And,godis it good.
The best I’ve ever had.
He got me to admit it last night, a declaration I almost screamed.
He kissed my stomach then moved his mouth lower, eyes locked on mine while he scooted down the bed.I’m going to print it on a shirt and wear it around town, he murmured.
And when people ask what you mean by best, what are you going to say?I asked when he pushed two fingers inside me, a whisper of encouragement when the stretch made me gasp.
The greatest bang of her life. A fantastic fuck, he said assuredly, no more convincing needed after he climbed on top of me and held my arms above my head.
Some nights we’ll argue about one thing or another, the disagreement turning from a debate to his hands running up my thighs. My arms looping around his neck, easiness there when I urge him down my body. There are nights when don’t have sex at all, turning on an old weather documentary and splitting one of Nate’s brownies until we fall asleep wrapped around each other, more content than I’ve ever been.
In the deep recesses of my brain, the place I only allow myself to go when it’s dark and the world is quiet, I admit the things I’m afraid to voice in real life out of fear they might hold too much weight: I like spending time with Sebastian. I like that he makes me feel safe, makes me feel important.
When I’m particularly happy, I let myself recognize I have some sort of feelings for him. That Ilikehim, and I don’t know when that changed.
The pull of something deeper than physical attraction and lust has found its way into our relationship. I feel the slow swarm of butterflies in my stomach when he kisses me. I feel my smilesgetting bigger, my heart racing when he throws a calf over mine, pulls the covers up to my chin, and kisses the top of my head.
I think I like him a lot.
“Can we turn on some music?” Mia says from the back seat, breaking me out of my thoughts. She leans in front of Richard, adjusting the air vents so they point on her face. “If I have to listen to one more weather podcast, my ears are going to bleed.”
“The romance author doesn’t enjoy discussions about low-pressure systems? I’m shocked.” I reach for the radio dial, ignoring Sebastian’s protesting whine. “You’ll survive without it for an hour, Dunn.”
“What if I don’t? I could miss crucial information. Look at what happened inThe Day After Tomorrow.I bet they wish they kept listening to weather podcasts.”
“Were weather podcasts a thing back then?” I adjust the frequency, frowning at the voice coming from the AM radio. “Hang on a second.”
“Quincy, please.” Mia groans. She rests her head on Richard’s shoulder, and I see him pat her thigh in the rearview mirror. “My brain can’t handle any more science words.”
“Two seconds, Mia. I promise.”
“… issued a hurricane watch for the Florida Keys. At eleven a.m., the center of rotation was located at…”
I dive for my phone buried in the bag at my feet. “Georgianna became a hurricane.”
“Wait. There’s a hurricane?” Cooper asks. “Since when?”
“Just now,” I say.
“Andthatis why we don’t turn the weather podcasts off.” Sebastian is fighting the urge to look over at the map I have pulled up on my phone. His eyes keep bouncing from the road to me, and I think he’s seconds away from pulling off the highway so he can study it too. “Give me the details, Pres.”
“Winds are peaking at eighty miles an hour right now. Currently moving northwest, but they expect more of a east-northeast track to curve it back to Florida,” I say.
“Predicted landfall?”
“Looks like we’re six days out.”
“Seems like a lifetime, but—”
“When a storm is coming, it’s like no time at all,” I finish for him.
His eyes meet mine. We’re on the same brain wave, thinking the same thing, and the corner of his mouth twitches with a smile. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
I put my feet on the seat, drawing my knees to my chest. I catch pieces of the conversations picking up around me. Nate tells Harlow about the fall menu he’s going to do at Whisk and Rise. She mentions the idea of a small business crawl, a partnership between some of the nearby shops and restaurants that could join together for more foot traffic. Mia asks Richard to open her water bottle, giggling when he spills some on her sundress.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he says, and she kisses her cheek.
