Page 15 of From Us, Forever

“Jay, why would you do that? I was talking to Tyler,” I whined as he carried me upstairs. “Oh, and do you want to know what I did?”

“What?” His soft eyes met mine.

“I slapped your friend Sasha in the face.” I giggled, blinking as I held up a finger. “No, wait. Maybe Katy did or Lily, or even me, I don’t know.”

I was still giggling like a little girl on a sugar high.

“Is it?” His lips twitched, shaking his head.

“Yeah. How do you know her?” I slurred as he dropped me on the bed. Strawberry jumped on top of me and cuddled close. I settled my cheek on her soft fur, pulling her closer to me.

His answer never reached my ears because darkness consumed mein a deep slumber.

CHAPTER 4

My neck felt like it had been cemented with bricks, and a marching band played inside my head.

My mouth wasdry as I lifted my heavy eyelids open.

A shock of blinding sunlight invaded my vision, making the pounding harder inside my head.

“No,” I moaned as I twisted in the cloud of sheets, pressing the bridge of my nose. “Go away.”

“It won’t just go because you ask it to.” A looming presence came into my field of vision. “Here.” He tugged me to a seat and handed me a glass of ice-cold water. “Drink.”

I nodded, grateful, and then downed the entire thing in one go.

“Swallow.” He dropped two white pills on my palm.

I did as he said before I slid out of bed. “I need a shower,” I said, and the first step I took, my knee almost bent in half.

“Careful,” he said, holding my hand as he led my limping self to the bathroom.

Yesterday’s shenanigans were catching up to me. I shouldn’t have ran that hard. It was fun, though. But the pain screaming in my knee thought otherwise.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I settled in front of the counter. I was taken aback as I peered at the raccoon eyes staring at me in the mirror. My hair was wild, my lipstick smeared all over my chin, and my dress crushed like paper.

“I tried to get this off you last night.” Jay’s brows furrowed in concentration while he untied the intricate knots down the back of my dress. “But it wasn’t an easy task with you tossing a limb at me every second.”

“I thought you liked taking dresses off me, Jay,” I teased, smiling as I met his eyes in the mirror before going straight to the toothbrush. I squeezed a generous amount of toothpaste on it and brushed my teeth vigorously.

He was still undoing the knots when I ran a warm washcloth over my face, taking off all the evidence of last night.

“Fuck, finally.” He blew out a breath as the dress pooled at my feet. “Next time, I’m ripping it off you.” He smoothed his hand faintly over my waist as my back touched his bare chest.

“I love you,” I whispered, lacing my fingers with his.

“Hmm.” He nuzzled his face in the hollow of my neck. “I love you more.”

I shimmied out of my underwear while he pulled away his sweatpants before we both hopped in the shower.

I groaned as the steamy water hit my back. “Have I told you how much I love your shower?”

“More times than you’ve said you love me.” He lathered a heavy amount of shampoo in his palms and massaged itthrough my scalp, washing my hair. “You love my bed, you love my shower, and you love me, which is why I think it’s a great idea for you to move in with me.”

“This again,” I mumbled, my eyes fluttering from the pressure of his fingers. God, it was so good.

I wanted to do the same for him, but he was so damn tall, so I lathered some of his body wash instead and worked it across his skin.

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