Chapter 26 I’ll be your nobody, then #2
Her step stutters, just enough to give her away before she recovers with another spin of her stick.
As the slope twists, my hand reaches out to the small of her back, guiding her across the sidewalk so I can take the road side. The houses thin as we climb the rise, porch lights falling away until it’s just us at the entry to the clearing at the top. Open, quiet, the whole street behind us.
Blue eyes glitter sideways at me. “You’re being awfully quiet.”
I nod, glancing at her. “Because I’m trying not to say what I want to say.”
“Which is?” she asks, stepping over tree roots and shrubs as we push our way through to the clearing.
I’m quiet for a long moment, unsure what to say. Unsure if she wants to hear it. But once we step through into the expanse of the clearing, the water of Sloan’s Lake shimmering against the lights of Denver behind it, she turns to me, and I know I can’t keep it to myself.
“You know what you’ve done, wearing that.”
She turns fully toward me, grin wobbling. “It’s Halloween, Pookie. I’m supposed to dress up.”
“You found the one loophole, Lu,” I mutter, stepping in closer, my hands fisting into the jersey material at her hips. “You gave me the one thing I didn’t think I could have, and I’m not gonna pretend it doesn’t mean something.”
“I want your name on me.” She smiles at me, and I’m gone.
One second I’m breathing, the next I’ve got her pressed against a tree trunk, lips on hers. She moans, stick clattering to the ground, then fists her hands in my turtle top to yank me closer.
“Fuck, Lu,” I rasp against her mouth, hands sliding under the hem until I find bare skin. “I really, really want my name on you, too.”
Her laugh trembles, swallowed by my groan when her nails scrape the back of my neck.
The kiss is quick and frantic, all heat and no finesse. My teeth graze her lip, her fingers tangle in my hair, my thumbs push higher on her thighs until she gasps my name.
God, I could keep her here all night.
But headlights turn at the end of the block, slanting through the trees and shrubs, and she shoves lightly at my chest, both of us breathless, excuses barely holding us together.
“Later,” she whispers, eyes wide and lips shiny.
It takes everything in me to nod, step back, and let her pick up her stick.
We make it down the hill and the street in silence, hearts still hammering, fingers threaded together until we get too close to our houses that it’s dangerous.
The chaos has dulled, and the kids are all sugared out, half-asleep on shoulders. Decorations are sagging, Zoe and Tamara are tossing trash into bags, and Eli’s parked in a chair, mowing through leftover cupcakes.
I shrug out of my turtle shell, and spend the next hour counting down every second until we can be alone.
Tamara finally wrangles Eli home, herding him into their car, and the rest of the crew piles into their own SUVs, peeling off with sleepy kids and full treat bags, laughter trailing after them.
By the time tidy up is complete, I’m already half-feral. Lulu slips upstairs to ditch the shin guards and pads, and when she comes back down, she’s in leggings and my jersey. It swallows her.
I barely manage to wait until we’ve crossed the street. Dusty trots happily at our heels, lion’s mane bouncing with each step, oblivious to the fact I’m hanging by a thread.
He noses between us the second I slam the door.
“Not now, buddy.” My voice is raw as I rip the lid off the treat jar on the entryway console and toss a handful toward the kitchen. He scrambles after them, nails skittering on the hardwood.
Then it’s just us.
I’ve got Lulu pinned against the door before she can blink, mouth crushing hers. She gasps into me, legs winding around my waist as I grind her back against the wood.
“Logan,” she moans, nails catching at my neck.
“Off,” I growl, dragging her leggings down. “Everything off, except this.” I fist the hem of the jersey, tugging it tight, then work my own jeans down.
She laughs, her forehead knocking against mine. “Bossy.”
“Not bossy. Obsessed.” I bite at her throat, rolling my tip over her clit to find her wet for me. She lifts in my arms and then sinks down, drawing a feral groan from my throat. Her own moan ricochets through me, spurring me harder.
“Fuck, Lu,” I groan, pounding into her until the door rattles. “You in this—” I drag my hand over her back, gripping the fabric tight. “I’m never letting you take it off.”
Her nails dig deeper. “Good. Don’t.”
I thrust hard enough to make the hinges creak, but it’s not enough. So I haul her off the door, still buried inside, and carry her deeper into the house. She clings to me, chuckling breathlessly. “Put me down!”
“Not a fucking chance,” I mutter, pushing her against the landing wall and fucking her harder, loving the way her laugh turns into a moan. “You’re mine tonight. My jersey, my house, my girl.”
“God, Logan—”
I grunt, shifting her higher, my mouth at her ear. “Gonna fuck you against every wall in this house until you can’t stand tomorrow.”
