Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
I pressed my lips to the top of his head. “We won’t,” I assured him, my voice low and gentle. I ran my palms down his back. “You go hop in the shower. I’ll clean myself up real quick, and then strip the bed and open the windows. Sound good?”
He nodded and leaned up like he wanted to kiss me, except he hesitated at the last moment. I slid my fingers into his hair and pressed my lips to his in a kiss I hoped expressed everything I didn’t put into words. How much I still wanted him. How I wished we could just lay in bed together all day and pretend the outside world didn’t exist. How I didn’t want to be apart from him for even a moment.
How hard I was fucking falling for him—his softness, his cute ways, how much he loved Clarke.
Beck was selfless, and he clearly loved deeply. Felt everything even deeper. I wanted to wrap his soul and heart in bubble wrap and then put a wall around it. I would stand guard in front of that wall, refusing to let anyone else close so I could protect him and his tender center.
Beck eventually pulled back from me and headed into the bathroom. I followed and grabbed a wash cloth from beneath the sink before wetting it and cleaning the cum off my skin. I would get a shower in the bathroom I’d taken over once I had the bedding changed.
After getting dressed, it only took me a mere couple of minutes to strip the bed, add clean sheets, pillow cases, and a comforter. The windows opened easily, and I nodded at one of the men standing guard before poking my head into the bathroom, where Beck was bathing.
“I’m going to get a shower,” I told him. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
He looked at me through the glass shower door, the skin around his eyes looking a bit pinched, but he smiled easily—a real smile—so I knew he was going to be okay. He nodded at me, and I slipped back out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind me before quickly heading out of the room and into mine. After grabbing some clothes, I headed into the bathroom and quickly stripped. The water was icy on my skin for a minute, but I didn’t mind all that much.
I needed to cool the fuck down anyway. Because I’d been just a bit hard after seeing Beck naked and soapy in the shower. A shower I couldn’t fucking join him in.
Goddamn, hiding this from Clarke was going to be torture. But until I knew how she coped with the knowledge of people having sex under the same room she was living under, Beck and I had to tread carefully. Especially since stopping this was not an option. I wanted—no, I fucking needed—Beck.
He and I would just have to be very careful.
Beck had food set out on the table when I got out of the shower. He’d taken the time to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and damn, they looked good. He smiled at me before looking at Clarke as she moved around me, coming into the dining room.
“Oh, thank God,” she groaned. “I’m starving.”
Beck chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before dropping down into the seat next to her. I took a seat across from him—on Clarke’s other side. “Sleep well?” I asked Clarke before I bit into the sandwich. Damn, they tasted even better than they’d looked. Beck had used the perfect amount of grape jelly so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed with peanut butter.
He just kept turning out to be more and more perfect for me.
But fuck, I wanted Clarke just as badly. I just didn’t know where I stood with her. How much could she handle? What did she want? Some people came out of those environments and never wanted relationships. Some were too traumatized to ever have personal relationships like that ever again.
Where was Clarke at on that spectrum?
“I did,” she said, smiling at me. It reached her eyes, making the gold in her eyes stand out more than the green. “Thank you for taking us into town yesterday and buying what we needed.”
I rested my hand on hers, and she flipped hers over, linking our fingers together. My heart skipped a beat in my chest, and I swallowed thickly, my Adam’s apple bobbing. Her hand was much smaller than mine, and it wasn’t easy for her thin, smaller fingers to weave between mine, but I liked it. I liked it a fuck of a lot.
When I glanced up at Beck, he was watching us, a small smile on his face. There was no jealousy in his gaze—just hope.
Hope for the three of us to be together, maybe? Fuck, that would be fantastic. It would be a dream come true for both of them to be mine. To share them with each other. To see them together. They were already so beautiful, but I knew they would be fucking magnificent if their relationship went from step-siblings/best friends pining after each other to actual lovers.