Page 78 of Daddy Issues

I laid down, inching back against him until the warmth of his large body enveloped me, and closed my eyes tight. “I don’t want you to leave, but I’m scared of what happens if you stay.” It was easier to say things when I didn’t have to look at him.

Puck stayed where he was. The even rise and fall of his chest was soothing.

“We sleep, Kenna. That’s it.”

“And tomorrow?”

He curled his knees into the backs of mine, spooning me against him.

“We worry about that tomorrow.” He was so matter of fact that it made it easy to trust in him.

And when his arm snaked around my hip, beneath the sheet I’d pulled up over me, I allowed myself to soak up the comfort his touch brought.

Kenna

The size difference between Puck and I was never more obvious than when I had to shimmy from beneath him to climb from the bed. He didn’t so much as grunt as I nudged his shoulder enough to roll from beneath the half of his body that was sprawled atop me.

At least I’d slept warm.

The bright morning light from the large, undressed windows didn’t seem to bother him at all. If he hadn’t been here, I’d have taped blankets in the window and tried for a few more hours of sleep.

Instead, I needed to move, to do something. So much had happened the past few days that I couldn’t cut my brain off, not even for a second. There was a single-cup coffee maker, with little pods in the tray beside it, on the counter in the small kitchenette.

I made a cup, scavenged for some powdered creamer and sugar, and sat at the eat in bar, scrolling through my phone. Iwas deliciously sore from sex, a fact that made me grin…until I saw the message from Ghost on my phone.

I need to see you, it’s important.

The easiest thing to do was ignore him. Pretty sure Puck wouldn’t want his new girlfriend—if that’s what this really was—running off to meet with her ex. I left Ghost on read and checked the weather. Dry. For the next few weeks, then the promise of rain. I snorted at that. The town’s name was Dry Valley for a reason.

Pickles. Please.

His dad had been a mean drunk when he was around, and my mom an addict and abuser. Growing up as neighbors meant, a lot of time, we only had each other. Pickles was his code word when shit went south.

I fired back a quick text of my own, because I couldn’t ignore that, even after all the shit he’d put me through. At the end of the day, a large part of me would forever be that little girl with no one to cling to.

Tunnels. Noon.

“You’re up early.” Puck’s powerful arms wrapped around me as I placed the phone on the counter. He kissed my hair before going to the coffee pot himself.

“The sun…can’t get any sleep with it. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“You didn’t, I set an alarm.”

I’d been so caught up in Ghost’s messages I hadn’t heard it.

Wearing only his boxers, Puck’s body was on full display. I swiped at the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand as I watched all those sexy muscles move with the mundane task.

I could go again, right then. All he’d have to do was pick me up and bend me over something, anything.

When he turned and caught me watching, I hid behind a deep sip of my coffee.

“I’ll go down to the hardware store and get some blinds made, it’ll be a few days before they come in.”

“No biggie, I can hang up a blanket in the one by the door and be fine.”

He eyed me over the rim of his mug as he leaned against the counter. Puck always had this way of studying people, like he was drawing them in his mind. The quiet intensity often made people squirm, me for an entirely different reason.

“I’ve got some MC shit today. