Page 66 of Crash

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he says as I follow him upstairs to his bedroom.

“Shut up,” I say. My words got jumbled in a large hiccup, which causes him to laugh at me. “I was hungry, okay. I haven’t been eating that well”

“I think that double bacon cheeseburger weighed more than you do. I’m pretty sure I saw you dislodge your jaw. And why haven’t you been eating?” He gestures for me to sit on the bed, and when I do, he helps me take off my boots. When he takes his shoes off, we both lie on our backs on top of his bedspread.

“I was miserable and stressed. I don’t eat well when I’m stressed.” He pulls me to his side, and I lace my legs with his.

“There wasn’t a second I didn’t think about you. Even at the funeral, all I could think about was you.”

“Same,” I say, changing the subject and asking the one question that’s been on my mind all afternoon. “So, who is Victoria Palmer?” I feel the tension in his body at the mention of that name, so I trace my hand across his chest to help him relax.

“My ex. It ended around the time we bumped into each other in the parking lot. In fact, when I bumped into you, I had just flown in from California. That’s where she’s from, and I went there to speak with her, but she wasn’t interested in seeing me.”

“Why did you break up?” I ask.

He looks at me, his body gone completely tense. He doesn’t speak for several seconds. Finally, he shrugs before he says, “The relationship ran its course. We were together until we weren’t. She’s not who I thought she was.”

“She’s really beautiful.” My gut tells me there’s more to the story. If she’s not who he thought, something happened to change the way he saw her.

“You think so? Maybe she is on the outside, but when I think of beauty, she’s not who I think about. I think about you and your wild, messy hair and how your cheeks turn pink when you’re excited. I think about how beautiful you look when you laugh. Sometimes you laugh so hard, you snort and that makes you laugh even harder. And you know what I love the most about you? You are the most honest and fearless person I know. You busted into my office and spilled your heart out. I can never get enough of that girl. No one else has ever or will ever come close.”

I sigh and cuddle closer to him. I reach up and softly kiss his cheek.

“And you’re so sweet when you want to be,” he says.

“When I want to be?” I ask, a wide smile on my lips as I continue to kiss him.

“Mmhmm. Underneath all that bluster, you’re sweet. You are like your aunt and Sandy. You love hard, and you’ll do anything for the people you care about. Come here,” he says. He turns his head and captures my lips, leaving all thoughts of Victoria Palmer aside.

He moves his body closer to mine as he deepens the kiss.

“No,” I say as I pull away. “I had onions on that burger.” I hop off the bed and grab my bag. “I need to shower and to brush my teeth first.”

He jumps off the bed, and despite sleeping together for weeks, I’m still amazed by the site of his erection.

He holds his hand out to me. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 38

LUKE

Our eyes never break contact. We undress each other, her touch leaving goosebumps as her fingertips graze across my skin. Unable to bear her touch for another second without giving in to my desire to have her, I take her hand and lift it to my lips. With my eyes never leaving hers, I guide her into the huge shower. She stands to the corner and when the shower starts to fill with steam, I pull her to my naked body, the water beating against her shower cap. I grab my shower gel and we take turns washing each other, sharing kisses and soft touches.

Soon, I’m wrapping her in a huge towel. She steps out of the bathroom, telling me she’s going to get ready.

I give her some time as I dry off, and debate whether I should put on underwear. In the end, I decide that it will only take a few seconds to take the damn underwear off. When I step inside the room, I notice she’s dimmed the lights and is waiting for me on top of my bedspread. Unlike me, she’s completely naked. By the time I take the few short steps to the bed, I’m already semi-hard.

I stop short when I get a full look at her.

“What’s this?” I ask as I point to a small red bow resting right below her belly button.

“This is the Christmas gift I was going to give you. This,” she says, pointing to her lower body, a pink blush on her cheeks. “And this.” She hands me a small bag.

“You’re giving me your body and,” I reach inside the bag and pull out a small flat package, “a package of birth control pills?”

“It’s my second package of birth control pills.”

She’s now leaning on her side, watching me, presumably waiting for me to understand her gift, but all I do is scratch my head in confusion.

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