18. Bones
CHAPTER 18
BONES
M aybe this is wrong and I should stop him.
My heart still belongs to another, and I don’t have enough of it left to protect and love someone else, but I am so tired of being cold, alone, and in pain, and Skylar is alive.
He is so warm and offering me everything I didn’t know I needed.
Maybe it’s fucked up for me to claim this from him when he’s so serious about me and I’m using him to feel, but I can’t seem to care as I kiss him back.
I wish I could say this didn’t make me feel anything, and I wish I could say it doesn’t compare to my first love, but the truth is, I can’t even remember the shape of his lips, the way he tasted, or the way he kissed, but this?
I’ll remember this and the way he moans softly, tugging me closer like he can’t get enough of me.
“Angel,” he whispers into my lips, and I shudder.
Pleasure rolls through me for the first time in years. “Say it again,” I beg. There’s something about the way he says it, rolling the nickname over his tongue, like it’s the only word he will ever need to speak.
“Angel,” he whispers again, and I kiss him hard, pushing him back into his car. One of his hands slides down my back and cups my hip to tug me closer, his other stroking through my short hair as his tongue tangles with mine.
We kiss leisurely under the stars. I expected him to push for more, but if anything, he slows me down when I get too eager.
I don’t pull away. I let him consume me.
I let him remake me from the inside out.
I let him claim me with a touch and make me feel.
For the first time in years, I feel something other than agony, and Skylar Warren is the reason.
We don’t talk on the way home, we don’t need to, and I like that he knows when to speak and when to just be. He’s usually a big yapper, and I’m just stuck there listening, but as he drives me home in the early morning, I find myself watching him.
There’s more to him than I first thought.
Lifting our joined hands, he kisses my knuckles without even looking at me, his lips lingering on them. I look away with a small smile. It’s almost over too quickly as we pull up outside my apartment. He releases my hand, and I hesitate, not wanting to go, but he climbs from the car. I watch him with a frown as he heads around the hood and opens my door for me, offering me his hand.
Looking from it to him, I unfasten my belt and lay mine in his. He pulls me from the car, keeping my hand hostage as he shuts the door behind me.
Skylar walks me to the door and turns me to him, his thumb rubbing back and forth across my fingers. “I’ll leave you here. I won’t ruin this or push you, and we both know if I went up, I would. This isn’t what tonight was about, baby.” Lifting my hand, he kisses it again, his dark eyes on me. “I’m glad you called me tonight. I’m just on the other end of the phone whenever you need someone to talk to.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, feeling shy for some reason. “For . . . tonight.”
Smiling, he tugs me into his arms and kisses my forehead. “Go get some sleep and remember to eat before school.” He slaps my side and steps back, and I watch him for a moment, frozen. “Go on.”
Nodding, I turn and head inside, glancing back at the elevator to find him still watching me. I lift my arm and wave. He blows me a kiss back, and I step into the elevator, almost smacking myself.
I fucking waved like a moron.
Shaking my head, I lean back as I rise quickly, and when it opens, I blink and get out, robotically finding my key, unlocking my door, and padding through the dark apartment.
These four walls were once my haven, but now they just feel empty.
Pressing my fingers to my lips, I stare blindly out at the rising sun.
I survived another dreaded sixteenth, but this time, it felt different.
I was finally able to let go a little and start to heal, and it’s all because of him.
What is he doing to me?