Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
She was like bulletproof glass. She was hard as fuck to break and shatter completely, but it could happen with enough force.
Ally was actually up when I got home that afternoon, her nose buried in the pages of a book. She looked up when I stepped into the bedroom, a beautiful smile gracing her lips. “Hi,” she greeted.
I smiled at her and leaned over the bed to kiss her. “Hey, baby.” I stood back up and sat on the edge of the bed to unlace my boots, pushing them under the bed afterward. I clasped my hands in front of me and leaned forward, bracing my elbows on my knees. “Ally, baby, I need to talk to you.”
I watched out of my peripheral as she slowly bookmarked her book and closed it, setting it aside. She put her hands between her thighs, clasping them together. I knew why; she was trying to hide her nervousness from me.
“Okay,” she whispered.
I drew in a deep breath. “I have a date in three days—on Friday,” I clarified. She cast her eyes to her lap. Fuck, this wasn’t how I wanted her to react. She was drawing into herself. “His name is Michael, and he works at Healey’s Tire Shop in town.”
“Oh,” she finally murmured, her voice barely carrying to me. But she still wasn’t looking at me, her gaze firmly locked on her thighs.
“Baby,” I called, “look at me.” She shook her head, swallowing thickly. Fuck, she was on the verge of crying. I moved toward her and gripped her chin, forcing her head up so her eyes locked on mine. Tears swam in her pretty, brown eyes, breaking my heart. “Say the words, Ally, and I’ll call him right now and cancel the date,” I told her in all honesty. He was just fun, some guy to fuck around with for a little while. Ally? She was my home. She was the beginning and the end for me. No one else would ever be on her level, and anyone that hoped to be was a damn fool.
“No.” She drew in a deep breath, blinking to stop from crying, and she frowned when a tear ran down her cheek. Using my other hand, I caught the tear with my thumb, gently brushing it away. “I knew you wouldn’t stop dating men just because you’re with me, so I don’t understand why it hurts,” she admitted, her voice breaking on the word ‘hurts’.
“You know you don’t mean less to me, right?” I asked her. Her bottom lip trembled. I’d hit the root of why it hurt. She was terrified that I was abandoning her. I leaned forward and lightly brushed my lips over hers. “No one can ever replace you, baby. You’re it for me—my beginning and my end.” She sobbed and squeezed her eyes shut as tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t care how many dates I end up going on with other men, baby. I will always come home to you every night because you’re the only person I’ll ever want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“I’m sorry I’m being such an emotional mess.” She sniffled as she slowly opened her eyes. “I got so terrified—”
I cupped her cheeks and covered her lips with mine, silencing her. She moaned as I coaxed her lips apart, letting my tongue tangle with hers. Her hands ran under my shirt and up my abdomen, making my muscles tense and quiver beneath her touch, a soft growl ripping from my chest as I kissed her harder.
I leaned back on my knees and gripped her left leg behind her knee. She squeaked in shock when I yanked her leg, pulling her body so she lay flat on the mattress. I then moved over her, pressing my lips to hers as I hungrily kissed her, drawing those breathless little moans from her throat that I loved hearing. She was so vocal when I was taking care of her like this, and I fucking loved it.
She gripped the hem of my shirt, and I leaned up to grab the back of it, yanking it over my head and tossing it to the floor. She leaned up on her elbows and pressed soft, tantalizing kisses to my chest and shoulders. A low rumble sounded from the depths of my chest as I laced my fingers in her dark hair and yanked her head back, covering her lips with mine again.
It didn’t take me long to undress her, and I made sure to press kisses to her soft skin—made sure to touch her in the way she loved to be touched as I removed her clothes. By the time she was laying completely naked beneath me, her skin was flushed, her eyes darkened to a rich, dark chocolate, her breaths softly panting out of her.