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I remember how nervous I was the first time I was naked in front of Joshua. How self-conscious I was.

There’s none of that anymore.

He’s never looked at me as if I’m not good enough. He looks at me like I’m the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. As if he can’t believe he’s lucky enough to be with me.

“Now what would you like me to do?” I coo.

He plants both feet on the floor and squares his body toward me, his stare hardening.

“Now I want you to get on your knees and crawl to me.”

I inhale a shaky breath, heat surging between my legs. I have to take a minute to compose myself, feeling lightheaded.

All from Joshua’s commanding voice.

Once I’m confident I’m not about to faint, I return my gaze to his.

Then I give him exactly what he wants.

I drop to my knees and crawl to him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

WYNTER

Sneaking back into my parents’ house after spending the night at Joshua’s has become something of an art form. It’s imperative to get the timing just right.

The benefit of bringing Gary with me whenever I stay over is that he gives me a perfectly reasonable excuse for walking into the house before the sun is up in case anyone happens to be awake.

Thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet.

Even better, my parents’ daily routine hasn’t changed much in over fifteen years.

Dad wakes up at 5:30 every morning and makes the one thing he knows how to make without burning down the house — bacon and eggs. By 6:45, he’s out the door and on his way to the high school or the gym. My mother usually doesn’t get up until seven, which gives me approximately fifteen minutes to sneak inside before anyone realizes I’ve been gone.

It’s worked without a hitch since day one.

Until now.

This morning, when I quietly open the back door and slip inside the kitchen, my mother’s voice greets me.

“Did you have a nice night?”

I come to an abrupt stop, my gaze darting toward the table, where my mother sits with her tablet, a mug of coffee between her hands.

I paste a smile on my face, pretending as if she didn’t catch me sneaking back in the house after my younger neighbor spent the night fucking me harder than I’ve ever been fucked before.

“It was uneventful,” I respond, trying to sound casual. “Had dinner. Went to bed early.”

It’s not a complete lie.

I did have dinner. And Joshua and I did head up to his bedroom early.

There just wasn’t much sleeping going on.

“But Gary woke me up early, so I decided to take him on a walk.” I scoop some of Gary’s kibble into his bowl.

“So that’s where you were,” Mom hums with a hint of skepticism. “Walking Gary.”