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I ignore him. One final thought comes to me. “I’m sorry I thought it was acceptable to talk about the future since you brought it up. Go to sleep.”
“Stop being a bitch.”
“I’ve been one since day one.”
He sighs the second I close my eyes. “Not like this. Pax . . .”
My eyes pop open. He’s never shortened my name. I’ve never been into nicknames when it comes to my name, but coming from him, it’s not so bad. My eyes well up. “I was just trying to help.”
“I know.” He drapes his arm over my waist and pulls me to the middle until my back is in alignment with his front. “If I honestly thought you wanted to be in Miami, I’d move. As long as I have this at night, I don’t give a shit what our address is, but you’re not going to sacrifice everything for something that isn’t guaranteed. Apply to schools you want to go to. I’m not going to move here and work for Konnor’s family business like Maddox, and I don’t have a skill like Riggan where I can get a job in any city imaginable. If you haven’t noticed, I do things my own way. I’m not changing jobs for a penny less than what I make already, and if cost of living is more, I expect to make more. Your parents don’t make you work now. You’re not changing a goddamn thing for college. I’m not giving them a reason to say no. If they’ll let you move in, I’ll pay all the bills.”
“It’s hard to be mad at you when you put it like that.”
“I play when you’re in school because that’s when I have time to miss you, to think about you. It makes me play better. Writing music is personal for me. A particular sound comes from my mood, my emotions. It’s not something I can do with an audience. I don’t really talk about it either. You’ll hear it when we play the finished product.”
“None of your friends are in California.”
“So?”
“Right now, we’re still new in terms of a relationship. Are you going to get tired of being bored while I’m in school?”
“When I want to go somewhere, I do. It’s not much different in California than back home. I mostly stay to myself when I’m off. Always have. Oil rig work is constant. It’s not a job where you fuck off. A lot can go wrong, and when something does go wrong, it usually costs millions of dollars and involves a lot of pissed off people. When I come home, I just want to chill. I think you’ve painted a picture in your head that I hang out with friends constantly when I’m in from work when it’s really a handful of times at most. Even when Maddox lived close and we were both single, I didn’t see him every day. I’m twenty-five. That stage of my life is gone, and that was before I had you to occupy my time. If I didn’t like how things are, I wouldn’t spend so much damn money in airfare to see you every time I come in.”
I turn over in his arms. “Miami isn’t so bad, though. It gave me you.”
His mouth tilts. “Technically, that was your sister.”
I laugh, remembering the conversation where he told me Presley admitted to this being a setup. “Yeah, but even when someonesets you up, there is no guarantee you’ll like each other or take things further than sex. I tried to give you an out when you asked for my number. I’m not an idiot. I knew you were just doing it because of the virginity thing to avoid being a complete dick.”
His smile disappears and the mood shifts. “I never asked girls for their number; not since high school ended. I didn’t have to. They either asked for mine or got it from someone else. When I asked, it was sincere. Not contacting you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I got close a lot of times when I wasn’t busy and had time to think. I knew you deserved better than casual sex. When you showed up in Lake Tahoe and said you had a boyfriend, I wasn’t even mad you were seeing someone, I was mad that someone wasn’t me.”
Instead of saying something that wouldn’t even touch how I feel after hearing that, I kiss him. I inch my tongue into his mouth to make out. He comes over me, pushing me on my back. My hands go to his ass. I nibble on his lip, pulling back for a second. “Show me how glad you were when you found out I didn’t fuck anyone but you.”
He disappears under the covers, taking my underwear down as he descends. When his mouth comes down on my lips and he parts them with his tongue, I have a one-track mind. My hand clamps down on the pillow above my head, my eyes already closing as his tongue goes to work. “I love that you like doing that.”
I also love that we have an entire summer where I don’t have to be quiet while he does this, for fear of my parents hearing on the nights he snuck in my room for the night.
FOURTEEN
LANDON
Iopen my eyes to a bright, sunlit room, which is vastly different from the basement. It doesn’t take me but a second to realize I’m alone. I grab my phone and glance at the screen: ten a.m. It’s weird that I can sleep so late, but I guess it’s to be expected when we were up half the night fucking and talking after she woke me up that first time.
I get up and walk to my suitcase, grabbing the first pair of athletic shorts I can find and a tee shirt. After swiping my phone from the nightstand, I hit the stairs in search of Paxtyn. I don’t see anyone until I get to the main floor where Maddox and Konnor are playing a video game on the couch. No girls are in sight. Riggan should be at work until later. “Morning, sunshine,” Maddox jokes. “Sleep well?”
I ignore his prodding. “Where is Paxtyn?”
“Gone,” he answers, way too fucking happy about it.
“Gone where?”
“Don’t know.” He finally pauses the game he’s playing and looks at me. “She and Gabby said they were leaving and left. I was told not to ask questions.”
The fuck? “And your jealous ass listened? She’s going to pop your second kid out in like a month.”God, that sounds weird. Not all that long ago, we were two miserable, single guys drinking on my porch—no kids.
The sly smile appears. “First of all, I can track her ass with the touch of one app. Secondly, if I trust her with anyone, it’s Paxtyn. That girl can be a snake to be so hot.” I narrow my eyes to practically slits, homing in on his, now understanding why guys don’t like to hear someone else calling their girl hot. As if he cues in on my thoughts, his laughter erupts. “This will never get old. And lastly, I was informed they’ve seen enough of us and were having a girls’ day, no interruptions. Guess you’re stuck with my handsome face today.”
“Fuck off,” I tell him as my eyes lock with Konnor’s, just before I turn and walk toward the kitchen, my phone already out and unlocked. Maddox is about to get replaced. At least Konnor minds his own business. He keeps his trap shut too. He’s still there when I need him without all the other bullshit.
