Page 105 of Beautiful Thing

I shake my head. “There’s nothing else I need. I’m fine.”

She turns in a circle, looking around for something else to take care of. When she finds nothing, she offers me a morose smile. “I’m going to let you get some rest then.”

Fuck.“Okay.”

Layla lingers in my doorway. I don’t think she wants to go. Dammit,Idon’t want her to go.

“You’ll tell me if you need something? If you’re in pain later?” she asks.

“I will.”

“Well…” Layla bites down on her lip, looking around one final time. “Good night, Archer.”

“Good night.” I watch as she starts to leave and my chest aches like it’s about to cave in under the weight of my disappointment.Fuck it. “Wait.”

Layla stops and looks at me.

“I…I don’t want you to go.”

Her eyes widen as she takes a tentative step closer. “Are you hurting? Are you in pain?”

I hesitate for only a second. “No. I just want you near me. Is that okay?”

A coy smile comes across her face. “That’s okay,” she answers.

“Come here.” I extend a hand to her.

She intertwines her fingers with mine. Then she’s shuffling across the floor in her socked feet and crawling into bed next to me. She lets out a contented sigh as she gently presses her body against mine and folds me into her arms.

We lie there in comfortable silence for a few minutes. God—I love being in the silence with her.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your hockey game with your brothers,” she whispers.

I shake my head even though she can’t see it. “Eh. I don’t give a fuck about my brothers and their stupid hockey game. Not when I get to lie here with your arms around me. I’m good with a daily trip to the hospital if this is how the night ends.”

“Don’t say that,” she murmurs on a quiet laugh.

I press my lips to the top of her head, kissing her hair.Then I feel her warm lips brushing across my bare chest, kissing me there.

My hands start wandering, caressing over every inch of her that I can reach. Her thigh. Her side. The tender flesh just beneath her breast.

Layla’s tentative fingers begin exploring my shoulders. My abs. The waistband of my boxers.

Damn—I keep breaking my rules. But there’s no one I’d rather break them with than Layla. I love doing all this with her. I want to keep doing it with her. Even if she won’t commit to me.

This is fun. It’s exciting. I just want to let go of my guilt and let go of my rules and just enjoy her for as long as she’ll let me.

But then my head wanders to dark places.Razor crosses my mind.

“Tell me I don’t have to share you with him,” I whisper, breaking the silence. “Sharing you with him would kill me.”

Layla adjusts in my arms until she can look me in the eye. “You don’t have to share me with anybody. Especially not Razor, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m repulsed by the thought of that man.”

My aching chest feels a little bit better with her assurance. “So, are you mine?” I ask her, knowing that her answer has the power to break me.

Her shoulders sag as she lets out a sigh. My stomach twists when she doesn’t immediately say ‘yes’.

“I’m so broken, Archer. I have so much baggage. I don’t know if I can give myself to any man ever again.”

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