Chapter 30
Connor
I stayed still for a long moment. Moving right now would break something perfectly quiet.
There wasn’t much light, save for the glow of the TV and the moonlight creeping across the wooden floors.
Her head was tucked into the curve of my shoulder, warm beneath my jaw, the slow rise and fall of her breathing brushing faintly against my collar. One arm lay curved across my middle, fingers lax, the press of her thigh hooked over mine, and I never wanted to move.
Carefully, I angled my head just enough to look down at her.
Teddy’s face was relaxed in rest, lines smoothed away, lashes dark against her cheeks.
She looked younger like this. Lighter. Like the world hadn’t asked anything of her.
Not everyone got to see her like this, unguarded and peaceful.
She was just Teddy. The fact that she’d fallen asleep on me, like it was easy, wasn’t something I’d planned on taking lightly.
I’d never been so happy to be nap trapped.
She sighed, long and quiet, and her cheek pressed more firmly into my chest like she was chasing warmth without waking fully. I stayed exactly where I was, my arms around her, barely breathing, acutely aware of every spot where we touched.
Her eyelashes fluttered once.
Then again.
She didn’t open her eyes right away. Instead, she shifted her head, nose brushing my shirt, inhaling like she was trying to place the scent before the memory caught up, just like I did. Her hand tightened briefly in my T-shirt, then relaxed.
“Mm,” she murmured, voice rough and unfocused.
I smiled to myself and kept my voice low, careful. “Hey.”
That earned me a huff of breath against my chest. “Why do you sound… close?” she asked, still not opening her eyes.
“Because I am,” I said.
She stilled at that. But she didn’t seem tense—just pausing, like she was orienting herself. Her fingers flexed again in my shirt, more deliberately this time.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
Her eyes opened slowly, lashes lifting in stages. For a second, she stared at my collarbone, then my throat, like her vision hadn’t quite caught up with her thoughts yet. When her gaze finally reached my face, recognition flickered there—warm, unalarmed.
“Hi,” she said.
I smiled. “Hi.”
She didn’t move away. If anything, she settled more fully into me, her cheek fitting against my chest like it had found its place overnight. Her thumb brushed absently over my shirt, a sleepy, unconscious motion.
“This is… not my bed,” she said after a moment.
“No,” I agreed. “But it’s a solid couch.”
That coaxed a faint smile out of her. “We fell asleep.”
“Hard,” I said. “At least you did.” I left out the part where I watched her sleep, mostly because I was aware enough that I’d look like a serial killer.
“So you just watched me sleep, like some kind of serial killer?”
Well, shit.
I chuckled, rubbing my jaw, trying not to jostle her much so she wouldn’t look at the fresh wave of heat slapping my cheeks. “In my defense, you were using me as a mattress, or pillow. Either way.”
She made a quiet noise that sounded like a laugh. “Well feel free to wake me next time instead of being a creep.”
I exhaled through my nose, smiling at that.
I started to wonder what she’d do next because she hadn’t pushed away from me, yet. If she’d pull back. If she’d decide this was a line she didn’t want crossed again, that whatever had happened between us belonged firmly in the past tense.
This… thing between us could vanish that easily. Like it had never happened.
I wasn’t usually a nervous guy. Confidence came easily to me, maybe too easily. But Teddy had a way of getting under my skin, of making me care about the outcome in a way that left me exposed. I wanted her badly—wanted more than the night with her, and the not knowing sat heavy in my chest.
I kept my arm where it was, loose, giving her room without pulling away. Letting her decide.
After a beat, she shifted again, lifting her head just enough to look at me. “What time is it?”
I pulled my other arm up, checking my watch. “It’s after midnight.”
She hummed. “Do you want to go back to your place?”
No, I didn’t. I met her gaze. “I can,” I said, “if you want the bed to yourself.”
Her eyes lingered on mine, like she was listening for what I didn’t say. Then she shook her head once, slow and decisive. “My bed is insanely comfortable. I think you need to try it.”
I couldn’t help but grin, catching the way she’d phrased it. How the invitation was disguised as logistics, a way to keep control without pushing herself past it.
“Are you asking me to go to bed with you, sunshine?”
Her head tipped back and a breathtaking smile crested her lips as she giggled. It caught me completely off guard. It wasn’t just the laugh, but the way joy lingered there, hazy from sleep, like she’d momentarily forgotten to hold herself so carefully.