She shudders, clinging tighter. “Promises, promises.”
I nip her jaw, sucking hard enough to mark. “Tell me whose name you’re wearing.”
Her head tips back on a gasp. “Yours. Logan—yours.”
It nearly finishes me right there, but I hold on, hauling her toward the stairs. Halfway up, I pin her to the banister, thrusting so hard the wood groans.
She gasps, laughing brokenly against my mouth. “You’re insane.”
“Insane for you.”
By the time we reach the hallway, I’m nearly ready to combust. I push her against the wall again and thrust deep, her cry echoing, and she clenches around me as she comes.
But I’m not done. She’s boneless in my arms when I lift her and lay her down on the bed, flipping her to her knees before she can catch her breath. The jersey rides up, my name bold across her back, and my cock twitches.
“Stay there.” My voice is desperate as I shove her thighs apart. “Don’t move, baby. Wanna taste you with my name on your back.”
“Logan—oh my god.” Her words dissolve when I bury my face between her legs, licking into her pussy, swirling over her clit, then trailing lower. I circle her ass until she’s shaking and begging into the mattress.
She collapses forward, fists clutching the sheets, and I grip her hips tight, tongue working her until she’s dripping again. “Please—need you—”
“So wet for me again, huh?” I crawl up beside her. “Turn around, baby.”
She blinks up, glassy-eyed. “What?”
“Ride me.” I flip onto my back, hauling her with me. “Reverse. Wanna see my name on you while you fuck me.”
Her pupils blow wide, but she obeys, swinging a leg over and sliding down slowly, so tight I see stars.
“Jesus Christ,” I choke out, gripping her hips as she grinds down. “Look at you. Sunshine in my fucking name.”
She moans, her head tipping back, then rides me harder, jersey clinging to her sweaty back.
Her nails scrape my thighs, voice breaking. “God, you’re so fucking deep—”
“You like that, Lu?” I thrust up to meet her, watching her hair whip, her back arch under my name. “Love being full of me?”
“Yesss… Gonna come.”
“Not yet.” I pull my hand free of her hip, bring my thumb to my mouth, and sucking it wet before dragging it down the curve of her spine. “Hold it.”
She gasps when I circle her ass, the sound a sharp groan.
“Fuuuck, Logan—”
“Atta girl,” I rasp, pressing in slowly until she cries out, body jerking. “Ride my cock with my thumb in your ass and my name on your back.” My grip on her hip tightens as I thrust up into her. “Want you to come all over me.”
Her answer is a moaning sob, her body clenching tighter, moving frantically to chase it.
“Say it,” I demand, voice raw. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours, all—oh god, yours!”
“That’s right, Lu.” I thrust up hard and crook my thumb deep. “Come for me. Let the whole street hear it.”
She breaks with a scream, shattering around me, her body pulsing so hard it drags me under with her. My release rips through me, spilling into her, and I hold her steady, watching my name ripple across her back.
We collapse in a heap, sweaty and shaking, and still tangled together.
Her laugh is ragged as she slips off and turns, falling breathlessly against my chest. “Guess this counts as you being neighborly, huh?”
I grin into her damp hair. “This is the only kind of neighborly I’m interested in with you.”
For a moment, it’s only the sound of our breathing, the thud of our hearts still racing. Her eyes blink up at me, glassy and bright, and something in my chest twists. I brush her hair back from her face, knuckles lingering at her temple, then skim my hand down her cheek until she leans into it.
She swallows, letting her eyes trace over me.
Fuck, she’s beautiful. The kind of beautiful that looks like a fairytale from the outside, except she’s the princess and the dragon and the knight.
Fire and fight and grace in one. The whole goddamn story.
And I’m already certain I want to spend my life inside every page.
My hand tightens on the jersey at her hip. “You wore this for me.” My voice comes out rough. “Not for a joke, not for them. For me.”
Her lips part, a shaky breath escaping. “Of course I did. Who else would it be for?”
The words hit like a punch, simple and devastating.
“Nobody’s done that for me before.”
“Well,” she whispers, smile trembling. “I’ll be your nobody, then.”
I don’t think. I just grab her, clutching the jersey at her back and hauling her closer to me. My mouth finds hers, not desperate this time, but slow. Certain. Needing her to feel exactly what she just gave me.
She sighs into me, fingers sliding into my hair, anchoring me there. I want to live in these seconds between us—her breath warm, lips soft, heartbeat slamming against mine. It feels messy and too much and exactly right.
When I finally draw back, I keep her face in my hands, my voice stripped bare.
“You’re not my nobody, Lulu. You’re my everything.”