Page 61 of Our Secrets and Scars

He kneels in front of me and cups my face in his large hands. “Don’t sweat it, little one. I get it. I know you, remember?”

“It’s just hard to let go of how hurt I was when my letters went unreturned,” I admit, eyes turned down to the floor. “And I know you didn’t get them and it wasn’t your fault at all, but sometimes I forget that. All I can remember is feeling abandoned and rejected.”

“Little one, look at me.” Shyly, I blink up at him. “I’m not going to abandon you, I’m not going anywhere, okay? You mean too much to me to hurt you like that. And I know you find that hard to believe, but it’s true and you’re just gonna have to learn to trust me.”

“Okay,” I breathe. “I’ll try.”

“You know I wrote you letters too?”

“What?” My heart stutters.

“Yeah, a few. After I got out, the first opportunity I had, I wrote to you. And when the first went unanswered, I wrote another and another, until I realized that maybe you just didn’t want me anymore.”

“I didn’t get them,” I whisper. “Where did you send them?”

“Twin Falls.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve been avoiding going back home for months, simply to avoid my parents. They’ve called, they’ve texted, they’ve practically begged me to visit when I can, but I’ve always made excuses why I can’t.

If I’d stopped being such a coward and just gone home, I could have saved us both so much unnecessary heartache.

“I gave you my new address in my letters.”

He looks at me pointedly. “The letters I didn’t get?”

I nod with a long sigh.

“What a fucking mess.”

“Well,” he grins, “we’re here now, aren’t we?”

I smile, it’s hard not to when he’s looking at me like he’s never seen a better view in his life. When his eyes are glittering with reverence, wide and adoring. I’m sure I’m looking at him the very same way.

“I guess so.”

We stare at each other for a few long moments, his eyes darting between mine, dipping down to my lips, and back up again. I lick them on instinct, and his eyelids shutter.

“So, what did you want to do toda—”

I’m silenced by the press of Holden’s mouth to mine. His fingers wind into the long strands of my hair, tilting my head back. We moan as our tongues touch, twisting together, our hearts beating a rhythm only we know.

He pulls away, his eyes still closed. And when he finally opens them, they’re aglow with flickering flames.

“That,” he whispers. “I wanted to do that.”

Sixteen

Holden

Kinsleylaunchesoffthecouch, attacking me with starving kisses. Though the force of it threatens to knock me over, I’m somehow able to catch her. Wrapping my hands around her thighs, I pull them around my waist, and we gasp into each other’s mouths, making love with just our lips and hands.

“Is this okay?”

She answers by sucking my tongue into her mouth and grazing her teeth gently across the top of it. It drives me fucking wild. My fingers dig bruises into the soft flesh of her ass as I pull her closer, grinding her against my hard length until she’s just as crazed as I am.

Her fingers weave into the wild strands of my hair, pulling to the point of pain. It only makes me wilder. I’m feral in the way I kiss her, all tongue and teeth and growls of pleasure. Just the taste of her lips alone is enough to make me crazy. Add in the touch of her body against mine and the sounds she’s making, and I’m damn near certifiable.

With purposeful strides, I carry her through to the bedroom, and all the while, she continues to assault my lips with her own. Laying her onto the bed, I tower over her, smirking at the way she rubs her legs together.

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