Page 41 of Fight for Forever

Maybe that is a part of it, but in my heart I know, had those exact circumstances not happened that night, Michael would still be alive. I might have got away again. With Jenna and Brooke’s friendship, I might have learnt to stand up for myself. Not killed him. Michael left me no other choice.

He had a knife and was going to kill me, and Jenna too. I had the means and the opportunity to stop him. That was what happened that night.

“Meg.”

I blink back to the present and the whispered word. I’m about to say sorry and pull back when he slides his fingers gently along my jawline and into the back of my hair.

Michael gripped me like that all the time and I have to fight the urge to pull away, even though I never did when it was Michael, because his grip was too strong.

There is nothing aggressive in the way Joey’s hand is moving, almost delicately, across the surface of my skin. He’s barely moved apart from his hand.

I see it in his face, in the way he is looking at me. He will never do anything I don’t want to do. His lips part as if he is about to speak, but I don’t let him. I move forward again and take his lips. His hand continues its slow, gentle movements against the nape of my neck as he kisses me back.

Sparks shoot through me, from my lips down to my core, and I clench my thighs together. For the first time in a long time, my body throbs with need. I want him to touch me. I want everything.

My lips part and tentatively I lick at the seam of his. He hesitates again, but I put a hand on the back of his head, holding him to me, and it’s like a switch flips. He isn’t any more aggressive, but his tongue meets mine, dipping into my mouth, tangling together slowly. His body shifts towards me.

Then he lets out a groan, and I have to restrain myself from clambering into his lap.

We need to slow down. Joey must sense the change in me, because he stops kissing me, but doesn’t pull away. He catches my bottom lip between his and his palm runs back along my jaw, his thumb sweeps over my cheekbone.

Joey's eyes are still closed, and I can’t help but stare at his beautiful face. Not many people would call a man beautiful, but that is what Joey is. Both in how he looks and his personality. His caring nature makes him who he is.

No one would ever think this tough, champion MMA fighter could hold my face in the palm of his hand so tenderly.

“Was that okay?” he asks.

“More than okay,” I say back. Did he not get that from the way I pounced on him? His eyes are moving left and right as he stares into mine. Our faces are still so close together.

“I like you Meg.”

I swallow. Oh God, is he about to say ‘but?’

“I never knew whether it would be okay to touch you like this.”

“Did you want to?” I ask, shyly.

“I’m doing everything I can not to pull you into my lap right now. But it’s a good idea that I leave.”

“What?” my stomach drops.

“I want to take things slow. But I am interested, and I want to see where this can go.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him we don’t need to take anything slow. My heart is soaring at the idea that Joey Ferguson likes me.

He wants to take things further with me, but he’s right. Jumping into something with the first guy I’ve liked is the wrong way to do this.

Brooke’s voice is echoing inside my head, telling me not to let him leave, but it’s written all over his face. Joey believes he is doingthe right thing. Who’d have thought I’d be the one not wanting to push him into something he isn’t ready for?

I chuckle to myself, and Joey’s brows dip as he sits back.

“What’s funny?” he asks, but not in a way that shows he’s bothered by it. He has a smirk on those perfect lips of his.

He leans further away as amusement fills his gaze.

“Nothing,” I say, my fingertips touching my lips. “I guess I just surprised myself. Usually I’d shy away from making a move.”

“I’m glad you did,” he assures me. “It’s gonna be fucking hard walking away right now.”

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