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“You’re emotional. We shouldn’t.”
His lips move from my jaw to my neck, he nuzzles desperately, as though trying to burrow into my skin and hide there. “Please.”
When his mouth closes over mine again, I return it. Unable to deny him right now when he so desperately needs something to take his mind off reality. I sag into him and he presses me hard into the wall, tongue tangling with mine.
I moan as he groans powerfully and lifts my thigh over his hip after dragging his fingers from my ass to my knee.
“I need you,” he whispers against my mouth, sounding pained.
He rocks his hips against mine, hitting my sex perfectly. I cry out when pleasure unfurls in my womb, making my core tighten and tingle desperately.
When he starts to slide a hand down the back of my pants, I put on the breaks. “No. We should stop.”
He buries his face in my neck again and let’s my leg drop, though his bare hand remains on my bare ass, holding it tight so I can’t pull away. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I reply, licking my swollen lips.
Nodding, he releases me at last, leaving me cold and needy, and I watch him wash his face and grip the basin again, letting the water drip from his cheeks and nose like teardrops.
He inhales deeply and then exhales slowly.
“Let’s go back.”
I smile and let him take my hand. He leads us back to his mom’s room where we sit and chat for another five minutes before taking Paisley back to hers. She’s such a good kid, though I think she might still be in shock.
When we return to her room, I laugh when I find Stanley and Lane with a brand-new fluffy pink bunny with sparkly glitter eyes and a small bag full of candy and fruits.
“She needed a new bunny,” Lane mutters with a shrug of her shoulders.
I smile at her and so does Presley. Paisley loves it so much she starts crying and let’s Lane hug her and her bunny better.
Something passes in Stanley’s eyes, something akin to regret. I see it, I feel it, and I want to question what it means. Why does he look so tortured when everything worked out so well?
When he sees me looking, he opens his arm to me and I step into his side, letting him squeeze me like it’s the last time.
“Proud of you,” he whispers and presses his cheek to my head.
“I am all over the local news,” I say, slamming a paper in front of Stanley.
“I know, I’ve put that article in a frame.” Lane sighs wistfully and shows me the glass-encased page with a picture of me leaping from firetruck to open window. “It’s going right here.”
“Couyon,” I mutter and Stanley whacks me on the back with the newspaper I just gave him.
Laughing, I step around him and stick a piece of toast between my teeth.
“Are you sure you want to go back to school? Nobody would blame you if you wanted to take a couple of days off.”
I shake my head, swallowing the bite of food in my mouth. “I’m not going to school. I’ve got so much to do. I want to maybe do a fundraiser for Presley and Paisley. They don’t have anywhere to live and Paisley is being discharged today. If Presley can’t find something before then, social services will step in and I’ll be damned if I let her fall into that failing system.” I grin wryly. “And now that I’m the new town hero, people are more likely to give me cash.”
“I better get my keys, then,” Stanley utters.
“No, it’s cool. Carter is coming for me.” I stuff the rest of the bread into my mouth and chew it frantically. “If you could put a collection box up at work, and, Lane, if you could speak to your fuck club.”
“My what?” she gasps.
“Sorry, I meant erotic book club.”
She stammers on her words and Stanley sniggers into his mug.
I clap my hands. “Come on, guys, chop chop, we’ve got a little girl to save.”
Lane, finally gathering herself after I called her out on her books of porn, grips my arm to stop me from leaving. “Even if you do manage to get those kids a place to stay, think long-term. How is he going to provide for his sister, pay bills, look after his home, graduate and go to college, all the while taking Paisley to school and dealing with her needs. He’d be giving up his future.”
That’s something I’ve thought about too. “He’s not going to abandon his sister.”
“I know. But perhaps social services stepping in wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
I look between them both. “That girl is not going to social fucking services, so drop it or find a better solution. I mean, you have space, why don’t you take her in? She can have my room. I’ll be leaving in a couple of months anyway.” I ignore the hurt on their faces and press on. “Look, guys, just support me on this, okay? Let us get them somewhere safe, and then we can discuss the future of Paisley, yeah?”
