Page 75 of Love on the Waiver Wire

And neither do I.

Within a second she’s turned in my arms, her lips on mine.

A guttural growl escapes me, a sound I didn’t even know I was capable of making as I wrap my fingers around her hair, her hands running up my chest to my neck. I run my tongue across her bottom lip, and when she parts them, we’re a mess of gnashing teeth, desperate to somehow get closer to one another. It’s like I’ve been without water for months, and I’m finally getting my fix. Like I can’t get enough.

The taste of her tongue, the smell of her, the feel of her body in mine; I can’t get enough.

I grab her waist, pushing her gently into the railing behind her as I desperately seek skin on skin contact. I pull up on her shirt, slipping my hands underneath.

I don’t want to do anything extreme. I just want my hands on her. To feel her skin under my fingertips. She clings to me as I trail my lips along her neck, and the moan she lets out has me desperately wanting to take her right here.

After what feels like hours, we pull away, her forehead resting against mine.

“What are you doing to me?” I ask, my nose grazing hers. Her eyes close, her breathing shallow.

“This is going to hurt,” she whispers, opening them once more.

I pull away a bit, my brows furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You’re going to decide you don’t want this at some point, Owen, and it’s going to tear me apart.”

I shake my head. “Peaches, I don’t think you understand how long I’ve been waiting for this.”

Her lips clamp shut, her hand coming up to fix her hair.

“Hey,” I say, grabbing her chin. “I want you more than you can ever imagine. But in every way, you hear me? I want your mornings. I want your nights. I want your bad days and your best days. I want you.”

Her eyes brim with tears, shining in the dim blue light. “What if that’s not enough?”

My head tilts to the side.

“What if you need more than that? You have your whole career. You have my brother. I can’t deal with the fallout of coming second to my brother again, Owen.”

I nod, understanding.

I sigh, stepping away. “I can’t promise that there won’t be bad times. That I won’t disappoint you at some point. But we work together on that, okay?”

She looks me over, her tongue peeking out to swipe over her bottom lip. When she slowly nods, I grab her hand, leading her down the rest of the ramp.

After a minute, I can feel her shoulders relax.

“What’s that?” she asks, looking around.

“What?”

“That sound?”

I smile, pulling her further into the underwater viewing room at the end of the exhibit.

“Did you seriously have them play Taylor Swift down here?” she asks, walking further into the room.

She walks up to the wall of glass, watching the fish swim in front of her. Bathed in the blue hue, Isla looks like a vision. And when she smiles at me?

I walk over slowly, watching as her eyes linger on my movements. My fingers fumble with the sleeve of my right arm, rolling it up my forearm carefully. When I’m finally done with both, I reach out for her, grabbing her hand as the song changes to a slower tune.

Pulling her into me, I grab her hand, swaying to the beat as I rest my head on her forehead.

And I can feel myself falling every second that passes.

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