Page 58 of Playing Hard to Get

“Can't stop falling for you.”

A hushed mewl escaped from my throat. My heart beat erratically in my chest. His name tumbled from my lips.

His eyes dropped from mine. He pulled away, taking his warmth and his comfort with him as he moved to the edge of the bed and sat with his head in his hands.

“I'm sorry.” His hands clenched. Pulled at his hair. Like the night I heard his screams and watched him torture himself at the kitchen table, trying to hide from the pain.

“Mitch.” I moved to him. Wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed the side of his neck. “Why are you sorry?”

“I know you don't want this. Don't want me to fall for you. To love you. But I can't help it, Viv. You are everything I’ve ever wanted, and everything I could ever need. We come from two completely different worlds and us being together makes no sense. But I don't care. I want you. I want you more than my next breath.”

“Mitch…” I took his shoulders in my hands and twisted him back to me. I cupped his cheek in my palm and turned his face to mine. “Mitch, I…”

I clenched my eyes shut. Took a deep breath.

“It’s okay. I understand.” His tone was filled with defeat. With pain. With the ache of his old memories that came each night to haunt him.

“No.” I opened my eyes and placed my hands on his chest. “I tried to tell you last night. And I can't… I… I’ve fallen in love with you.”

His eyes widened. “What did you say?”

I gave him a tentative smile. “I love you.”

He stared at me, unmoving. His body tensed and stiffened beneath my touch. Then, before I knew what hit me, he scooped me up and fell onto the bed on top of me. His face was split in two with the biggest, most beautiful smile I’d ever seen.

“I love you,” he whispered against my lips before his mouth claimed mine. He grabbed my hands and held them against his chest, pulled his head back and stared down at me. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't know if you felt the same way. I didn't want to scare you away. I didn't want to lose you.”

“My sweet, sweet girl.” He kissed me, one of those tender kisses I felt in the depths of my being. “You’ll never lose me. I'm yours. You're mine. I love you.”

He dropped to my side and pulled me against him. Held me there like he’d never let me go. Light kisses peppered my forehead and, when I looked up to him, my face. I laughed at his silliness. Laughed at the giddiness I felt inside of me. Laughed, because he was laughing too.

When we quieted, when so many unspoken words sat between us, we laid silent amongst them. Breathing in each other. Feeling what life could become. Mitch’s hands caressed my skin. The dip of my back. The curve of my hip. The soft, smooth skin of my belly.

The touch brought back memories of my day with Frankie. I tensed, unknowingly, in his arms.

“What is it?”

My fingers caressed his shadowed face. “I need to figure out how to tell Frankie. I don't want to hurt her, but I can't deny what I feel for you.”

“I know.” Mitch pulled me close. Slid a hand into the hair at the nape of my neck. His cheek rested against my forehead. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just be with me and we’ll work out the rest.”

My mind swirled with my concerns. My heart pounded in my chest. Filling and breaking all at once. Because I loved my cousin, and I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want my love for Mitch to come between us.

Before I could figure out what I was going to do, there was a noise at the door. Like someone was trying to get in.

“The hell?” Mitch muttered.

We waited, but the noise got louder. Then someone pounded against the wood. Mitch released me and grabbed his shorts from the floor. He disappeared into the room’s foyer but came back and tossed me my dress.

“It’s Anna.”

I tugged my dress on over my head and pulled the blankets to my chin. Mitch pressed a finger to his lips before turning to the door.

“‘Bout fucking time.” The girl’s words were slurred. “I need a drink.”

Mitch’s voice was quiet but firm. “You need to go to sleep, Anna. It’s three o’clock. You’re drunk. Go back to bed.”