Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Missy
From the moment I stepped foot in Cade’s house, I knew deep in my bones that I wouldn’t be leaving that night. That certainty startled me. It wasn’t an impulsive or reckless thought. It was a calm and solid decision. Like a door quietly clicking shut behind me.
So much had changed between us over the years. Hell, even over the past few weeks. If I was being honest, in the last hour something fundamental had shifted again, sliding into place so seamlessly it almost scared me.
Telling Cade, my best friend, my constant, the one person who had always shown up without question, that I wanted more should have felt awkward. Risky. Like stepping onto unstable ground.
Instead, warmth unfurled beneath my skin, a low, steady hum that soothed instead of rattled. My heart didn’t race or stutter. It settled into place, as if it finally recognized the rhythm it had been searching for all along.
Why had it taken me this long? Why hadn’t I seen him, really seen him, standing right there the whole time? Not waiting. Not pushing. Just… there.
I’d wasted years chasing an idea. A polished version of love that I’d designed when I was far too young to know what really mattered.
In my teen years, I’d kept a list tucked into the back of a diary, written in careful handwriting like I was outlining a future instead of a fantasy.
Tall.
Blond hair.
Blue eyes.
Dimples, optional, but encouraged.
Kind.
Though now I could admit how flimsy that one had been. Every boy that I’d dated had been kind at first. Kind was easy. Kind was temporary for a lot of people.
Straight-A student.
That one had carried on into college. I’d wanted ambition. Intelligence. Someone who could stand toe-to-toe with me, impress my parents, fit neatly into the world that I’d been raised to expect.
The last line on the list hadn’t been mine.
Must be able to make me laugh.
Back then Cade had leaned over my shoulder and told me to add it. When I’d written the words, he’d told me that no future was worth much if I couldn’t laugh.
At the time, I’d rolled my eyes and thought it had sounded cheesy. After all, my parents had never laughed together that I could remember. Laughter was for others.
Now, however, standing in his half-finished house, with sawdust still clinging to the corners and warmth radiating from every repaired surface, that line felt like the only one that truly mattered.
In the nearly two years that I’d spent with Levi, I could count on one hand the number of times that he’d made me laugh, really laugh. There had been comfort instead. Approval. Ease. My parents loved him. My father respected him. That had mattered more to me back then than I’d ever admitted.
Even as my parents’ marriage cracked and splintered, Levi and my dad had remained close, bonded by ambition and appearances. It had been… convenient. Familiar. Safe.
I’d ignored the way Levi corrected me. Directed me. Shrunk me. I’d ignored it because being chosen by someone my parents adored felt like success.
I’d dated others before him, boys they’d disapproved of for a dozen reasons, but Levi had been the exception. The one they’d wanted for me.
My gaze drifted to Cade, standing a few feet away from me. His hands were shoved into his jean pockets, and he was watching me with that quiet attentiveness that he never tried to hide.
And it struck me then, sharp and sudden.
I’d never once considered what my parents thought of him.
Because Cade had always been… mine.
If they’d disliked him, I would have still chosen him. Still laughed with him. Still trusted him with my fears and my dreams and my worst days. Their approval had never factored into… us.
That realization settled heavy and sure in my chest. It made my next move seem all the more reasonable.
Walking up to him and stopping when our toes met, I smiled.
“Cade,” I repeated. “I don’t want to go home.”
Then, before I had a chance to blink, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close until our bodies melted together. His mouth covered mine. He was warm, strong, and just as hungry as I was.
The moment our mouths touched, it was as if time stopped. I no longer felt my own heartbeats. No longer could breathe on my own.
Every move we made was as if it had been well rehearsed, practiced for years, all for this moment.
His steady hands removed my clothes, and when his rough fingertips finally touched my skin, I knew there was no stopping, no going back.
Cade was mine. Now and forever. And I was his.
There were no fumbling fingers as I pulled his shirt off over his head. When I unbuckled his jeans and slid them down over his narrow hips, I marveled at the body I’d seen grow along with my own. Now he was lean, toned, and full of muscles that I’d spent the last few years admiring silently.
My own body was toned yet far smaller and softer. I worked out, but the hours I put in at my bakery didn’t always allow for weight training time.
I knew Cade wasn’t going to complain. Not when the low moan escaped his lips as he ran his fingertips over my skin. His mouth continued to cover mine as our kisses deepened and turned almost desperate.
My body heated even more when I finally stood in front of him in nothing but the cream-colored silk panties and bra that I’d purchased for myself on my last birthday.
“Missy.” Cade’s moan was so soft that for a moment I questioned if he’d spoken at all.
“Don’t you dare stop,” I warned, and he chuckled.
“I don’t think I can. I mean, I will, if you want, but…” He groaned.
“Don’t stop,” I said softly and buried my fingers into his hair, pulling him back down until our lips met again.
I felt like I was floating and only when the cool sheets of his bed touched my shoulders did I realize why. He’d backed me up and gently laid me down, covering me without breaking the kiss.
I wanted to tell him how smooth he was, but all I managed was a groan when his mouth trailed down my neck, sending a wave of goose bumps over my exposed skin.
