holding her thumb and forefinger close in front of her, she waits for my reply. “Fine, all right.” Lili places a tiny kiss beside the ointment on my forehead. “It’ll get better faster now. I promise.” My heart squeezes in my chest at her sincerity. “Thank you.” She beams. “You’re welcome.”
My heart skips a beat, a telltale sign that I’m feeling more for Reid than I should. Feelings are such a pesky thing. They can sneak up so easily and without any provocation.
“And I’m telling you not to worry about it. Let me take care of you.”
Chase—” She snaps her mouth shut and shakes her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up.” “Are you over him?” I ask, purely out of curiosity. She snorts. “Very. But he was such a big part of my life that sometimes it’s hard to not bring him up.” “You can talk about him. I don’t mind. He’s in your past, and I fully plan on being your future.”
“Because I don’t want to have to tell our future kids that I fucked their mom on the first date.” She gapes like a fish, mouth hanging open. “Careful, now’s not the time for me to find something to stuff in your mouth.” Snapping her jaw shut, she shakes her head, her cheeks going pink. “I … I have no words.”
Via might not want to admit it, but she loves sparring with me and working me up. There’s a fire beneath that quiet exterior. Makes me wonder whether her dumbass ex ever bothered to look, to unleash that wild spirit just waiting to be let loose. Probably not. He had to be a fucking idiot to ever let her go.
Reid is a vibrant splash of color in the dull landscape that is my life. He’s red. Passion and energy. He’s blue. Friendly, a rock I can hold on to against the crash of waves. He’s green. Infallibly positive, with a generous soul. He’s yellow. The optimistic sunshine on my cloudy days. He’s every color in-between streaked across my blank white canvas. No matter where the future takes us, my life is better because I met him.
“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I texted, but I never heard from you. I was worried.”
“Sometimes,” I begin, “when you’re in it, you don’t see the toxicity for what it is.”
He chuckles, amused at my outburst. How is it possible to be so unfazed by everything? Is it because he’s young, or is it just who he is? I wish I could let things roll off my back the way he does.
“But it takes a good friendship to establish a solid foundation. I don’t want to only be your lover. I want to be your person. The one you go to first. The one you think of when you wake up. The one … just the one.” He sounds vulnerable, like he didn’t mean to admit that much.
It’s a realization for me, that these moments—the quiet pockets of time with a person I care about—are what matter most.
Despite my urge to leave, I do like spending time with him. I like it too much, which is why I wanted to run away. Reid’s presence brings me peace, and that frightens me. I should be my own peace, but when I’m with him, everything else is quiet, and I feel… I feel like I’m home.
“I feel that way about you too,” I admit. “Let’s not overthink it, okay?” I can already see the wheels turning in her brain. She’s thinking about how long we’ve known each other and the intensity of what’s between us. But why do we have to question our connection? Why does society put so much emphasis on time, when what matters most are our feelings? Look how much time she had with Chase, and they weren’t the right fit.
I won’t let her go. I won’t let her put a wall between us.
“I like taking care of you.”
Fated—that’s what we are. I knew it when I first laid eyes on her. I have to be patient until she sees it too. We’re right for each other in every way.
She looks beautiful. She looks like mine.
As cheesy as it might sound, I’ve been dreaming of making love to Via for weeks, and that’s what I do. I see it in her eyes, the shift. She knows I’m right—that we’re the real deal. That this is forever. Even if she still isn’t ready to accept that. It’s okay. I’m a patient man, and I know she’ll get there.
“That you and Reid are like the fated-lovers trope.”
“He won’t buy tampons?” Glenda asks in that blunt, gruff way of hers. “Divorce him.” The woman is dead serious. “I’m not getting a divorce over tampons,” Tammy huffs. “Don’t be dramatic.” “How am I the dramatic one?” Glenda defends. “I’m not the one scared of wads of cotton.” I mean, she has a point there.
He grasps me around the legs and hauls me into his body, pulling a gasp from me. “I told you before,” he growls, his lips brushing mine with each word, “that I can fuck you better than my dad. It looks like I’m going to have to remind you of that.”
“Say it,” he demands. “Say you’re mine.” A shiver runs up my spine at his possessive request. I like it. “I’m yours.” “That’s right, angel.” He nips at my ear. “You’re mine. Don’t forget it again.”
“Did you like knowing I was on my knees for you, even when you’re being punished?”
“Scream my name, angel. I’m the one doing this to you. I’m the one bringing you pleasure. Give me the credit I fucking deserve.” He thrusts into me harder and harder with each commanding word, until I’m a shaking, delirious mess. “Reid,” I cry, just like he ordered. “Yes,” he groans into my neck.
When we finally pull ourselves apart, it’s only so Reid can tug me into my bedroom, where he makes sweet, gentle love to me, like he wants to make sure I understand that he’s capable of loving me in all the ways I need.
I’ve never felt possessive before, but right now, I feel like I have those seagulls from Finding Nemo, shouting mine, mine, mine in my head.
Yes, I’m young, but I’m serious about her. Via isn’t just a right now kind of thing for me. She’s not a fling. She’s the real deal. The woman I want to grow old with. I think she sees that too, and it scares her. But she’ll get there. I have faith in her—in us. She thinks I’m too young to know what I want. For other guys my age, maybe that’s true, but I know what we have is rare, and I won’t let that go because she thinks I need to experience life. I’d rather experience life with her than without her.
I eye the empty beer glass to his right and the half-full one beside it. This only adds to my annoyance. Despite how my mother died, none of my friends really understand why I feel the way I do about alcohol. This right here is only demonstrating my point. When people get drunk, they get stupid.
“What does it matter? Last time I checked, you’re not in a relationship with society. If you and Reid are happy, then, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. The rest be damned.”
I didn’t think phone sex was for me, but Reid changed my mind. Especially after he FaceTimed me and let me watch. The way he stroked himself might be one of the most erotic things I’ve ever seen.
“Oh, boy is down bad. Look at that goofy smile he’s giving you.”
“Reid … he’s it for me. I know it in my gut. In my soul. And that’s scary. I haven’t been divorced long, and I had no intention of getting involved with someone so soon. But he’s … he’s my everything. Once I tell him I love him, it’s locking in my future with him.”
She’s quiet, assessing me while she absorbs my words. “Chase wasn’t careful with your heart, but that doesn’t mean Reid won’t take care of it with everything he has. You know what I see when I look at you two?” I rub my lips together, nerves taking over. “What?” “I see a rare, special kind of connection that’s visible to anyone who witnesses it. I see the kind of love I could only be so lucky to find one day. What you have with Reid is different from what you had with Chase, and you owe it to him and yourself to stop holding what Chase did to you over this new relationship.”
“Are you wet for me?” Normally, I’d check for myself, but I know better than to put my paint-covered fingers there. She nods. “Yes. Fuck me, Reid.” I grin. Damn, I love the way she openly asks me for what she wants. Seeing her come out of her shell sexually has been one of the biggest highlights of my life. Knowing that she has that much trust and faith in me makes me feel powerful.
Via swears she wasn’t looking for someone, that she wasn’t even thinking about dating. I’ve never told her the same can be said for me. But the minute I saw her in Monday’s, I was a goner. Hook, line, and sinker. I knew I had to talk to her. I wasn’t planning to take her home with me. I genuinely wanted to connect for a few moments and ask her on a date. But I don’t regret how things happened. She worries that because of my age, there’s a chance I’ll miss out on life experiences. And she fears that her infertility is an issue. None of that matters to me. She matters. It’s her I fell in love
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