AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shrug. “I know strength when I see it and I admire strength.” She continues looking at me, and I give her a wink.
My heart sings when I see a small smile creep through the look of sadness, lifting the weight I felt crushing my chest, as I absentmindedly run my thumbs over the backs of Mia’s hands.
“So how about we go to bed?” I suggest, rising from my crouch, still holding her hands as she raises her brows at me.
“We?”
I quickly realise how that sounds and clarify. “I’ll sleep on the couch, and you can have my room until we get everything sorted out.”
She nods to herself, quiet as she rises from her place on the couch, and follows me to my bedroom, ignoring my extended hand. We enter the darkened room, and she's cautious as she enters, turning on the light and standing in the middle of my bedroom.
I stand in the doorway, not wanting to leave her, but knowing I have no other choice. I doubt she would let me sleep at the foot of the bed like a dog, so I clear my throat as she continues to look down at my bed. “I’ll be out here if you need me.”
I'm just starting to close the door, when her voice stops me as she says, “I need you.”
I stop, opening the door back up and looking at her as she slowly turns around to face me, her expression vulnerable and scared.
She speaks again. “I don’t wanna be in here alone. Can you sleep with me?”
I’ve dreamt of those words coming out of her mouth for months, but the fantasy was usually followed by her writhing underneath me and moaning. I know that’s not what she wants right now. And if I'm honest, I want the same thing, the need to be there and make sure she's okay.
I nod, coming into the room and closing the door behind me, watching her as she backs up to the bed, crawling under the covers and turning to look at me as she lays herself down.
I turn off the light and stand before the bed, seeing Mia looking so small in the big space, so fragile that all I want to do is go into the bed and come in behind her, encircle my arms around her like a protective cocoon, making sure that nothing ever hurts her again.
And that’s what I do.
Once I’m in the bed, I pull her into me and she comes willingly, resting her back to my front and fitting perfectly as if she was made for me, neither of us caring to change our clothes and ruin the moment.
I breathe in her scent as I rest my face against her hair, almost getting lost in her as she whispers into the darkness, “Don’t leave me.”
So much is said in those little words, a promise that I'm too willing to make as I tighten my arms around her, whispering back, “Never.”
And just like that, we drift off to sleep in each other’s arms.
CHAPTER 37
MIA
It’s been a week since the night Riley and I slept together and the cops have found no new leads on who trashed my room. There have been no further break-ins, but from that night on, I haven’t slept in my room.
The following morning, Riley and I worked together to go through everything and tidy up the space, but I still didn’t want to sleep in there. The first night I asked to sleep with him, then the following nights, it was just expected.
We didn’t kiss or touch except for Riley encircling me in his arms, and he's held me all night, every night this week.
Other than that, things are like normal with the bar up and running again, working, and hanging out with Ava and Charlie, but the thing is, I don't want normal.
I want more, and even as we laid there at night in each other’s arms, I considered rolling over to face Riley, wondered what he would do if I kissed him. But the same thought always stopped me. What if he didn’t kiss me back? What if this was all for pity? What if I kissed him and made things so weird that I’d lose moments like this?
That is why I kept things as normal even though every single cell in my body was screaming for this man I slept with every single night.
This is why I'm grateful for an excuse to leave the house, so when Ava called yesterday, reminding me that she and Conner were hosting a BBQ dinner and inviting everyone, I was all in. Riley was invited, of course, and I was almost jumping with excitement when she told me that Hunter was gonna be coming, due to him avoiding me. Now I will have the chance to slap him and ask him what the fuck is going on.
Riley and I picked up some beers on the way out and are currently heading towards Ava’s house, the car filled with a nervous energy I can imagine all coming from me because. I was excited to finally talk to my brother, but did I want to know the reason why he has been pushing me away?
The question hangs in my head until we slowly pull into the drive behind Conner’s car. The engine shuts off, but Riley makes no move to get out and neither do I. I just sit there, staring up at the beautiful house, feeling the weight of Riley’s eyes on me until I finally look back at him.
He gives me a patient, encouraging smile, asking, “Are you doing alright?”
