Page 116 of Just a Heartbeat Away

A sound left her, wild and weak and as bright as the light of a sparkler. “Yes.”

He humped into her from behind, every stroke sending them a few inches forward. The carpet burned her knees and the heels of her hands, but she loved it. Everything, even the air against her breasts, was filled with charge. Hot and delicious. When his fingers found her clit again, Via flexed every muscle. She didn’t care about what looked cute or being ladylike. She simply made her hands into fists, threw her head back and bore down on him fully. She was dimly aware of his teeth at her neck for just a second.

But then the entire world was ash white and full sensation, there was nothing but bright, high-speed cloud rushing into her from every angle. She was disintegrating and shrinking at the same second. Her body wanted to contract into nothing but was stopped by the heavy, pulsing intruder between her legs. All she could do was contract around him, so hard she felt dizzy.

She could hear Sebastian’s voice in her ear but couldn’t tell one word from the next. All she could feel was the pounding of his heart at her back, the relentless pump of him inside her. The orgasm finally released its delicious claws from her, and her elbows wobbled, her vision going fuzzy as he pulled out of her. She heard him grunt, felt him at the small of her back. She felt his hand press his wet hardness against her, and he gave one, two more pumps before hot silk spread over her back. She clenched once more, this time around nothing, and let his weight push both of them to the ground.

His stickiness was between them, his chest to her back and suddenly, they were both laughing their fool heads off.

“Sorry. Probably should have asked before I did that. You all right?”

“Are you kidding?” she asked, her cheek against the carpet and the whole of her body just sandwiched under his weight. “That was the hottest moment of my life. But now I need a shower, and I definitely need those pancakes.”

Seb pulled them up off the ground. “I manhandle you a lot,” he noted as he tugged her toward the bathroom.

“I wish I could return the favor. Pick you up and toss you around and show you how fun it is.”

“Maybe in a pool or the ocean.”

“Coney Island this summer.”

He stopped halfway through turning the shower on. “Yeah. Wow. We’re gonna do summer stuff together. The three of us.”

“Hell yeah.” She stepped into the spray and winced when it was too hot; she leaned down to adjust the handles. “We’re gonna do all the stuff.”

THEYATEPANCAKESthat night, smelling like Sebastian’s soap and sitting on the kitchen floor. The next morning, they woke up in a tight knot of each other’s limbs and stayed in bed until they absolutely had to get up. He drove her home, watched from her bed while she changed her clothes, and then took her to school for professional development.

He picked her up from work, too. They spent the night at her house, and Seb was so wildly taken with her bedroom. He just loved it. Her full-size bed that was way too small for him, her delicate white comforter and the fussy, colorful lamps. He loved the artwork she’d chosen—bright watercolor portraits—and the scent of her everywhere.

He took her to school and back the next day, too. When they woke up in his bed on Thanksgiving, it was with just the slightest air of melancholy. He’d go back to White Plains that day. Sebastian couldn’t wait until he got Matty and Via in the same place again. Because even now, with Via laid across his chest, his heart was in two places at once. Even with all the FaceTime calls, it had been too many days since he’d seen his son. But that didn’t make leaving Via any easier.

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” he decided on the spot, cruising a hand up and down her smooth back.

“But you’re supposed to stay until Sunday!”

“Doesn’t matter. Matty and Crabby and I will be back tomorrow. I wish you could come with me today.”

They’d talked about it, spending Thanksgiving together. But in the end, decided that Matty and Cora’s parents probably needed a bit more time to adjust to a new reality with Via in it. A holiday was too high pressure. And besides, she had traditions with Fin to uphold.

“Me, too. But this way is good, too.” A sudden shyness crept into her expression. “Do you wanna get together tomorrow?”

He laughed at her question. “Violetta, yes. Why do you think I’m coming home early?” A thought occurred to him. “Can we come see you right when we get home? I think I’ll explain everything to Matty on the way home and then he’s probably gonna wanna talk to you about it.”

“Of course.” She snuggled into him. “I’ll be free all day. And I’ll have Thanksgiving leftovers.”

She played with his chest hair for a minute. Enough to make him squirm a little. Gathering her courage, she finally asked, “Maybe this weekend you could bring my furniture over?”

“Your furniture?” he asked, leaning back to look in her eyes. “I thought you weren’t accepting it?”

“Well, if you’re still offering it, I really want it.”

“I’m still offering.”

SEBASTIANCALLEDTYLERfrom the road on his way back to White Plains.

“Lemme guess,” Ty said, without even the courtesy of a salutation. “You’re calling from some tacky chapel in Vegas.”

Seb rolled his eyes and laughed as he merged onto the highway, talking through speakerphone. “And rob you of the joy of wearing a tux and making a best man speech? Never.”

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