Page 77 of Frayed Bonds

“Val, it’s 3 a.m.,” he yells after me, clearly not a care in the world for whether his mother is at home, asleep or not.

My body is hot considering the cool temperature, and my mind is running a mile a minute. I need space and that seems to be the last thing Ambrose wants to give me right now.

“Valerie, c’mon it’s time for bed.”

“No, I don’t want to.” I shake my head as I back away from him

“See, now you’re acting like a drunk little girl,” he groans, dropping my shoes next to his feet.

“No one said you have to babysit me.” I keep backing up until I can feel I’m at the edge of the pool.

“Val, stop, you're going to fall in.”

A smirk is all I offer the gorgeous man with a stick up his ass before I turn and cannonball straight into the water.

Relief washes over me quite literally like a wave. The water is cold but it chills every inch of me that Ambrose keeps setting alight. It provides silence to my roaring thoughts and it’s the perfect weight to feel like I’m getting a hug to tell me everything is going to be okay. I could stay here forever without a care in the world.

Two large hands wrap around my waist and pull me up to the surface and then instantly it’s all back; the heat, the thoughts, Ambrose. My eyes flash open in annoyance.

“Why are you lifting me up?”

“Why the fuck are you trying to drown yourself, Valerie?” He stares at me wide-eyed and confused.

I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t trying to drown myself.”

“Then what do you call jumping into a pool when you’re drunk as shit and then taking forever to come back up for air.”

Forever? It felt like a few seconds.

“I just wanted everything to be quiet for a while,” I shrug.

Again, his face is a glaring obvious look of confusion.

“You wouldn’t understand Ambrose, let’s go.” I try to get out of his grip but instead, he draws me closer and reaches down to wrap my legs around his waist.

“Try me.”

I flicker my gaze between his eyes looking for a shred of humour as if he’s going to tell me any second that this is all a joke. It never comes. Instead, he stares at me in the most serious way he ever has.

“It’s just a lot.”

“What?”

“Everything, Ambrose. My father, his surgery. It’s a major surgery and I’m so worried he won’t be able to walk normally again, not to mention the fact that there were already a few complications with today’s surgery–well yesterday I guess. Then I have to worry about payment for his physical therapy, medication and doctor visits. I moved back here, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel like home anymore but neither did Paris so I sort of feel like an outcast in my own home. I barely have any friends and the few I do have are always busy. Nat is busy on tour and only comes home every few months. Fuck, I found out Antonio is like in love with me so I don’t even know if I can call him a friend anymore and God, then there’s you. You, Ambrose, feel like the most consuming problem in my life. You consume my thoughts, my actions, my emotions and I’m so worried it’s going to backfire and hurt me. That I'm feeling all these things and you don-

I blink rapidly trying to take in what is going on when I realise Ambrose's lips are on mine and sweet baby Jesus this time they feel like what I can only imagine heaven itself would feel like. I sink into the kiss ignoring the part of me screaming how bad of an idea this is.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I draw him closer; his hands, on the undersides of my thighs do the same. The kiss is innocent yet passionate all in one almost nothing like the first time we kissed. The gentle way his lips move against mine contradicts the way his teeth graze and nip against them begging for entrance.

Once our tongues clash, it’s like a match is lit and a fire takes over the both of us. His lips are hungry but it’s the way his hands possessively grab onto my thighs and ass trying to bring me as close as possible that truly makes him seem like a man starved of touch. He pins my back against the wall of the pool allowing enough space for him to bring himself even closer.

He breaks the kiss but doesn’t leave much room between us. We’re gasping for air and right now, I don’t know if the air I’m breathing is my own or his, but I don’t care.

“Sweetheart, all of those are valid worries to have, but one thing you never have to worry about is if I feel the same way about you.” My mouth is agape and I can’t process what he just said. He places a quick peck on my lips again. “C’mon let’s get you dried off before we freeze or before I stay out here and fuck you.” He smirks and carries me up the stairs and places me on my feet.

The loud revving of an engine makes me jump and he stares at me as if contemplating his next move.

“Let’s go, I think both of us need some sleep,” he takes my hand and we jog through the house, giggling wildly as we both try not to slip.

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