Page 29 of Pretty Broken Things

Shane rolls his eyes. “Thanks for the science lesson, Jeeves. How about you hand me that controller, and we leave Ford to his creepy hovering?”

Ted shrugs. He’s happy enough to have an opponent, so the two of them go off without him pestering me further.

When more guys go over to talk to the girls I reach my breaking point. I storm across the room, and barrel my way through the gathering crowd of admirers. Just in case they do have any designs on Tessa, I do something very uncharacteristic for me. I slip my hand around her throat, and walk her backwards until her back is pressed against a wall. It’s the most public claiming I’ve ever made, the only one actually.

I lean down, until I can feel her breath on my lips. “I’m finding it very hard to share you with anyone right now,” I admit, and kiss her before she can reply.

When I pull away, I notice Tracy smirking out of the corner of my eye. She struts over to the stairs, climbs up a few so she’s a head taller than the crowd, and puts her hands up on either side of her mouth. Then she proceeds to yell, “Alright everyone, it’s getting late.”

Someone shouts back, “It’s only like eight-thirty!”

“Whatever, assholes, Ford and Shane have a game tomorrow night, and they need to impress the scouts. Now, let’s let them get their beauty sleep,” she finishes.

There’s some grumbles in the crowd, but otherwise they quickly clear out. There’s not much mess left behind, but it’s not none. Shane, Lydia, and Tracy start cleaning up, but Tessa waves them off. “Don’t worry about it. There are some perks to being an ignored heiress. No parents will be around in the morning to bust me, and I have a cleaning service on speed dial. I won’t even have to pay them extra for this, because there’s hardly any mess.”

By nine o’clock I finally have her all to myself. Everyone else is settled in one of the many guest rooms, and we’re lingering in the hallway alone. The air around us crackles with tension, and despite my protesting that we had to slow things down, I don’t think I can stop the path we’re on.

“Last warning, Vixen. If you tell me to go now, I’ll go and we can see each other tomorrow. If you ask me to stay again, I’m going to carry you up those stairs, strip this wicked dress off your body, and show you all night who you belong to. I’d like to pretend I’m enlightened and shit, but when it comes to you I’m practically a wild beast.”

Tessa pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplates what she should tell me. I can see the resolve in her eyes, and I know she’s going to ask me to stay.

Our eyes lock, and she holds her hand out to me. I shake my head. “Say the words, Tessa.”

She sucks in a deep breath. “I want you to stay with me.”

Click. Just like that something inside of me snaps into place. I repeat what I told her earlier, “I won’t let you take it back.”

Tessa stretches up and kisses me softly. “Ditto.”

ChapterThirteen

Tessa

My stomach isa riot of butterflies as I turn to the stairs. Despite the somersaults the butterflies are performing in my stomach, somehow I manage to find the courage to grab Ford’s hand and lead him to my room.

As I reach out for the doorknob my hand shakes. Ford puts his large hand over mine and steadies it. I can feel his heart thundering against my back as he holds me against him. “Forget everything I said earlier. If you’re not ready, nothing happens. The only expectation I have tonight is to fall asleep with you in my arms.”

I exhale all of the tension out of my body, and lean back against him. Instead of feeling nervous, there’s an electric current of excitement coursing through my body. A lot of people think Ford and I don’t make sense, but they aren’t here with us right now. They can’t see the way we fit together, the way we talk without needing words. They especially don’t know that the only time I feel safe and cared for is when I’m alone with him.

Together, we turn the knob to my room, and push the door open. With my bed in sight, my courage shrivels up. I don’t have the first clue how to initiate what I want, and I freeze in the middle of my room. Overcome by uncharacteristic shyness, I drop my head down, and hide behind the curtain of my hair.

Ford’s hands slowly slide down my arms until they land on my hips. He turns me around and lifts my face up to look at him. Gently, he brushes my hair out of my face, and tucks it behind my ears. “Please don’t hide from me,” he begs.

There’s so many intense emotions churning in his hazel eyes. They are darker than normal, like the gold flecks have melted and spread, blocking out the green. It’s hard for me to face the intensity I see looking back at me, but I manage to hold his gaze.

We hold an entire conversation without saying a word. His fingers lightly graze up and down my arms. He traces the skin next to the straps of my dress. When I don’t stop him, his fingers hook under the straps of my dress. Then he pauses to give me time to stop him. When I don’t, he drags them slowly over my shoulders, down my arms. He lets go, and my dress slides the rest of the way down my body, pooling on the floor around my feet.

Ford brushes his thumb across his lower lip, drawing my attention to the slight crease in the middle. I want to see him lose control. Every move I’ve ever seen him make is methodical. He might seem reckless to some, but Ford does nothing without thinking of all the possible consequences beforehand.

He needs a bit of a push to make him crack, so I reach behind my back and unhook my bra. Before I can draw the straps down my shoulders, he puts his hands on mine, holding them still. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I answer automatically. “I want you for who you are, what we can be together. I need to know you want that too, that you want there to be an us.”

Ford lets go of my hands and I drag my bra off. I don’t know why I expect him to respond verbally to my statement. In my head we talk through our relationship to death, analyzing every look, but I guess some things you don’t need words to discuss.

His hand fists in my hair, and he kisses me. Every move of his lips against mine confides all I need to know. He’s not in a hurry to move beyond this kiss. I think he’d live happily in this moment if this was all there could be.

I, on the other hand, am thirsty for his attention. My hands roam his chiseled body, and I silently thank Coach Greer for the arduous practices he forces the players to endure. Ford takes the hint, breaks the kiss, and pulls his shirt over his head.

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