I stared, a little stunned, like I’d been given a glimpse of something rare and unrepeatable. The moment felt high and open, my chest full, my heartbeat calm, aware only of the simple, grounding relief of breathing deeply and being exactly where I was.
“I’m saying,” she said, eyes glittering, “that you should come with me.”
She shifted out from under my arm and stood, and I gave myself permission to look as she stretched her strong, toned body.
The sinewy, hard-earned muscles flexed across her stomach as she lifted her arms, her shirt rising just enough to reveal more than she probably intended—and enough that I found myself hoping, quietly and without shame, that one day I might see all of her.
It wasn’t leering or hunger that settled in my body.
Okay, it wasn’t just hunger, it was also admiration.
This was a body built by discipline and sacrifice, by early mornings and stubborn resilience, and watching her move through the stretch, beautiful and strong, it was inspiring. It did things to me.
“Getting a good look, O’Riley?”
My gaze snapped to her smirking face.
“How many times have you checked me out?”
I scoffed, heat shooting up my neck. “Too many to fecking count.”
That made her pause, her arms dropping and eyes locked on my rapidly burning cheeks. “Even in college?”
“I always thought you were beautiful,” I said confidently, then because I wasn’t sure how deep this should go on our first night together, I added, “and stubborn, headstrong, unwilling to back down from an argument—Oof.”
She launched herself at me, knocking the breath from my lungs as we tumbled back onto the couch.
“I take back the offer of my bed,” she declared. “You can stay right here.”
I groaned, but it wasn’t out of protest because there she was, laying on me again. Lifting a hand, I brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face, letting my thumb linger at her temple, watching pink crawl onto her cheeks too.
“But you’re also kind, smart,” I said quietly, “and an incredible leader. Which is annoying because it’s impossible to argue with you nowadays.”
“Why’s that?” she whispered.
“Because I see what you’re fighting for.” I swallowed deeply, trying not to get lost in her baby blue irises. “And I think you’re brave for doing it, anyway.” I didn’t add that I wanted to be there to support her; I didn’t think she’d like that. It was never about me.
I thought I’d said too much, that this would really be the moment she’d ask me to go. Instead, her eyebrows pinched as she stared at me, as though she was cataloguing. Then she blinked and launched herself upright.
“Come on,” she said, already heading down the hallway. I followed because I was helpless not to.
Her room was dim, save for the light from the lamp she flicked on. Everything was neutral and neat. She didn’t hesitate to rid herself of her pants. I caught a glimpse of her fresh satin panties as she climbed onto the bed and stretched out on her side. Fuck, she was sensational to watch.
Removing my pants too, I caught her eye. “I can leave them on if you’d—”
“Get in the bed, Connor.” She sighed like she was fed up, but there was an undertone of lightness there.
She patted the mattress beside her, laying back, sinking into it, the sheets cool and clean, the foam pillowy and dream-like and I climbed in beside her.
“Okay,” I admitted, holding back a groan. “You weren’t exaggerating.”
“I love it when I’m right.”
I remembered well.
I turned my head toward her and the distance between us felt too much. “It’s big, though.”
She raised an eyebrow. “The bed?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re miles away from me.”
Amusement warmed her cheeks as I reached out, fingers catching the edge of her shirt, gentle but certain.
“Come here, sunshine.”
She crossed the space between us easily, like she’d been waiting for the invitation, and I hooked an arm around her waist, tugging her over me. She landed with a laugh, palms braced on my chest, hair falling forward around us.
For a second, we just looked at each other.
Then I leaned up and kissed her, bracing my palm against her back. She melted into it, into me, mouth molding to mine, her hands sliding into my hair like they already knew the way. I kissed her again, and again, deeper, tasting, savoring the way she responded, the way she fit.
The hard line of me was right there beneath her, no disguising it. She rolled her hips deeper, rubbing her barely covered pussy all over my length, and I begrudged the fabric between us.
When she moved again, I groaned into her mouth, digging my fingers into her hips.
“Jaysus, feck,” I muttered, breaking the kiss just long enough to drag my mouth along her jaw, my teeth grazing skin before my lips followed. She tasted like heat and sleep and confidence, and it made me reckless. “I could eat you up.”