AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard from the mayor or anyone from the city council. The waiting is excruciating.”
“Hey, come here.” I pull her into my lap, and she crumples, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face into the crook of my neck.
She sobs and I hold her tight. The way she clings to me, her anguish, causes my stomach to roil. That all-consuming helplessness that has been invading my life for far too long cozies up beside me. I don’t know how to make this better.
All I can do is love her and let her know that she isn’t alone. No matter the outcome, we’re in this together. I wait for her to come up for air, all the while rubbing my hand tenderly up and down her back.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Until we hear from Malone or anyone else on the council, we shouldn’t assume the worst.”
She pulls back and sniffs. “I don’t know what to do. The fundraisers help, but without official approval and financial backing, the program will grind to a halt.”
I cup her face in my hands, and with my thumbs, I wipe the wet from under her eyes. “We’ll figure it out. Bright Horizons will take off.”
Her heartbreak causes more than a fissure in my own heart. Wrecked and agitated, I refuse to be the reason she loses everything she’s worked for. I refuse to be the reason three college-bound kids miss out on fulfilling their dreams.
The old adage “nice guys finish last” has never been truer, and I’m done letting things happen to us.
There’s only one thing I can do that’s within my power to change, and I don’t care how uncomfortable it makes me.
This is for Wren and the foster kids.
My lips part, eager to infuse some hope into her deflating soul when her mouth crashes onto mine. Her body pins me to the sofa, arms and legs draped over me.
She is everywhere, and suddenly, no thought or word is relevant.
At first, her kisses are soft, sweet, and tentative, and I savor every swipe of her tongue and press of her lips. Things don’t stay that way for long.
Soon, her kisses turn ravenous and greedy. Her fingers plunder my hair, then her knuckles curl and she pulls ever so slightly on my strands. Her body—her warm, welcomed weight—sinks farther into me. Her pelvis grinds against mine.
Holy hell.
“Wren.” I pause our kiss.
Her mouth chases mine, lips curving upward into a smile against my own as she steals another kiss. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“Really? I hadn’t figured that out. But wait.” I hold her head a few inches from mine and study her wild eyes.
It’s hard to gauge where her head is at. As much as I want her, I’m not convinced sex is the best thing right now. She’s confused and hurting, and most likely angry. All understandable.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She shifts backward and I drop my hands to enable her to move freely.
Her long hair falls around us like a curtain, and I can’t tell if that’s to block out the rest of the world or if she’s hiding. Long, lean fingers glide across the day’s stubble on my jaw, fingers bending as they reach the back of my skull.
Wren grasps my face, her expression serious. “We never have enough time together. All we have are stolen moments, and I don’t want to waste any time. Twist, I want you.”
Unfortunately, I know how she feels and she isn’t wrong. The few hours here or there that we manage to have together are never enough.
Today in the library, touching her, hearing her breaths and inhaling her scent… While amazing and just what I need to keep going, the brevity of our time together is also frustrating and exhausting.
She could use a little boost, and I’m glad to be the one to give it to her. “I want you too but guess what?”
Her forehead rests against mine and she releases a puff of warm breath on my face, maybe a little annoyed. Does she think I’m stalling or about to put an end to this?
“What?”
I angle my face to snare her gaze and beam at her. “I told Eddie about my overnight visits and he already knew.” I laugh and so does she. “I can stay the entire night. No more rushing to get back now that he knows. I get to wake up next to you in the morning.”
