Page 111 of Collect the Pieces

“Thanks.” I hug her close. “Jezzie claimsshedoesn’t think that, and she told my aunt that’s not true, but it still burned my ass…”

“I don’t blame you.” She purses her lips together, as if she’s deep in thought.

“Come on.” I tug on her hand. “I don’t want to talk about this out here.”

She nods and leads me inside, up the stairs, and into her apartment in silence.

“How was your day?” I ask as I’m taking off my boots.

“Long.” She frowns and slips off her sweater, draping it over the chair in the corner. “You know, whatever your aunt’s said probably feels especially offensive since it sounds like, from what you’ve told me, you’ve never spent a lot of time around her as an adult. So, she has no idea who you are as a person. I’d be annoyed too.”

God damn. That’sexactlyit. Margot understanding what I’m feeling and confirming that I’m not being a sulky prick about it soothes the chaotic fire swirling in my chest.

“I missed you today. Wish I had you with me. Even Jezzie seemed disappointed you didn’t come.”

Margot’s brows lift. “Really?”

“Yeah, she likes you a lot.”

Margot bites her lip, then nods. “I liked her too. I’ll go visit with you next time. But I think it’s good you two had some alone time together.”

I shrug. “Yeah. It was.” All the bad feelings that got raised about my father almost blotted out the hilarity of running into Jezzie’s crush. “You’ll be proud of me. We ran into a guy she clearly has a crush on, and I didn’t try to scare him or embarrass her.”

“Awww, it’s nice to be a grown-up sometimes, huh?” she teases.

“Heh.” The corners of my mouth turn up. “We covered lots of grown-up topics. It was kind of surreal.”

She doesn’t laugh or prod me for details. “I’m really happy for you guys.”

I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in tight, breathing her in. “Thank you for pushing me to go.”

She melts into me, arms sliding around my waist.

“Anytime,” she whispers.

I press a kiss against her temple, letting my lips linger.

I love this woman.

Every part of her.

I should tell her.

The words sit heavy in my chest, right there, waiting to be said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Margot

“Margot,”Jigsaw whispers, urgency in his voice.

I blink. My room’s still dark. Only the suggestion of pale gray light glows around the edges of my curtains.

Jigsaw’s bigger body’s wrapped around me. Protective and possessive even though it’s just the two of us in my bed.

My body shifts, stretches, my butt grazing him. Heat sweeps over my skin. He’s hard. I roll my hips again. Between my legs I’m already aching for him.

A deep groan rumbles through his chest, and he presses himself tighter against my back. “Don’t distract me,” he rasps in his sleep-rough voice. “I need to tell you something.”

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