Page 77 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls

‘Ford, please,’ she said with a breathy plea. I moved again, finding the spot that made her toss her head back. ‘Yes, there,’ she whispered, and with one last thrust we went over the edge together.

She collapsed onto me, her dark hair spilling like ink across my chest. I traced slow circles on her back until our breaths returned to a normal rhythm.

I loved the feel of her cheek against my skin. How she melted into me like we were one being. I reached up and stroked her hair, and she murmured, ‘That feels good but you’re going to put me to sleep.’

‘And you don’t want that?’

She shot me a determined look. ‘Go clean yourself up but then come back. Quickly.’

The want in her eyes had me jumping off the bed. Once the condom was in the trash, I raced back to her and crawled over the sheets until I was hovering over her. I placed a quick kiss to her lips and felt the smile beneath it.

‘Not going to lie. That was the best sex I’ve ever had.’

I couldn’t help but laugh. ‘If you’re trying to pump up my ego, you’re doing a good job.’

‘It’s the truth. You take your time. You’re tender and you care about giving me pleasure too. That’s a highly underrated quality when it comes to sex.’

I moved to lie beside her, tucking her gently in my arms. ‘Never got that. Giving a woman pleasure gets me off.’

‘Oh really,’ she cooed. ‘That’s good to know.’

I plopped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘I might have an edge though. When you spend a lot of time studying human anatomy, the pleasure centers, you become pretty adept at learning what makes a woman feel good.’

‘Maybe you should give a TED talk about it because I’d guess a lot of men don’t know that truth.’

‘No one wants to hear me give a TED talk,’ I joked. ‘Especially when it’s a lecture on how bad men are at sex.’

‘Sadly, you’re probably right.’

She traced her fingers over my biceps and down my chest and I went hard again. But let’s be real, all Piper had to do was look at me and I got stiff.

As I held her close, her fingers went back to tracing her tattoo. I worried that now she’d had time to think, maybe she regretted what we’d just done. That this was way past the line of our deal.

‘You okay?’ I whispered into her hair.

‘Yeah, just thinking about the lake today. How I was terrified to go back, too afraid that being there would stir up emotions I’ve tried years to manage, but with you there it was easier. Like I didn’t have to face my demons alone. It was a big risk but I’m glad I went for it. I think my parents would have been proud.’

She pressed her lips to the corner of my shoulder, snuggled in so she fit perfectly into the crook of my arm.

‘Do you feel comfortable telling me what happened to them?’

‘What? The Ivy Falls gossip hasn’t made it to you yet?’

‘I’ve heard a few things,’ I admitted. ‘But I want to know the real story from you if you’re ready to tell me.’

I was pushing against that wall of hers and was unsure of how she’d react. Like she sensed my tension, she pulled in an uneven breath and sank in to me rather than scooting away. I wrapped my arms around her, grateful she was ready to trust me. Share another piece of her past, which I knew wasn’t easy.

‘My parents moved us away from Ivy Falls when I was twelve. I was angry at first. Beck was too because he was in love with Torran at the time.’ Her voice rattled but she went on. ‘My dad was very smart. His business developed processors that made computers run faster. After he sold the company, he decided to buy a massive RV and have us travel all over the US for a year while my mom homeschooled us. The first couple of weeks on the trip I was a pain in the ass. Made life really difficult for my parents.’

‘Sounds like a typical preteen. I was a real shit for my parents too.’

‘Yeah, I was pretty fucking mean,’ she said with a hint of shame. ‘After about two months of traveling, Beck and I understood that was going to be our life. We settled in and learned to love the ways our mom would make every new place an adventure. At Mount Rushmore she quizzed us about the presidents. In Kentucky, she asked probing questions about President Lincoln’s birthplace. When we got to Boston Harbor, she gave us each a small packet of tea, joked we could be like the colonists and spill it into the water. She was clever like that. Always working in historical facts without us realizing she was schooling us.’

‘Your mom sounds pretty great.’

‘She was,’ she offered quietly. ‘My dad was too.’

I kept her tucked into my chest as she kept talking.