Chapter 24 Abby
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Abby
The world around me slowly starts to filter back in as I cross the line between dreamland and reality. An utter sense of peace surrounds me.
I haven’t felt this at ease in… well, maybe ever.
You’d think I would be alarmed by the presence of someone else in my bed, given the fact that there is rarely anyone else here with me.
Waking up and finding Wyatt sleeping soundly beside me is having the opposite effect. I lay on my side, facing him.
Fragments of the early morning light cast shadows across his face. I take this moment to just stare at him. He really is beautiful in a slightly rugged kind of way.
The comforter is pulled down just enough, giving me a view of his toned chest. My mouth waters with the need to lick across his perfect skin.
I divert my eyes to his arms and the ink covering them to try to keep my brain firmly in the friend category. Both of his arms are practically covered in tattoos.
There doesn’t seem to be any theme to them. They’re a random assortment of colored and black ink that somehow work with their randomness.
It perfectly embodies the Wyatt that I’ve come to know. He’s a mix of funny and wild on the outside, but there’s a deeper soul beneath all of it.
He lets out a sleepy groan, bringing a hand up to his face. One of his gold-flecked eyes peeks out at me through his fingers.
“Morning,” I say with a small smile.
“Isn’t it usually the guy who’s staring at the girl like a stalker while she’s sleeping in the movies?”
His voice is gravelly with sleep. He runs his hand over the stubble that now peppers his jaw. It makes him even sexier.
“I don’t believe in stereotypes. Women can be stalkers, too. Anything you put your mind to and all that.”
He starts laughing, and I quickly follow suit. He rolls onto his side. The longer our eyes stay locked together, the more the laughter dissipates.
“Morning,” I say again.
“Morning.”
“Thank you for staying last night.” I had several drinks, but I wasn’t drunk by any means. I very much remember everything that happened.
The feeling of dread I felt when he was about to leave feels as real right now as it did last night. The thought of being alone made my throat feel impossibly tight.
His face remains serious as he laces his fingers through mine.
“The quiet can feel too loud sometimes.” I shake my head, but Wyatt is nodding along like he gets it.
“The silence leaves too much empty space for your brain to be extra loud,” he says, tracing his thumb over the side of my hand.
My eyes widen slightly at the realization of how perfectly he just put the feeling into words. “Exactly.”
He lets out a deep breath. “Our house was really loud when I was growing up, and not in a good way. Yelling. Walls getting punched. You get the picture.”
I nod because I don’t want to interrupt something that I’m sure isn’t easy for him to talk about.
“Kane’s house was noisy, too, but in a good way.
Laughter. I-love-yous. Music.” He smiles, clearly lost in memories.
“That became my solace and beacon of hope. Little bits of silence are good for anyone, but too much and my mind races with a million different things that I usually don’t have control over. ”
I blink slowly, processing everything he said. “You guys have all known each other for a long time.”
He nods against the pillow. “Since kindergarten.”
“Wow. No wonder you’re all as close as you are.”
“I have two brothers, not just one.” His face is dead serious when he says it.
I’ve seen it in the way they interact, but Wyatt doesn’t feel any differently about Kane than he does about Linc.
“Family can look a lot of different ways,” I say.
He nods again and smiles. “Kane’s parents are more like mine and Linc’s mom and dad than our birth parents. I owe the two of them everything. I wouldn’t be who I am today without their love and support over the years.”
My heart warms at the softness in his eyes when he talks about them. “They sound like wonderful people.”
“They really, really are.” He pulls our intertwined hands up to his face and kisses the back of my hand. Tingles skitter down my arm.
We can’t be more than friends, but I want more. The way his eyes are boring into me makes me want far more than I should.
My resolve is cracking, and I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to fight this. Any of it.
All I want to do is kiss his perfect lips. His eyes move to my mouth and back to my eyes. Obviously, his mind is in the same crazy town as mine.
“We shouldn’t,” I say. The words are barely audible because I can’t bring myself to say them any louder. I don’t want to say them at all.
“Friends can kiss and not have it be a big deal.”
I open my mouth but quickly shut it. I could make a retort, but I really don’t want to. I want to just say fuck it and let the chips fall where they may.
He must see the moment I give in. His hand gently slides up my arm until he’s cupping the side of my face. He leans in ever so slowly, his face less than an inch away.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment my lips left yours last time.”
A shiver moves through me at his words alone. “Me too.”
His fingers slide into the hair at the back of my neck as his lips press against mine. My whole body lights up from the first moment of contact. The kiss is slow and sensual, but the need building inside of me demands more.
My arms wrap around him, my hand sliding over the contoured planes of his back. I revel in every dip and curve of muscle I feel. He lets out a breathy moan that I swallow up with another kiss.
I pull myself even closer, so we’re pressed together from our toes to lips that haven’t broken apart for a single second since this started.
“I love kissing you,” he breathes against my now-wet lips. I don’t get to respond before he dives back in. Of course I love kissing him, too.
Who wouldn’t love kissing this man? A crazy person… that’s who.
We scramble to get even closer to one another, even though it’s practically impossible at this point. His thigh slots between mine.
I don’t even realize what I’m doing until the familiar tingles start to build deep in my core as I grind my hips against his leg.
I moan into the kiss. I start to tremble with the building sensations. I know I should stop, but it feels so fucking good.
“We’re still just kissing,” he says breathlessly. “Don’t stop. Please, beautiful, don’t stop.”
How the fuck am I supposed to deny him anything when he says it like that? I honestly don’t think I would be able to stop right now, even if I tried.
My looming orgasm is a mere breath away.
“I’m… I’m…” I get out between kisses.
“I know.” He presses kisses to my jaw, then the corner of my mouth. “Show me how much you love kissing me.”
I whimper, circling my hips one more time. The tingles that have been building explode into pure bliss. Pleasure races through my whole body.
I continue to grind against him until the last waves of my orgasm flutter through me. “Holy fuck,” I say, resting my forehead against him.
He lets out a quiet chuckle. “That pretty much sums it up.”
I can feel his very hard cock pressing against me. My hand trails down his side, meeting the waistband of his boxers.
His hand grips my wrist, stopping me. “Just kissing. Remember?”
Right.
“But…” I start. He’s so hard. It has to be almost painful at this point.
He pulls my hand up to his chest. I don’t know if he does it on purpose, but he rests it over his pounding heart.
“Seeing you… feeling you come apart was more than enough.”
I want to argue, but the honesty in his words is obvious. I press my lips to his one more time, knowing deep down this is never going to be enough for me.