Page 42 of The Truth of Us

A sigh. "He'll be home, Harper."

The line went dead. And before I could think too hard about what I was doing, I was already grabbing my keys.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing in a bakery. Thirty minutes after that, I was balancing takeout containers and a small chocolate cake in my arms, standing in Elliot's private elevator, wondering if I'd completely lost my mind.

Probably.

He had given me the code to use after my first sleepover, and I had refused to use it… until now.

The elevator opened directly into the penthouse. The lights were low; the city glittered beyond the massive windows, and Elliot stood in front of them, holding a rocks glass.

Alone.

I suddenly felt as if I'd walked into something I wasn't supposed to see. He didn't turn around or react to my entrance, and I knew he had heard the elevator; he probably got a security notification when I showed up. I swallowed ‌my nerves and was halfway to the island before his voice broke the silence.

"Who told you?"

I set the bags down carefully. "You were being weird."

He didn’t turn or say anything, so I continued, adding, "Then Julian was being weird."

When he still didn’t react, I confessed, "Caleb told me."

A long, awkward silence fell between us, so I swallowed hard and started to say, "Happy..."

"Don't." The single word came out rough.

I looked up, and something inside me cracked a little. Because suddenly, he didn't look like the Elliot he presented to the world. Not the polished version or the charming one. Not the man who could walk into any room and own it. He looked tired and lonely and heartbreakingly young, somehow.

"I got dinner," I said softly.

His gaze dropped to the bags, then the cake, and back to me. “You got me a cake?”

My chest squeezed painfully because his voice sounded wounded but somehow hopeful.

I shrugged, feeling suddenly awkward. "Yeah."

His eyes stayed locked on mine. The way he was looking at me made me want to squirm. So I blurted out, "I would've baked one if I'd known."

The silence that followed felt enormous. Something moved across his face; it was so raw that it stole my breath.

"You would've baked for me." His voice cracked at the end. It wasn't a question, more like disbelief, as though the concept itself made little sense.

I set everything down carefully on the island, took off my jacket and tossed it on the stool, then crossed the distance between us before I could talk myself out of it. Because suddenly none of this felt complicated, and Elliot looked like someone who hadn't been loved in a very long time. Maybe ever…

So I wrapped my arms around him, and for one terrifying second, he didn't move. Then his free arm came around my waist and held on tight. His forehead dropped against my hair, and he whispered something. I couldn't make it out. But I felt it. Whatever it was. I felt it deep within me.

My heart was doing its very best to run away on me, but I knew he needed this. Elliot set his drink down, then his hands slid up to cup my face. I opened my mouth to stop what I knew was coming, to reinforce the rules… But then I looked at him and forgot every word.

His eyes were impossibly blue and vulnerable in a way I'd never seen before. My heart broke and healed itself simultaneously. I quieted the voice in my head and rose onto my toes, softly brushing my lips against his.

And whispered, "Happy birthday."

I didn't get any further because Elliot kissed me, and it wasn’t one of his practised kisses for the cameras. This felt different; it was real and terrifying. The kiss was making promises neither of us was ready to say out loud, and made me forget every rule I'd ever made, and felt like a beginning instead of an arrangement.

Elliot growled into my mouth, and I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him as he moved his hands to cup my ass. He moved us without a word down the hallway, our eyes locked on one another. My breathing was heavy, and my pulse was frantic. We had had sex before, several times, but this somehow felt like uncharted territory.

Without a word, we both stripped quickly, and then we were on each other again. Elliot pulled me back up against him, my legs wrapped tightly around him. His rock-hard cock nestled between our bodies. I heard a drawer open, and then Elliot was maneuvering us onto his bed, his back to his headboard, as I straddled him. I lifted my hips without direction so Elliot could put on the condom, and then as soon as his hands were back on my hips, I slid down his length.