Chapter 22 #3
“You’re so fucking perfect, Red,” I murmur, my voice rough. I press a lazy kiss to her jaw, breathing her in, inhaling the scent of sex and her skin as if it’ll keep me sane.
The aftershocks are still there, rippling down my spine, nerves shot to hell, every part of me still humming from how fucking good she feels wrapped around me.
I lift my head just enough to look at her. Our eyes meet. My hand brushes her red hair away from her face, fingers softly skimming her cheek.
Tell her, idiot. Tell her you’re finished hiding. Tell her you want everyone to know she’s yours.
But I don’t say it.
Instead, I lean down and kiss her slowly. Every filthy, fucked-up thing I don’t say gets poured into her mouth.
Then I ease back and pull out. My cock slips free, wet and spent. I tie off the condom and toss it in the trash.
When I turn back around, I half expect to see her already halfway dressed, like she always is after we finish. But she’s still there, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.
I move back to the bed.
She begins to sit up; I grab her wrist. “Wait.”
She freezes.
I climb onto the bed beside her and pull her into me, just needing her close. I’ve never done this before. Never wanted to. But damn, I want it now.
Her cheek rests against my chest. Her fingers trace lazy shapes on my skin. My whole body tightens, goosebumps chasing her touch.
“We’re not going to get this assignment done,” she whispers against my skin.
“Not a chance.” I chuckle because every time she comes here to work on the assessment, we end up hooking up. “We’ll get it done,” I add, pressing a kiss to her temple and letting my mouth linger there longer than I should.
We lie there in silence. Every gentle stroke of her fingers sends shivers across my skin. I stay still and silent, just feeling her warmth, her breath and the weight of her body pressed against mine.
She fits there. Fuck, she fits too perfectly.
“I want to make this official,” I say.
She stills beside me as if I dropped a grenade in the middle of the room. Her breath hitches.
“What?”
I prop myself up on my elbow so I can see her face. She leans her head back against the pillow.
“You heard me,” I say. “I’m done sneaking around. All this hiding and pretending this is casual when it’s anything but.”
She opens her mouth, then closes it. Her lips part again, but nothing comes out. So I keep going.
“I don’t give a shit who sees us, Red. Not the guys on the team. Not your friends or mine. I want to walk into school with you on my arm.”
Her eyes dart across my face, searching for the catch, as if this is some cruel trick I’m playing just to see her flinch. But I don’t blink. I mean every goddamn word.
She goes silent for a moment.
Finally, she speaks.
“Why now?”
“Because I’m tired of pretending, Red. And because I know what I want.”
“And what happens when you get bored?”
“What?”
“You’re used to girls throwing themselves at you,” she says.
“You’re Reece Wilson. Fuckboy with a smile that ruins people.
” She swallows hard. “What happens when the next shiny thing shows up? Some girl with longer legs, no history and a willingness to blow you in the school bathroom. Do I just become the ex you pretend never existed?”
“Is that really what you think?”
She lifts her eyes to mine, and damn, there’s so much in them—hurt, fear, and the vulnerability she doesn’t show to anyone.
“I’m scared, Reece. If this becomes real, and I let myself fall into it, and then you change your mind… I won’t survive that. Not with everyone watching, waiting for me to be the next name you erase.”
I sit up, brushing her hair back from her face, my fingers trembling slightly under the weight of her words.
“Red,” I say, voice low and deadly serious, “you aren’t some passing phase. You’re not a fling. You’re not the next girl I fuck and forget.”
She blinks, her lips parting as if she wants to say something but can’t.
“You are the only person who has ever made me forget every other girl existed,” I say. “You walk into a room and I forget how to breathe. You smile and I lose my fucking mind. You’re the only one I see. The only one I want.”
Her mouth trembles, and I notice it. All the parts of her she’s kept hidden, rattling behind her ribs, waiting for a reason to trust me.
“You think I’d trade that for some hallway blowjob?” I ask, shaking my head. “You think I’d throw away everything we’ve done for a shot at easy?”
I press my forehead to hers, needing her to feel every part of me. Every ounce of this need, which has clawed its way into my chest since the second she walked into my fucking life.
“You’re not easy,” I murmur. “You’re everything.”
Tears burn at the corners of her eyes. “Reece—” she stops herself, swallows, and takes a deep breath.
“Say yes, Red,” I whisper, my breath grazing her lips. “Just say yes.”
I see the war in her eyes, the way she’s weighing the cost of giving me her heart when she’s still not one hundred percent sure I won’t shatter it.
Her fingers lift, brushing my jaw with a touch so damn gentle it undoes me. “If I say yes... and you hurt me...” Her voice breaks. “That’s it, Reece.”
My heart stutters. I fucking feel it. The weight of her trust. The risk she’s about to take.
“I won’t hurt you. I swear to you, Red. I would rather die.”
She studies me and then nods.
“Yes.”
The word sounds soft and shaky.
I fucking lose it. I pull her mouth to mine and kiss her with everything I’ve got. Deep. Desperate. A little wild. My hand fists in her hair as I pull her closer.
I pull back just enough to breathe against her lips. “I’m the happiest motherfucker on the planet right now.”
Her laugh is perfect. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“You won’t,” I promise. “You won’t even remember life before me.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling now.