Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
“It’s too late,” I teased him.
The pained expression on his face made me realize that we were talking about two different things. “Oh no, Dix, I mean that it’s too late because you’re already an idiot.” I smiled and nodded for emphasis.
It took a second for my words to filter into his brain, but when they did, he scowled at me.
I let out a deep breath, and he lifted, rolling me to my back, moving so he was over me. He slipped his leg between mine and leaned down and kissed me. His hands on my face were caressing, tender.
“Dix––”
“Here, let’s take this off,” he said, his voice deep as he gently eased my T-shirt up and off.
“You know I––”
“Evan, honey,” he said gently, sliding down my body, careful not to put any weight on me. “We’re gonna be so careful with those stitches,” he promised, kissing where it hurt.
I felt the tears sliding down my face, and I wiped at them.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, brushing them away, kissing my eyes and then my mouth. I could feel his growing urgency and my own desire for him.
“I don’t expect this to be any more than––”
“For fuck’s sake, Evan,” he grumbled at me. “You think you’re the only one who was there for four years? You think you’re a saint and I’m just the fuck-up that lived with you?”
“No, I––”
“I was there because I wanted to be,” he insisted. “I loved you, I still fuckin’ love you, and I never stopped. And the whole time that you’ve been comparing guys to me, I’ve been doing the same exact thing. Do you have any idea what it’s like to know that you fucked up the only shot you’re ever gonna get?”
“Yes, honey,” I soothed him, my fingers trailing through the short thick hair. “I do.”
“Jesus, Evan,” he groaned, “just… just say it already. Say it’s okay. Say you forgive me for being a coward, for running, for putting anyone before you.”
I sighed. “It’s funny, you know. I mean, you’re one of the most selfish people I know, and the one time I was counting on you getting what you wanted, instead you gave in to the pressure from other people—or what you perceived to be pressure at the time.”
He looked startled, and I laughed at him.
“Oh shit, I did.” His eyes were huge. “I never even thought of it that way.”
“Because it’s a fucked-up way to look at it.” I chuckled.
He moved quickly, rising to his knees, straddling my hips at the same time he arched over me, hands on my face. “Baby, please, please just gimme another chance. Come for Christmas, come look at my life and see if you like it. You can help me be a better man and still save the fuckin’ world.”
“You wanna take me home like a stray dog for Christmas?”
“You’re not a stray dog. You’re the love of my life, you idiot.”
He said the sweetest things.
“Dixon.” I breathed his name at the same time I reached out and put a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down to me.
“What?” he asked, just the corner of his mouth curling.
I trembled hard.
“Tell me what you want.”
I felt the tears slip from under my eyelids because the feelings were suddenly overwhelming. I had never needed him so badly. “Please.”
The second his lips touched mine, I parted them for him. I heard the noise in the back of his throat as he tilted my head back, his tongue tasting me, his mouth hungry and rough, the kiss deep and wet. I arched up into him as his hands slid under me, over my ass. I grabbed him, arms around his neck, tight and clinging, holding him there, making sure he couldn’t get away. He yanked me to the edge of the bed and unbuckled my belt. He checked my face, and when I smiled, giving the okay, he went to work on my jeans. He peeled them and then the briefs underneath off my legs.
“If I forgot to tell you yesterday, Ev, you’re still fuckin’ beautiful.”
I trembled as his hot gaze raked over me. He opened my legs and wrapped them around his narrow hips. I felt his hands on the inside of my thighs. Chills of pleasure rolled through me, and I broke the kiss because I couldn’t breathe.
“Look at you needing me.”
There was no question.
“Is the stuff in the nightstand?”
I nodded.
He shifted over, one hand on my hip, the other rustling through the contents of the small drawer. I smiled when I felt him cup my ass.
“What?”
“You never could keep your hands off my ass.”
“Because it’s round and firm and perfect,” he assured me. “The first time I ever saw you walk into the locker room in your jeans, I was in love.”
I was going to banter with him, tease him, but he chose that moment to wrap his fingers around my needy cock. “Dix.”