Page 124 of Play Pretend

Her hand trembled as she reached between her legs. With every swipe of her fingers, I felt them against my cock, teasing and pushing me closer.

“I can’t hold back,” I ground out. “I can’t—baby, I can’t—I’m coming. I’m coming inside you.”

She pushed her hips back as she screamed, her body trembling with wave after wave of her orgasm. Her pussy clamped around me, tighter than before, and I slid all the way home, stopping myself when I was seated as deeply as I could be.

I knew I was holding her hips too hard as I came. My neck strained with the effort, every muscle in my body going taut as I spilled inside her. We rode our orgasms together, groaning and panting, until we were nothing but sweaty heaps.

Gently, I pressed a kiss to her cheek before I pulled out. She stayed leaning against the tree as I tugged her panties up her legs, settling them against her. “I need to clean up,” she said, but I batted her hands away.

“I told you I wanted you to walk around with my cum seeping out of you so everyone knows who you belong to,” I murmured. Her teeth sank into her pillowy bottom lip as she smiled at me.

“Really?”

“It’ll be a secret only we know,” I said softly, pulling her jeans up. “I like knowing a piece of me will be inside you for the rest of the day.”

She pushed off the tree and righted her pants as I tucked myself away. “I like that too,” she admitted. Reaching out, I cupped her cheek and brought my lips to hers.

“I love you,” I whispered, resting my forehead against hers. “More than anything.”

willow

Tomorrow wasThe Day.

They would be here in less than twenty-four hours, and I wasnotready. At all.

All day, my hands trembled, my breathing was shallow and harsh, and my nerves were fried. Gracie kept trying to get me to go home, to relax, but I couldn’t.

I’d already had so much time off recently, leaving her to deal with the bakery on her own, and I felt guilty about that. And sitting at home doing nothing but dwelling over the fact that they’d be here tomorrow sounded like hell. So I’d gone in early, left late, and worked hard all day trying to distract myself. But it still loomed over me, lingered in the back of my mind like a bad dream. It was all I could think about, all I could focus on.

I sat in my car, my hands braced on the steering wheel as I stared at the house. Ronan was already home, his truck parked beside my little car, and lights seeped from his side of the house. My gaze shifted to my half, and I took a deep breath. I knew I needed to go back soon, but I didn’t think I had it in me to do it today. Or this weekend.

A deep breath filled my lungs before I slowly blew it out. When I found this little duplex and met my neighbor for thefirst time years ago, I never thoughtthiswas how my life would turn out. I never thought I’d fall in love with him, and I certainly never thought he’d love me back.

Shaking myself, I slipped from the car and made my way across the small yard. The wood of the porch groaned with each step toward the door, and when I got to it, I rested my hand on the worn doorknob. I knew I needed to put a smile on before I walked in. Not because Ronan couldn’t handle me in a quiet or bad mood, but because he didn’t deserve to deal with it.

He’d been so amazing these last few days. From the break-in to my migraine, he was so careful. So protective. I didn’t want to bring the mood down, but it washard. It was hard to pretend like I wasn’t anxious, like more dread wasn’t filling me with every passing hour.

I pushed the door open and froze.

Heat enveloped me, and the burning scent ofsomethingfilled my nose. Ronan didn’t even glance at me as he ran from one side of the kitchen to the other, throwing something in the sink. Smoke billowed from it as he turned the water on, making a loud, sizzling loud.

I dropped my bags to the floor as I rushed across the house. “Stay back!” he shouted, holding his hand out. His face was red and sweaty, his hair standing on end. His eyes were wild as he looked from me to the smoking pan in the sink.

“I work in a kitchen every day. I know?—”

“Stay.Back,” he said again, more firmly. “I can’t watch you and take care of this at the same time.”

I bounced on my toes, watching as the smoke cleared and all that was left was a pan with something burnt on it. Ronan shut the water off and stepped back, his fingers tapping together on both hands. He paced back and forth in front of the sink, muttering to himself.

“Ro?” I breathed, but he shook his head. I strained to hear what he was saying, confusion filling me when I realized he was counting. “Are you okay?”

“This is why I don’t cook,” he murmured, throwing his hand toward the sink. “This is why I don’t wantyouto cook. A fire could’ve started. I could’ve gotten hurt—you could’ve gotten hurt. It’s dangerous?—”

“Ro—”

“I knew better. Iknewbetter.” He tapped his fingers on the counter as he stared at the pan.

“I can clean this up,” I said softly. “Go take a breather.” He roughly shook his head, pressing his palm flat against the countertop.

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