Page 77 of Somewhere You Belong

I feel like there’s more to her explanation, but I’ll let it slide for now.

We stay in a standoff, neither of us speaking first. I feel like walls were just erected right in front of me, but I’m partially to blame.

I don’t want to dull the afterglow of our night by talking about heavy shit this early in the morning. But part of me does want to tellher, to open up to someone other than my siblings or my mom. And lord knows, she’s dealing with her own emotions right now.

“Your life full of work and no fun, right?”

The corner of her mouth tips up as she huffs out a laugh. “Right.” She sighs, looking back out at the water. “God, I wish I had a blueberry muffin from the Sunshine Bakery right now.”

“Sorry to disagree with you, but I think the apple cinnamon ones are better.”

Her mouth drops open as she twists to face me again. “You take that back!”

“Have you tried the apple cinnamon ones?”

“Well, no…but I have no desire to. The blueberry ones stole my heart and I refuse to cheat on them.”

I push off the railing and head for the front door. “Then you can’t form an opinion otherwise until you do.”

She follows me into the house and into the kitchen where I drain the last of my coffee and put the mug in the sink.

“Why do you insist on arguing with me about everything?”

I close the distance between us and pull her into my chest. “Be honest…you wouldn’t want me if I didn’t, now would you?”

I practically see the cogs spinning in her head as she studies me. “You’re infuriating.”

“Infuriating and hot, right?”

Her lips curl in a smirk that I desperately want to kiss off her face. “More like full of yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Willow. One of these days, you’re going to be full of me too.”

***

“Mrs. Hansen saw you leaving the Bayshore house this morning. Anything you want to tell me?”

I glare at Penn over my shoulder, taking a break from the accounting I’m catching up on at my desk. “Nothing you need to know.”

“Just want to make sure you’re thinking straight.”

I drop my pen and lean back in my chair, staring up at my brother.

When I left Willow this morning, which was the last thing I wanted to do, I drove back to the restaurant and decided to find any and everything to distract me until our date tomorrow night. But it turns out that even crunching numbers can’t make me forget the way her lips felt against mine and the sweet taste of her pussy.

Fuck. I’m gonna be hard for the next twenty-four hours, I just know it.

“I went over there last night to make sure she was prepared for the storm, okay? She was scared, so I stayed to comfort her.”

“With your dick?” Penn’s chest bounces up and down with silent laughter.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but some stuff did happen. And tomorrow, I’m taking her out.”

His arms and smile drop as the truth hits him too. “Damn. You’re really going for it then?”

“Yeah.” I shrug, staring up at my brother. “I can’t stay away from her, Penn, and I’m tired of fucking trying.”

He nods, like he’s accepting the circumstances just as much as I’ve had to in the past few days.

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