Page 102 of Naughty & Nice

Her laughter is infectious as I can’t help but join in.

“Best one yet, I’d say.”

“Most pleasurable, for sure,” he teases.

“No pressure for next year, huh?”

She giggles again, and it lights something up inside me before she lifts her head from my chest and looks into my eyes.

“Is this… this is real, right? Me and you,” she asks, making my chest ache.

“Yes,” I assure her, cupping the side of her face gently. “Why would you even think it wasn’t?” My eyes bounce between hers, desperately trying to figure out what has her on edge all of a sudden. “I love you, Noelle. You’re the only girl I’ve ever seen, the only girl I’ve ever wanted. It’s always been you.”

She sniffles, and my grip on her tightens as if it’ll help hold her together.

“I love you too. It’s just—” She rips her eyes away from me and looks at the wall that leads to the living room.

My heart slams against my chest. I’d say I’ve been dealing with my insecurities pretty well over all this.

Noelle has told me honestly that I’m the one for her, and I trust her more than anyone else on this planet. But if she were to change her mind...

“He complicates things.”

“You want him too?”

Her eyes snap back to mine. “No. I mean, yeah. Kinda. I want him the way we had him last night. I don’t want him like this,” she says, reaching out and dragging her thumb over the pillow of my bottom lip. “You’re my ride or die, Rix. Always have been, always will be.”

Relief floods me.

“But I enjoyed last night. I know it’s not conventional, or normal in any sense of the word, but it was?—”

“Hot?” I finish when she hesitates to find a word.

“Yeah.”

“What we do with Wilder doesn’t affect us. When we leave this place in a couple of days, I want it to be with my hand in mind. I want to return to Trinity as a couple. I want to move into your room and have this every single morning.”

“And Wilder?” she asks.

“Wilder will… no doubt go back to his normal life with the team.”

I study her, trying to get a read on how she really feels.

“I don't want him to think that we dropped him just because the vacation is over.”

A breath I didn’t realize I was holding spills out of me.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine.”

He does this kind of thing most weekends. It’s nothing new, and I’ve no reason to believe that he’s suddenly going to become interested in having anything serious with anyone.

He’s a free agent, and something tells me that he always will be. Life would get too boring and mundane for him otherwise.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Noelle finally says. “As fun as this is, I’m also really excited to be this new us at home.”

“Me too, baby,’ I say, flipping her again and making her squeal.

It’s at least another hour before we leave the bedroom. The sheets are a twisted-up mess on the floor, and the chill in the air has been long forgotten.

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