Page 25 of Hate You Forever

He sits up and rubs his eyes. “Sleep? No. It’s only been the last couple hours I was able to sleep. I didn’t want to leave. I know you say you know this guy, but truth is, we don’t know him. He could’ve murdered you or something.”

I smile and shake my head. “Want to come in for breakfast?”

He scoffs. “And join the two of you? No thanks.”

“He’s gone, Memphis. He woke up early and left a note. I think we have some things to talk about. Come on.” I nod toward the house, and he finally moves to get out of the car.

He follows me into my apartment with Noodle barking the whole way. I lead them to the kitchen, where Memphis sits at the table while Noodle waits patiently for his food and water. I fill hisdishes and start a pot of coffee. The whole time, Memphis just sits waiting, cracking his neck, which I’m sure is sore from sleeping in his car all night. When the coffee is done brewing, I pour us both a cup and sit down next to him.

I take a sip and watch as he does the same. “I know you’re probably going crazy not knowing what was happening in here last night,” I start.

He lets out a laugh. “That’s putting it lightly.”

I smile at his jealously. “Nothing happened, Memphis. Well, one thing happened. He kissed me.”

He scoffs and shakes his head.

“But that was it. I told him how much I loved you. I told him that no matter how badly you’d hurt me in the past, that I couldn’t not give this a try because I deserve it. Not you, but me. I was left with a broken heart, no goodbye. You were just gone, and I was left alone to put together the pieces. Now that you’re back, I don’t think you deserve the chance I’m giving you, but I do. I deserve to be happy.”

He takes a long breath and reaches for my hand. “You know how sorry I am, right?”

I nod.

“And you know that I’m never going to do that again, right?”

I smile and nod as he pulls me into his lap.

“I have everything I could ever need right here. I’msorry that I couldn’t see that before.” His lips slowly move toward mine, finally pressing against them. Tingles form in my belly. They swirl together like a tornado, going faster and faster until they break apart and scatter throughout my whole body. This right here, this is how I know we’re meant to be together.

With one hand on my cheek, his other splays across my back, pulling me closer. I somehow end up turning to face him, my legs on either side of him as our kiss becomes more rushed. His hands move up and down my back softly, stopping on my ass as he picks me up against him and carries me to bed.

We fall onto the bed, and I let out a yelp as we fall, but the moment we hit the surface, his mouth is right back on mine. He kisses me soft and slow, full of blinding passion. I feel him harden against me, and I can’t help but wiggle against him, needing to feel him inside me. He tugs at my shorts and panties, yanking them down my legs as he gets to his knees. With his eyes on mine, he licks his lips as he takes me in before him. His hands work on freeing himself from his jeans as I sit up and remove my T-shirt. Now that I’m completely bare for him, he lets out a growl as he pulls my body back to his. With one roll of his hips, he’s sliding into me, filling me completely. We both let out a satisfied moan.

I push his shirt up his abs as he thrustsinto me. Without pulling away, he rips it over his head and drops it onto the floor. His mouth is right back on mine, kissing his way down my jaw and neck, nipping my earlobe and the sensitive skin of my neck. Together, we fit perfectly. We’re like two pieces of a puzzle that you can’t just squeeze into any other spot. If I didn’t believe his words, I believe his actions. He’s missed me over the years. He may have found other things to take his mind off me, but nothing ever worked for very long. And I know this because it’s the same for me. No matter how many dates I went on, no matter who was in my bed, Memphis was always at the back of my mind, ruining me for any other man that dared to get close.

FOURTEEN

Memphis

Ipump into her until I spill every last thing I have inside of me. When my hips come to a stop, I’m too weak to pull away from her. I can’t do anything but hug her tightly, holding her body against mine. She runs her hand through my hair, trailing the tips of her soft fingers along my spine. Goosebumps rise to the surface, and a cold chill races over me. Only her touch has been able to make me feel this way. If that doesn’t say meant to be, then I don’t know what does.

“I need to show you something. Let’s get dressed.” I remove myself from her and pull my jeans back up my hips.

She smiles but sits up and gathers her clothes before going to the bathroom. An hour later, we’re loading up in my car to make the short drive over to the house I’ve found for sale. It’s only two blocks fromthe shop I’m soon to take over and four blocks from the vet’s office.

I turn into the driveway and shut off the car. She pulls her brows together as she looks up at the house with confusion. “Where are we?”

“Come on,” I say, nodding toward the house as I open my door to climb out.

She gets out and joins me in front of the car, slipping her hand into mine.

“What do you think?”

She looks at the overgrown shrubs lining the house and wrinkles her nose. “I think it could use some work.”

“I know,” I agree. “Don’t look at what it is. Look at what it could be.” I pull her over to the sidewalk in the center of the front yard. “We could brick over the front. Take out that little window there and put in a big picture window. We can rip out all this overgrowth and put in some landscaping. The backyard is huge. We could fence it in, and it would be perfect for the kids.”

“The kids?” she asks, her wide eyes full of fear and confusion.

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