Page 82 of Stay

His knee won’t stop bobbing.

“What are you going to do now?”

He runs his palms along his thighs. “I’m going home. If I stay here any longer, I’ll beat that motherfucker to pulp, and I really don’t want jail time.”

“Okay.” I wish I could go with him, but I don’t think having me around will help. I know all too well that sometimes you need to handle shit by yourself. It’s how I survived most of my life. But I want to be there with him through this pain. He shouldn’t have to bear it alone. It’s not fair.

He leans over and kisses my temple. “Bye, Angel.”

I watch Cole sulk out the door, taking my heart and soul with him.

•••

When I arrive at Cole’s place, it’s past midnight. The lights are out, and I don’t know if I should leave or crawl into bed with him.

I’m completely out of my element.

All this time, we’ve been in sync, like a pair of newlyweds who can’t keep their hands off each other. He gave me a key to his place, and he has one to mine. It’s been easy. So easy.

Too easy.

But tonight, I feel like an intruder.

Toeing my shoes off, I creep through his condo and head for the bedroom. There’s a faint glow of a laptop screen and he casually shuts it when I enter the room.

“Hey,” I say quietly. “You okay?”

He doesn’t answer as he sets his laptop on the floor and leans back on his pillows. The moonlight filters in from the windows, casting shadows across the bed.

Dread twists my gut. “Do you want to be alone?”

“No.” His answer spreads through the darkness of his bedroom, landing square in my chest.

“Jaedyn and Tamara were able to—”

“I don’t want to talk about any of them.”

“Okay.” Crawling onto the bed, I sit on my knees with my hands in my lap again. “Do you want to talk at all?”

“No.” He sits up and cups my face. Pressing his mouth to mine, he kisses me slowly. Deeply.

I mean, talking can be overrated sometimes. And since I know physical touch is his love language, maybe this will help comfort more than my words can.

His hands drift down my back and he unzips my dress slowly. Peeling it off my shoulders, he shoves it down. “You look beautiful in white.” Cole’s fingers trace the curve of my breasts. “The moonlight hits you in all the best places.”

I swallow the lump in my tightening throat. Straddling him with my dress bunched up around my waist, I kiss Cole again. This is different for us. Instead of being two clashing forces of nature tearing at each other, we’re softer. Slower. More deliberate.

“Make love to me, Haley.” His hands skate down my back. His dick is hard between my thighs, under the covers.

Cupping the back of his head, I kiss him softly and it’s like the night we took each other’s virginity.

We’re tentative. Cautious. Caring.

“I love you,” I say against his mouth. “Fuck, Cole, I love you so damn much.”

He groans against my mouth.

With a little effort, we get my dress completely off and I hover over his bare cock. Our eyes lock as I sink down on him. My thighs shake. A breath shudders out of him. Every noise he makes turns me inside out. To know I feel so good to Cole that he can’t help but make these sounds is a heady thing.

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