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I hold on to him, but really, it’s he who is holding on to me.
I turn my head to the left and tilt it up a bit so my cheek rests near the beat of his heart and focus on the tempo.
I breathe him in, blend into him, our heartbeats in sync.
“Slow and steady,” he rasps.
Deep and full.
His hands release mine, and when mine don’t fall, he wraps his long fingers around my wrist and tugs.
My eyes pop open and it takes several seconds for the fog to clear, and then they meet his.
He watches me a long moment, and at my back, his chest rises a little fuller, falls a little faster.
Suddenly his hands are on my hips and I’m spun around, his body pressing into mine as his features pull tighter and tighter, the muscles of my stomach doing the same.
His fingers twitch against my skin, pressing firmer and tugging some unexpected strings low in my abdomen.
This isn’t what it feels like, Brielle. Don’t fool yourself.
Don’t fall.
He slips closer, his right hand coming up, his knuckle glides up my breastbone, my neck, until it’s resting beneath my chin. He tips my head back, and his begins to lower.
His eyes are hard and focus on my mouth and I forget to breathe.
To blink.
To think.
My lips part.
A low groan leaves him.
All at once, the weight of his hands, the heat of his breath, and the pressure of his body is gone.
As if left starved, I drag in a desperate lungful of air, and his eyes cut away.
“Come on,” he says, a slight strain in his voice. “Let’s put this back.”
I nod, clearing my throat, and with slower steps, I follow behind him, stepping to the side as he leans into the back of the SUV.
“So.” I swallow, shifting us back into proper territory. “Do you keep a bat in all these cars?”
“Nah.” He shrugs a shoulder, and when he turns to me it’s with a straight face. “We keep three.”
I shake my head with a grin. “See, Three Musketeers... one for all. Not that that’s what it means, but it works.”
A light laugh leaves him, and with slower than normal movements, the two of us head out the way we entered. Thankfully, with each step taken, the heaviness of the last few minutes falls away.
When we step out front, there’s an empty SUV waiting.
Only when we’re pulling to a stop in front of the girls’ group home does he turn to me.
“You expected him to be here, that’s why you came without a fight.”
I nod.
He gauges me. “Now what?”
I drop my smile to my lap and push the door open, but he reaches over, yanking it closed.
When I turn, his face is right there. Right in mine.
“You stayin’ or not?” His tone is angry, but his eyes... they’re something else entirely.
My stomach dips.
He wants me to stay, I can sense it, but he doesn’t know how to say it.“As if you’d give me the option,” I whisper with a hint of a smile.
His jaw muscles flex, his eyes falling to my mouth. “As if you’d need one.”
“I wouldn’t.”
His gaze snaps back to mine, and just like that, the air around him grows playful.
I knew it.
He grins, a low laugh leaving him as he shifts the SUV in gear. “I know.”
That grin? It turns to a smirk, and the worst kind.
The kind you sit and wonder about for hours upon hours because it could mean one of so many things.
However, that’s not what plagues me as the day goes on, but the truth behind my answer.
I do want to stay, and not for anyone else this time.
For me.RoyceI don’t know how I knew she’d be waiting for me, but as I step out at the mansion, there she is.
Sitting on the porch with soft eyes and a knowing smile, Maybell pats the space beside her, so I don’t hesitate to drop right down.
“You knew she thought he was here, didn’t you?”
She nods, looking out over the trees. “She was too proud to be home, boy. I saw the longing in her those pretty eyes of hers,” she says quietly. “She was missing something, and he’s the only thing she thinks it is.”
We look to each other and I raise a dark brow. “Thinks it is?
“Yes, boy. Thinks,” she says, her tone stern. “Way I see it is what that girl needs is what she’s yet to realize she wants, as it’s something else entirely, but she’s getting there, more and more each day.” She bumps her shoulder into mine. “I know you’ll help her figure it out.”
I look away, glaring at the rocks in the driveway. “How exactly am I supposed to do that?” I can’t stop myself from asking even if I wish I could.”
Maybell stands and stares down at me. “By being you, while she’s busy being her.”
