At Tyler.
Sitting on the floor, his back against my door, throwing a tennis ball at the wall opposite him. One of his legs is bent up, the other stretched out. I watch him throw the ball, catching it one-handed every single time.
I open my mouth to talk to him, but he beats me to it.
“I’ve been sitting here like a f**king idiot for about four hours. I have no idea why. At first, I thought you were in. Then I remembered you went out of town. Fuck knows where. No one will tell me where or why you went. So I sat down and started playing with this. Hit your neighbor’s door a few times. He invited me in, but I said I’d rather sit here. Got hungry and ordered pizza.” He knocks the box next to him. “Sat here like a f**king teenage boy hung up on some girl he’s never gonna get.”
My chest tightens when he looks at me. I’ve never seen his eyes so empty, so dull.
“That’s what I think. You know that? That I finally found this amazing woman who doesn’t give a f**k if I’m rich or down to my last five dollars. That I finally found this incredibly sexy and confident woman who isn’t afraid of what I want. Of my desires. And that I’m going to lose her, because despite being the same, we’re so different. Yet I still can’t f**king go anywhere. I tried. Couldn’t leave the motherfucking building!” He yells the last word and turns away from me. He slams the tennis ball against the wall opposite him and ducks to the side when it bounces back. “I have no idea what you’ve done to me, Liv. I just can’t walk away from you even though I know you’re going to ask me to.” He dives his fingers into his hair and looks down.
“I’m not.”
He looks up. My hands shake, and I’ve never been more afraid of my own words.
“I’m not going to ask you leave. In fact, if you try it, I’ll beg you to stay.”
28
“What?” He stands up slowly.
“I’m not asking you to leave,” I repeat, walking to him. “Stay. Please don’t go. Please don’t think I want you to. I don’t.”
He cups my face and brings my lips to his. “I’m not, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere.”
I hold him tight. “Good. I’ll kill you if you do.”
He buries his face in the side of my neck. “I need you, Liv. I need you so f**king badly right now. I’m coiled tighter than I’ve ever been.”
I dig into my bag blindly and grab my key. I slot it into the door and walk inside, him hot on my heels. I dump the bag on the floor and the mail on the coffee table then turn to him.
He kicks the door shut, and I’ve barely taken a breath before he’s on me, pushing me back on the sofa, pushing my sweater up my stomach. His hands slide across my skin as desperately as his lips move against mine.
I tangle my fingers in his hair and flick my tongue against his lips. Begging him for more, because I need this, too. I need all of him, starting right now.
“We should talk,” he whispers against my jaw. “I know we should.”
“Fuck now, talk later,” I say, throwing his words back at him. “And I’ll even agree to a snuggle.”
He grins, lifting me and pulling my shirt and sweater over my head in one swift motion. “Snuggly bitch.” He runs his nose along my jaw before his lips find my neck and travel down to my br**sts.
He cups them over my bra, rubbing his thumbs over the spots where my ni**les are. His mouth is hot against my skin, the wet, openmouthed kisses he’s dropping against me burning into me. I tug at his sweater now. I need to feel his skin against mine.
I don’t have the patience for this.
I tug more forcefully until he laughs quietly and pulls it off. His shirt follows. My fingers find his stomach instantly, ghosting over it. I kick my shoes off when his fingers trail down my sides to my jeans.
“I’ll take my time later. Right now, I need in you too badly.”
I unbutton his jeans. “Then stop talking and f**k me.”
“Gladly.” He shakes off the rest his clothes and removes mine.
My socks are removed with my jeans, my panties all but torn from me, and my bra roughly unclipped. He grabs my legs and hooks them around him, leaning one of his knees on the sofa. He lifts my hips and rubs himself against my wetness, covering the head of his c**k and teasing me until he pushes inside.
I reach for him as he fills me. I cling to him like a koala, lifting my hips into him as he kisses my neck and drives into me forcefully. My nails dig into his shoulders. One of his hands is steadying him and the other is in my hair, tangling and pulling it, and I’m moaning in his ear, asking him to go faster, because I need more, always more.
He closes his mouth over mine and swallows my cries as they get louder. Our skin slaps together and my body is hot, so hot, trembling, shaking, shuddering, ready for the explosion of the build. Ready to feel him finish inside me, ready to take every last bit he has.
I bite down on his bottom lip. He groans and thrusts harder. It’s painful in the most beautiful way. He tugs on my hair and bites me back on my lip, a possessive nip, and that’s my moment.
My body tightens in delight as the orgasm washes over me. Needed and welcome, I hold Tyler until he comes, too. He collapses on top of me, my name leaving him in a series of quiet whispers.
“My bitch,” he murmurs, turning his face to mine and kissing me.
“Your bitch,” I reply just as quietly, running my fingers through his hair.
He lets out a long breath and holds me tight to him. His heart is pounding in a relentlessly fast beat, the same as mine. I never want to move. I just want to stay here, in his arms, because I know that, in a few minutes, it’s going to get serious.
He doesn’t move either. Neither of us wants to tackle the bullshit no matter how badly we want to make this work.
“Come on,” he whispers. “Let’s snuggle and talk.”
I smile and let go reluctantly. Now my heart is pounding in apprehension, not happiness. “You know we have to tell each other everything, right? If we’re going to do this…a relationship— a real one—we have to have no secrets.” I swallow hard.
He helps me up and pushes some hair from my face. “Yes. I know. Both of us.”
I nod. “Can I go first? I mean… Before I chicken out.”
A small smirk tugs his mouth. “You usually do go first.”
I slap his arm. “Bastard.”
He laughs and gets up. Cocky f**ker—but I’m no longer so scared. That small break in the tension is what I needed. What we both needed.