Page 49 of Cross My Heart

“You know that’s never mattered when it comes to us.”

“Well it should,” I snap. “I can’t?—”

Tyler moves closer to me, and my breath hitches in my throat. We’re so close I can see the way his clear-blue eyes are dilated and can make out his prominent cupid’s bow even in the darkness. A half-smile tilts his lips up, and when he licks his lips, my eyes track the movement.

“You can’t what?” he asks with a husky voice.

“I can’t do this with you,” I breathe. “You?—”

“I chose you first,” he growls. “And you rejected me.”

“Well…” I chuckle. “You chose her for life.”

“Fuck that.” Ty shakes his head, cupping my face with one hand and leaning in closer until I can practically taste the mint on his breath. “Tell me to leave her.”

“No.”

“Tell. Me. To. Leave. Her.”

“No,” I growl. “If you leave her, it will be for you. Not for me. Why the fuck do you need my permission so badly? Grow the fuck up, Ty. Maybe then I’ll be able to believe you when you say you want me.”

“Fuck you, Noah,” Tyler spits out.

“Yes, love.” I grin and he narrows his eyes. “I know you want that so fucking bad, don’t you?”

“Shut up,” he snaps. “Take shit seriously for once in your life.”

“Tyler, Iamserious,” I sigh, trying to pull away, but he just tightens his grip on my face until it’s painful. I hiss. “If you leave her, it has to be for you. Because you’re unhappy and that’s what you want. Don’t do it to be in a relationship with me.”

“And then what?” he asks. “I leave her and lose the two people who matter most to me? Is that really what you recommend?”

My hands begin to shake, and I breathe in deeply. “You’ll never lose me.”

“I already have,” Ty whispers.

“Never,” I whisper back.

Tyler leans in even closer until his lips brush against mine, and I lose it. Grabbing the back of his neck, I pull his face toward me, effectively closing the rest of the space between us. His lips are pillowy soft and fucking heavenly. I’m floating on a cloud of bliss as I part my lips, letting him suck on my bottom lip, and when he thrusts his tongue into my waiting mouth, I moan.

Tyler is it for me. He is the beginning and end of my world. The missing piece to my scattered puzzle. The other half of my heart. And frankly, I don’t know how I’ve been living without him this whole time.

He pulls away from me, taking my lip with him, and dragging his teeth over it. I taste blood when he lets go, and my cock thickens to a painful degree. The water is suddenly hotter, and I’m sweating. Ineedhim. I need him right fucking now.

“Come here, Ty,” I tell him. “I need you.”

He straddles my lap, our cocks brushing against each other, and I groan. I kiss him again, harder, deeper, and the sounds coming from him are my goddamn undoing. I could come just from hearing him. He pulls away and stares at me with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth. He looks destroyed, absolutely wrecked by me, and I’ve never loved the sight of him more than I do now. Because he looks likemine.

And so, when he leans back in and presses his lips to mine, wrapping a hand around our cocks, I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling. Because I know it’s going to be over before I know it.

And in the morning?

We’ll both pretend this never happened.

Chapter 25

TYLER

28 YEARS OLD

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