Page 68 of Unravel Me

I laugh harder.

“Cut the shit, Ivy,” I say in my best impression of him before laughing harder. I pull my hands from him and wrap them around my stomach as my head falls back in a laugh. It takes all of two seconds for Sawyer to join me in laughing, which makesme laugh harder. He grabs my wrist before hauling me forward into his lap where his hands begin to torturously tickle around my stomach. I push at his hands before tumbling to the floor, bringing him with me. We land on the hardwood with a thud, his hand cushioning my head from bouncing off the ground.

Our laughs settle as he lays on top of me and pushes my hair from my face.

“Fuck, I missed you so goddamn much.”

“You sure about that?”

“Shut up, Ivy,” he says right before he kisses me. It’s short and sweet and absolutely perfect.

I finish getting ready, trying to smooth out my tangled hair and attempt to make myself a little less frazzled before heading out the door with Sawyer. I guess this is my chance to see if staying in Aspen Ridge is an option, even if I’m starting to accept that I don’t know how I’d ever walk away from him again.

Sawyer jumps out of the truck before rounding the hood to get my door and hauling me out of it.

Once I’m on my feet, he crowds my space, caging me in between him and the open door. He lifts his hand to rest a palm on my cheek before combing his fingers through my hair.

“I’ve got you, baby.”

I close my eyes and breathe, my chest rising and falling, rubbing my nipples against his hard chest. He fists his hand in my hair and angles my head to the side before claiming my lips in a deep, bruising kiss. I can’t help the moan that escapes as he kisses me ruthlessly. His free hand grips my hips tightly, fingersmoving under my sweatshirt and dancing around the exposed skin.

Fuck, this fire between us. It always burns so fast. He breaks the kiss before I’m ready, and I know why. The lust-filled look in his eyes, his hard length pressing against my abdomen, I know that if we don’t stop now the chances are high that he’ll be fucking me right here against the side of his truck for the whole town to see.

He leans his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling as we work to compose ourselves.

“Fuck, Ivy. I want you so bad.”

“I know. Me too.”

He breaks away from me before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the beach. His touch keeps me grounded and I welcome it.

The sun has nearly set as we walk up to the beach. At the end of every summer, usually in early to mid-September, the town has a massive bonfire right here, signaling the start of fall. Everyone used to come out for it, there’s music, food tents, drinks, and everyone has a good time. A massive fire burns in the center of the beach, and people are everywhere, standing or sitting on logs or lawn chairs that they brought from home. I used to love coming to this event. It’s where Sawyer and I lost our virginity to each other in the back of that very truck, parked off in the distance, away from everyone else.

“Let’s find my siblings, yeah? We’ll start small.”

“That is not starting small, Sawyer. They’re Chernobyl and I’m the nuclear reactor.”

He grabs my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Were you always this difficult? I don’t remember you having such a mouth on you.”

I smile up at him.

“Baby, you said you trusted me, now fucking trust me. Let’s go find my family.”

“Fine. But remember that you brought me here, I’m not responsible if they all flip out on me. Well, I am, but you get what I’m saying,” I ramble.

“Ivy. It’ll be fine. Do you need me to say it ten more times? I can do it now and get it out of the way,” he says as he practically drags me to the spot where some of his siblings are standing.

We approach the group and their conversation immediately halts. Talk about fucking awkward. Fuck my life.

“Hey, fuckers,” Sawyer says, breaking the silence.

“Hey, shithead. Ivy. It’s good to see you, you look good.” Dallas pulls me into an unexpected hug. I hug him back, one-handed, Sawyer refusing to let go of his hold on me as he makes a deep rumbling growl. Suddenly, I’m yanked out of Dallas’ embrace and tucked tightly under Sawyer’s arm.

“Thanks,” I say sheepishly, a little shocked. “It’s good to see you, Dallas.”

You’d never guess that he and Sawyer are twins. They couldn’t be more different from one another. Dallas has aged much like Sawyer has. He’s wearing a henley with the buttons undone, exposing his neck and a thin gold chain. His right arm is covered in a half sleeve of tattoos. His facial hair is trimmed close, slightly shorter than how Sawyer keeps his.

I look to Liam, who has probably changed the most. He’s the largest out of all of them, and that’s saying something since Sawyer and Dallas are both six feet tall. He’s bigger in both height and width, and really grew into a gorgeous man. They all clearly work out, each of them so physically fit that it’s painful to be around so much masculine beauty at the same time.

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