Chapter 38
38
DYLAN
I kiss Hunter. After weeks of wanting, dreaming, craving, and it’s like coming home. Every moment, every interaction, every shared laugh and lingering glance has been leading up to this. Her lips are soft and pliant beneath mine, parting on a gasp as I deepen the kiss.
I slide one hand up her back and tangle it in her hair, pulling down, tilting her head to the perfect angle. She tastes like maple syrup and something I want to drown in.
Hunter’s hands come up to clutch at my shoulders, her fingers clawing at my hoodie. She arches into me, pressing our bodies together, and I groan into her mouth at the exquisite contact. Even with layers of clothing between us, her curves mold against the hard planes of my body like we were made to fit.
I nip at her bottom lip, soothing the sting with my tongue, and Hunter makes a needy sound in the back of her throat that shoots straight to my core. That little whimper, the way she’s clinging to me, ignites something primal inside me, a hunger I’ve never felt.
This is how kissing someone should feel: consuming, intoxicating, devouring and wanting to be devoured.
I grip her hips tighter, pulling her to the edge of the counter until she’s flush against me. I trail open-mouthed kisses along her jaw, down the slender column of her neck.
“Dylan,” Hunter gasps, and the sound of my name on her lips, breathy and pleading, it unravels me.
I find her pulse point, sucking lightly. Her fingers thread into my hair, nails scraping deliciously against my scalp. I want to undress her, to make her mine. And yet, I also want to savor every inch of her slowly, but the need to have her pulses in my veins and is too insistent to ignore. Weeks of pent-up desire, of imagining her in my arms, have me teetering on the knife’s edge of my control.
“Do you know how much it drives me crazy that you’re wearing my shirt,” I whisper against her throat.
“I’m—I’m getting a-an idea,” she pants back.
My fingers inch higher, teasing the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. I skim my hands up, and up, until my thumbs brush the edge of her shorts, dipping under the denim.
“Gosh, Hunter, these shorts,” I groan, my voice rough with want. “They’ve been testing my restraint all week.”
She lets out a shaky laugh that turns into a gasp when I nip at her collarbone. “That… that was kind of the point.”
I lift my head to look at her, a smirk tugging at my lips. “Is that so?”
Hunter nods. “I wanted you to notice me. To want me the way I’ve wanted you for so long.”
My heart gets rug-burned at her confession, at the uncertainty still shining in her eyes. That this woman, this gorgeous, smart, sassy goddess has wanted me for years seems unbelievable.
“Oh, Hunter.” I cup her face in my hands. “I noticed you. If the past years have been for you like the last month for me, I’m sorry. Because I wanted you, badly. Even when I shouldn’t have, even when I tried to deny it to myself.” I stroke my thumbs over her cheekbones. “I’ve imagined this, having you in my arms, being able to touch you, taste you, a million times.”
To punctuate my words, I claim her mouth in another searing kiss, pouring all my pent-up desire into the contact.
We kiss until we’re both breathless, until the need for oxygen forces us apart. Hunter rests her forehead on the crook of my neck. “What now?” she asks, not looking me in the eye.
I caress down her long hair. “Are you asking what are my plans for the weekend? Because those include getting you in bed and not letting you leave until you have to go to work on Monday.”
Her hands fist into the fabric of my hoodie. “S-solid plan, Thompson.”
I lift her chin with a finger because I’m not sure she’s clear on how serious this is for me. “But if you’re asking what happens after I do all the things that I plan to do to you, is that we do them again, and again. Ideally, you’d move into my room or I into yours, and we make this a permanent arrangement.”
Hunter’s eyes widen, her lips parting in surprise. “You… you want to keep living together? Like, officially, as a couple?”
My head dips, eyes steady on hers. “I want to wake up with you every morning and fall asleep with you every night. I want to come home to you after a long day and cook dinner together, even if it’s mac and cheese from a box. We can argue over who gets the first shower and end up sharing it anyway.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I want to build a life with you, Hunter. I’m all in if you are.”
Hunter’s eyes search mine. Emotions flickering across her face—surprise, disbelief, and then, a tentative hope that makes my heart swell.
“You’re serious,” she says, more a statement than a question.
“As a heart attack,” I confirm, my lips quirking. “I know it’s fast, and if you need time to think about it, I understand?—”
“No, I want it, but…” She frowns and looks away. “Aren’t you worried about going too fast? What if we blow up and mess things up in our group?”
I get the sense that’s not what she wants to ask me, that her fear is not about our group’s dynamic but about me breaking her heart. “Nina and Tristan have already made that ship sail. And I can’t promise this will be forever, but I can tell you that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t risk to see if it could be.” I grab her jaw and gently tilt her face back toward me. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s really on your mind?”
She struggles to maintain eye contact, but I don’t let her look away. “Do you remember the conversation we had at your parents’, t-the night we slept in the living room?”
I remember everything she tells me. Not just the words, but also the way she says them—how her voice softens or sharpens depending on what she’s going through. “I do.”
“Okay.” She swallows, visibly nervous. Then she starts talking at top speed, without pausing as if she is afraid she’ll lose her nerve if she doesn’t get it all out at once. “This might sound premature, but since you’re already talking about moving in together. Remember I told you I might not be able to have kids naturally? I might try IVF but the only road for me could be adoption. And before anything happens between us, I need to know that you can accept that. You have to understand that it’s not an abstract possibility, but the most probable outcome for me. Because I can’t let myself get… get swept up in this, if I already know you… you won’t be okay with that. I’ve wanted this for too long. If you don’t?—”
I stop her, capturing her mouth in another tender kiss, before pulling apart, locking eyes with her, and making sure she hears me when I say, “I don’t care, Brolin. Tristan has always told me my mom and dad felt more like parents to him than his own. Biology has nothing to do with it. Our kids come from your belly or from a situation where they need help and a loving family. I’m good either way.”
“You are?”
“No. Love doesn’t come from genes. We can adopt an entire basketball team. The important thing is that we’ll be raising our kids together, me and you.” I notice she’s about to melt into tears, so I smile, whisper-singing, “I wanna be your endgame.”
The song has the desired effect because it makes her laugh. “Are you serenading Taylor to me?”
“What if I was?”
“You’d have to stop because I can’t take any more swooning.”
My turn to grin. “If we’re done with the hard questions, then, can we move on to the fun part?”
At the barest nod from Hunter, I scoop her up into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist. She lets out a surprised squeak that evolves into a moan as I capture her mouth in a fiery kiss. I carry her down the hall, pausing, undecided if we should go to her bedroom or mine. My door’s open, so I go in there, our lips never breaking contact. It’s a miracle I navigate the short distance without stumbling, considering how thoroughly Hunter is kissing me back.
I kick the door shut behind us and press Hunter up against it. She gasps into my mouth at the sudden impact, her back arching off the wood. I trail my lips down her neck, finding that sensitive spot below her ear that I’ve already learned makes her shudder. “A word of warning, Brolin.” I bite into her earlobe hard enough to make her whimper. “I’m not such a nice guy in bed.”