Page 93 of Down & Dirty

“Good?” I was pissed and Cory looked like he’d just been dealt the winning hand in a poker game. And he wasn’t worried about telling the table, either.

“He doesn’t like what’s happening here. And his discomfort about it suits me just fine.”

I let out a laugh, but it sounded watery, and behind it ran the remnants of emotion that conversation had dredged up.

Cory pushed off the chest, approaching me slowly. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he sat on the bed beside me. He swept his hand down my back, his touch so gentle and patient. The complete opposite of ten minutes ago.

I inhaled in a rush, trying to push everything back down. “Nothing. It’s just the first holiday we’ve spent apart.” Saying the words out loud, picturing his face when he’d told me he missed me, it didn’t help to stem the flood of tears.

“Hey,” Cory whispered, pulling me into him. “That’s really hard, Sky. You guys are a unit, it makes total sense that you’d miss him.”

“But I can handle missing him. It’s him missing me...” I broke off, the words lodging in my throat. I didn’t know where all this was coming from. On the heels of that orgasm, I’d have thought I’d be riding high—and riding Cory—not falling to pieces in his arms.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, his lips to my temple as he ran his hands down my back over and over again, smoothing my hair out of my face with tender fingers. “He’ll be okay, Sky.”

I knew that. I did. In the rational part of my brain, I knew Micah was fine. He was probably already eating candy and jumping off the bed, or whatever else his father let him do that I never did. But hearing Cory say it helped.

I nuzzled into him, knowing I was getting his shirt wet with my tears, but needing his closeness. “Thank you,” I scraped out, wiping my cheek. “I’m really glad I’m here with you.” I tilted to glance up at him, and the look on his face was like a fresh stab to the heart. Hesitation and uncertainty swirled in his eyes.

“Yeah?”

I cupped his cheek, running my thumb along the hard edge of his jaw while he searched my gaze. “There is nowhere else I’d rather be, Cory, than right here with you.”

His eyes drifted closed and he nuzzled into my hand, and my heart felt like it was too big for my chest.

“Me too,” he whispered, his eyes still closed.

“I’m sorry I ruined the moment.”

He smiled, his eyes opening up with a renewed light. “We’ve got time for lots more moments, Sky.”

And I didn’t know if he meant this weekend or the year of our contract, or something else. But I wasn’t going to ask. Whatever it was, I’d take it. Because what I’d told him was true: there was nowhere I’d rather be than in his arms.

CHAPTER 30

CORY

“You’re going to enjoy this, Skylar,” Jake was saying from the back seat as I pulled onto the main road. “It’s not competitive by any means, but it’s a riot watching Mack and Cory try to keep up with a professional athlete.”

Skylar’s eyes slid my way. She’d already picked up on my father’s opinion of my profession, his disregard didn’t sit well with her, but at least she knew it didn’t bother me. Much.

“I don’t know, I think the Ellis brothers might be...” she stalled out, her eyes fixed on the old Jordan farm as it came into view. The yellow paint was flaking off, and the front stoop leaned at an unsettling angle. But with the blue sky behind it and a giant weeping willow out front, I guessed it had a certain appeal. I’d never given it much thought. It’d been vacant and rotting for so long.

Jake leaned forward between the seats. “That place is a real gem. Josh Jordan’s folks raised, what, six sons in that house? It’s got more history than the Heisman trophy.”

Skylar couldn’t stop staring, turning in her seat as we passed the wide-porched, two-story farmhouse with fields rolling away from it like it was perched on an island in the middle of a sea of tall grass.

“It’s like out of a book or something.”

I tugged on her coat, trying to get her to sit right. “Hands inside the vehicle ma’am.” She laughed, swatting me away as she settled back in her seat. “Farmhouses like those are a dime a dozen in these parts,” I covered my mouth as a burp slipped loose, taking the turn into the high school. “We’ve got a titch more history than you West coasters,” I said, holding up my hand and pinching my forefinger and thumb. She reached to snatch it out of the air, but when she missed, she leveled me with a look that was anything but impressed.

“Not all history is good history.”

At that moment I had a very current example to offer. “I know. I shouldn’t have had that extra turkey leg,” I mumbled, sliding out of the rental car with a groan.

“I told you, you were being a glutton,” Jake said from behind me, closing his door with a hearty laugh.

“But it was so good.”

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