Page 43 of Ever After All

“Are you okay?” Wyatt pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Yeah. It just caught me off guard.”

“I bet it did. But you’re okay, and it sounds like she’s okay. What do you need? We can get you in the shower. I brought pizza with me. It’s warming in the oven. Tell me what you need.”

As if my body knew, my stomach growled in response. “Pizza would be perfect.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Wyatt

The light in Rosie’s bedroom was low, cast from a single lamp beside her bed. Her hair tangled around her shoulders. Her skin was dewy, and her eyes wide and dark.

One of my hands gripped her at the hip, my fingers pressing into her skin. She rocked with me. I felt as if I was exactly where I belonged.

My need rushed through me like a storm with gale-force winds. My release threatened, my balls tightening as I clung to my control, savoring the indescribable pleasure of being sheathed inside her. She rippled around me. My heart kicked along, and it felt as if it were about to crack one of my ribs.

There was sex, and there was what we had—this intense, wild mixture of fierce lust laced within deep emotion and intimacy. It felt as if it transcended love. This was how it always was when I was with her.

“Come with me,” I whispered.

She blinked just as she rose and sank down again. I knew her body’s call. She began to tremble, and I slid my other hand up her back, pressing between her shoulder blades to pull her closer. I brought my lips to hers, catching her cry just as she came, shuddering all over.

I finally let go, the line of my control breaking loose as my release jolted through me. A few moments later, she curled against me, and I held her close. Tonight had been one moment after another. Rosie felt tender and vulnerable in a way that was rare for her. I would’ve just held her tonight, but she wanted this. She’d said, “I need you now.”

* * *

When Rosie needed me, I would do my best to give her whatever she needed.

A little while later, we untangled ourselves, and she shimmied close to me after I turned out the light. The last thing I remembered was her pressing a kiss at the base of my throat just before she tucked her head into the curve of my neck and letting out a soft sigh.

Her brother texted her the following morning, saying he wanted us to meet him and their dad at Spill the Beans Café. I was too caught up in how good it felt to be with Rosie to start worrying yet.

It all felt so uneventful at first. We got coffee, and Rosie held my hand. I didn’t even know how to explain the warm sense of joy I felt, just having it open to the world that we were together. Rosie’s dad clapped me on the shoulder as we walked over to the table with him.

Only after I’d had two swallows of coffee did I realize there might be a problem.

Rosie’s brother looked over at her nervously and then at me. The guy didn’t even lead into what he said. “Rosie, I went to rehab. I’m in recovery. I’m doing fine. I just need you to know that’s what happened.”

Rosie blinked, lowering the mug she’d been lifting to the table. “What?” She looked bewildered, and I slid my arm around her shoulders.

It all went straight to hell from there.

“He’s doing good, Rosie, real good,” her dad said.

“You knew?” she squeaked.

Her dad nodded. “I haven’t known for long, though.”

The tension building inside me was tight like a band squeezing around my chest.

Rosie’s face was pale, and she gripped her mug with both hands. She glanced from her brother to her dad and finally to me. She read right through me.

“You knew?” she pressed, anger and betrayal flicking in her eyes.

“I found out by accident. Brent told me he was going to tell you,” I said quickly.

Her brother seemed to realize we were in dicey territory here. Rosie looked around the table again. “I’m not upset that you were in rehab. I understand. You didn’t have to tell me, but why does everybody know but me? Why is it a secret only from me? Did I do something to make you think I might judge you for this?”

---