Closing my eyes, I marveled at what he was doing with his mouth. How his tongue and lips traced a hot trail over my skin. He dampened my silk bra as he trailed the tip of his tongue over me, and my nipples responded to his touch.
All the while, his fingers gently drew circles around my bellybutton and hip. I wanted him to touch me more. Faster.
When I reached for him, he pinned my wrists above my head and grinned down at me.
“If you touch me, this will be over too soon.”
I wanted to tell him I was okay with that since I doubted I would last long either. But I knew the look he gave me all too well and willingly stilled.
“Good.” He sighed as he ran his eyes over me. “If we’re going to do this”—his eyes snapped back up to mine—“we need some ground rules.”
My heart skipped, but not in fear. In recognition. Cade had always been careful with the things that mattered most.
“Anything,” I said, meaning it with every part of me.
He shifted onto his side to face me fully. “First, whatever happens between us in the bedroom doesn’t break the years of friendship.”
Relief washed through me so fast it almost made my chest ache. I nodded immediately. “Friends forever,” I said softly. They weren’t just words. It was a promise I’d been keeping my whole life.
A corner of his mouth lifted. “Second,” he added gently, “because I know your history of going out with cheating men, I promise that while we’re together, there won’t be anyone else.”
Something inside me loosened, like I’d been holding my breath for years without realizing it. I knew he meant it and nodded again, slower this time. “Same,” I said. “Always.”
His hand came up to brush my hair back from my face, his touch reverent. “Last,” he murmured, leaning closer, “tell me if I do anything you don’t like.” His lips skimmed mine, barely there.
I smiled, my forehead resting against his. “I will.”
Then his fingers slipped under my panties and my eyes rolled as a moan of delight escaped me.
At that moment, I doubted there was anything Cade could do that I wouldn’t like.
Since I couldn’t return the favor, I dug my nails softly into his shoulders as he traced his fingers over me. When he dipped inside me, I splintered into a million pieces and cried out his name.
“More,” he growled against my skin. Suddenly he shifted until he settled between my thighs. Pulling my silk panties aside, he ran his mouth over me and slid his tongue in where his fingers had just been.
I couldn’t breathe. I doubted my heart was still beating. How could it be? How could this have been right here, all along?
Crying his name, I held on and felt my world shift as my toes curled.
Never.
I had never experienced anything like Cade lapping me up, pleasing me slowly.
“Cade, I… can’t, hold on,” I warned.
“Come for me, Missy,” he said against me. “Please, don’t make me beg.”
I wanted to hold out for him, to feel him inside me, but just hearing his rough voice as he begged undid me.
Once more, my world shattered. When I came back down to reality, he had shifted over me, his eyes glued to mine.
I tensed for a second, but he smiled. “Easy, I put on a condom.”
I chuckled. “That isn’t what…” I stopped on a moan. I wanted to do for him what he’d done for me, but now he was sliding slowly into me, fully hard. Of course he was.
I wrapped my legs around him and held on as he trailed his mouth over my neck.
“Home,” he whispered and I felt myself building again. This time, I knew we’d fall together.
The rain started sometime after eleven, the droplets whispering softly against the windows.
The sound made Cade’s bedroom feel even warmer, more insulated from the rest of the world.
We lay side by side beneath the quilt, the lamp on his nightstand still on low, casting an amber glow across the room.
The house settled around us with familiar creaks, like it was learning us, memorizing the shape of this moment.
Being here with him felt surreal. Cade had one arm tucked behind his head, the other resting lightly at my waist, like he was afraid too much pressure might send me running.
I shifted slightly so I could see him better.
I ran my eyes over the day’s growth along his jawline, his dark lashes that cast shadows against his cheeks. He was so… Cade.
There were no dramatic declarations. No grand plans. Just honesty and the quiet understanding that whatever this was, we were choosing it together.
We talked for a while about his house, the way Silver Cove felt different now that we’d both stopped trying to live lives meant for other people. At some point, the rain deepened, the sound steady and soothing, and Cade’s breathing evened out beside me.
I set my alarm silently for four a.m.
When it buzzed faintly hours later, I untangled myself from his hold and slipped carefully from the bed, moving slowly so I wouldn’t wake him. I pulled on my clothes in the dim light. My heart felt lighter, my steps uncharacteristically quiet. I was halfway to the door when his voice stopped me.
“Missy.”
I turned. He was propped up on one elbow. His hair was rumpled and his eyes were heavy with sleep.
“Go back to bed,” I whispered as I moved closer and leaned in to kiss him. “I can walk to work from here.”
He studied me for a long second, then nodded. He pulled me down again and this time his kiss was slow and unhurried, full of warmth and certainty.
“Be careful,” he said softly. “There’s an umbrella in the closet by the front door.”
“I will.”
I slipped out into the early morning rain. The cool morning air felt wonderful against my skin under his large umbrella. The streetlights still glowed brightly, highlight beams that cut through the morning mist and fog. The world felt quiet and new, and I didn’t even mind getting a little wet.
I was practically floating.