“No, I live with Whit. We met, like, a year or so ago while I was interning for this event company. She was the hair and makeup artist that the client hired for the wedding. We just kinda gravitated toward each other that day, and when the event was over, we just…stuck together. She was looking for a roommate and asked me if I wanted to move in, so I did.”
“That’s cool that you have her.”
“Tell me about it. I mean, she’s crazy, but a good kind of crazy. She keeps me on my toes, and the house isneverquiet when she’s home.”
He chuckled. “That ain’t surprising. She seems fiery.”
“That’s a good way to explain her,” I replied with a soft laugh.
“So, how come you’re stayin’ here? I thought you had that job in California?” The way his hands moved up and down my spine, so soft, yet sure of their path, it felt absolutely amazing and more than a bit distracting.
“I haven’t turned down the California job yet. It’s still there, but my start date isn’t until late August. I like the notoriety that would come with working for them, as well as how much I’d hopefully learn, but this business proposal from my dad could be interesting too. I’d get to essentially be my own boss, do things my way, and…” I pursed my lips, trying to figure out if I should tell him that he was part of the reason for staying? Would he think I was crazy—I mean, a part ofmethought I was crazy—or would he understand? I know he said that he felt like this was real too, but… I don’t know, what if it wasn’tthatreal for him.
Hux frowned, and he asked, his voice tinged with a hint of worry, “Quinn?”
You know what…? To hell with it.
My heart beat a million miles a minute, but I pushed back the fear and said, “I’m gonna be completely honest with you, because, well, I’d rather know now if you think I’m crazy or not—” I blew out a breath. “I’ve never felt a connection like this before. Ever. And maybe it’s infatuation, or that I typically have shit luck with relationships and you seem different than the rest, or maybe I’m just completely reading more into this than I should…but meeting you—”
My gaze dropped to rest on his tattoo; I couldn’t meet his stare. Even though he wouldn’t know what I was looking at, I felt too self-conscious. So I traced his tattoo with my fingers instead, as I continued on, “I know this is gonna sound super cheesy, and I’m fully aware of how crazy this is, but the moment I saw you, it was like my heart woke up and said ‘mine’.”
A peel of nervous laughter escaped me and I hid my head in my hands as my throat squeezed tight. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He probably thought I was a crazy person. And the fact he seemed so lost in thought, making no attempt to speak, was all the more nerve wracking. Biting back the familiar sting of tears in my eyes, since now I was an emotional wreck, I whispered with a fake cheerfulness, “Anyway, feel free to tell me I'm crazy. But I want to explore this. I want to see if this connection is as special as it feels before I go back home.”
He was quiet—painfully quiet—for so long I thought maybe somehow, some way he hadn’t heard me. Each second that passed sent my nerves skyrocketing, but he still held me, so I couldn’t have completely screwed things up, right?
“Well, if you’re crazy, I’m crazy too.” The low timber of his voice was a balm to the fear burning in my chest.
I finally braved a look up at him, finding a softness to the set of his jaw. And this close, with the way his soulful amber eyes rested on me, it was easy to imagine him still having his vision. “How so?”
He lifted a hand to my face and slowly tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “The minute I heard you singin’ in the grocery store, I just—I had to find you. I think somethin’ in my soul woke up then too. I hadn’t felt warmth or anything like that for a long time.”
Trying to stop the grin spreading across my lips was like trying to stop the sun from rising—impossible. “Really?”
A nod as he brushed his fingers tips along the curve of my jaw. A shiver went through me, a burning heat stirring once more.
I bit my lip and asked, “Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Well, that don’t really apply to me, now does it, darlin’?” His breath fanned against my cheeks with his answering huff of laughter. “But I guess you could say love at first…song? Speech? Fuck, I don’t know.”
I laughed and pressed a teasing hand to his chest. “Oh my God, Hux.” Sobering slightly, I went on, “But yes. Like fate or soulmates?”
He gripped my chin, his unfocused gaze holding me captive as his lips drifted dangerously close to my mouth. “I believe this ain’t somethin’ I’ve ever felt before. Fate, soulmates, whatever the hell you wanna call it, I’m drawn to you, Quinn, like a moth to a flame. Like a sailor to the sea. All I can think, all I breathe, all I see is you.”
A breathy gasp escaped me at his words. At the raw honesty in his tone. He felt the same. I wasn’t crazy. I mean—maybe I still was, maybe we both were. But if being crazy meant exploring this with him…I didn’t want to be sane.
More words tumbled out of his mouth before I could respond. “I’ve never been one for goin’ slow or holdin’ back. So, why start now?”
I pressed my forehead to his, our lips but a breath away from each other. “I’m not usually quite so reckless, but I like to think I follow my heart. And my heart wants you, Hux.”
He kissed me. Slow and deep and sensual. It sent my heart fluttering in my chest, this feeling of peace overwhelming me so thoroughly it stole the air from my lungs.
Words, thoughts, everything but the feel of him became impossible to process as our mouths and hands explored one another. He made love to me in the tub, taking his sweet, sweet time, and then after we’d washed off the paint from each other, I’d led him to the room where we did it again.
I was wild. I was wanton. I was hooked on Hux.
Chapter twenty-two
Save My Soul
