Page 137 of Falling

ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?

WREN

Settling backinto a routine post-season is usually one of the hardest things for me to do. Since the season has ended, we’re now working on performance reviews and preparing for the off-season. I always feel a little lost when I don’t have something to be skating for or looking forward to, but I think I’ve finally realized that I need time for myself.

After the awards night ended, we all went to Nero’s Pizzeria and stuffed ourselves with as much pizza as humanly possible. My cheeks have been hurting from smiling too hard and laughing with my friend, and they hurt evenmorewhen I try not to smile. Especially since Miles’s eyes have been on me all night.

I’ve never felt more loved and appreciated than I do when I’m with him. I don’t feel scared of it all crumbling down and ruining me; I feel like I’m being lifted up.

Like right now, as I unpack some more of my things into the drawer he cleared out for me in his room.A drawer.I didn’t want to be one of those clingy girlfriends who demands a space for her shit when we first start dating, but Miles just told me to pack a bag a few weeks ago and leave some stuff at his place. It didn’t feel like this huge, monumental thing. It justwas.And I’m grateful for that.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Miles asks. He’s sitting on his bed while I walk from his room to his en suite to unpack more of my things.

“Sure.”

“Are you annoyed that your mom didn’t speak to you today? I saw the way your eyes dropped a little when Carhart took the stage instead of Hacks,” he says. I take in a steadying breath.

Honestly, not having to watch my mom pretend to be the perfect Melanie Hackerly like she has been pretending to be for months was like a breath of fresh air. I haven’t heard a single thing from her in weeks, and I don’t plan on speaking to her anytime soon. I need time away from her. I need time to really think about what I’m doing this for without her unnecessary opinions and expectations. Austin has texted me a few times, apologizing profusely, but I can’t even think about her without picturing the way she stood by and let my mom speak to me like that.

“Nope,” I say to Miles as I pass him again.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s cool. She’ll get over herself eventually, and I might finally be able to look at her without wanting to murder her,” I say cheerfully. He groans, and I turn back around to him. “I promise you, it’s fine. I think we both just need some time away from each other. We’re not going to have a perfect relationship, and maybe there’s no real solution to whatever is going on. Trying to patch things up might take a while.”

He nods. “That’s understandable. But if you do want to reach out to her, you should.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay,” he says, nodding at me. Confrontation clearly gets nowhere with that woman, and I don't want to put myself in that position just to get manipulated again. I like to believe I’m smarter than that and that I can learn from my mistakes. Miles must know I’m still thinking about it after I’ve put away all my things because he’s still watching me. “Come here.”

The corner of my mouth tips up, and I step between his legs, resting my hands on his shoulders as he looks up at me. He runs his hands over the back of my thighs reassuringly. “I’m going to be fine, you know,” I whisper, laughing quietly.

“I know,” he murmurs, “I just don’t want you to think that you’re alone. I know what it’s like to not talk to your mom, but over the past few weeks, things have gotten better, and I’m glad she’s back in my life again. I just don’t want you to make any mistakes that you’ll regret.”

His words pinch at my heart. “Thanks for the concern, Milesy, but I promise you I’ll figure this out on my own. Time is the best thing for the both of us right now.”

“Okay,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to my stomach. Since we started staying at each other’s houses, I usually go to sleep in one of his jerseys, and I bet there’s some weird alpha-male thing that makes Miles go wild. His hand skims across my stomach before reaching up and cupping one of my tits, pinching my nipple. “Fuck. I’m never going to get used to this.”

“Yeah?” I tilt my head to the side, and he grins, looking back up at me, still toying with me.

“You’re fucking perfect, Wren,” he whispers, looking at me with complete disbelief. I have the urge to tell him he’s joking or that he’s just saying it to make me feel good, but I don’t. I push him back on the bed and grip both of his hands as I straddle him.

I lean down and kiss the corner of his mouth before retreating.

“The jersey stays on, and you can’t touch me,” I say. His eyes flash with desire, and I smirk. “You’re going to be a good boy and watch me play with myself. Understood?”

He swallows. “Understood.”

In all honesty, I have no clue what I’m doing, but I’m in the mood to have some fun, and from the way I can feel Miles’s dick pressing into me, he clearly is too. He tilts his head to the side to catch my lips, but I avoid him, and he pants, his hands writhing against the grip I have on them between our bodies.

I slide off him, moving to look through one of my bags that I dropped off here. I search through my pile of clothes, and I hear Miles shuffle on the bed. “What are you doing?”

“You remember that present I got for Christmas?” I glance over my shoulder, and he’s leaning back on his hands, studying me as I move to the other bag and find what I’m looking for. He swallows, nodding. “Well, I haven’t had much time to use it since you’ve been doing all the heavy lifting. But I just don’t think it’s fair that my toys should miss out just because I’ve got you now.”

I turn around with the pink vibrator in my hand, and Miles’s eyes go comically wide as he glances down to it and then to me. “You brought that here with you?”

“Of course I did,” I say, laughing as I kneel back down on the bed beside him. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to sit here and watch me fuck myself with all seven inches of this toy, and you’re not allowed to touch me.”

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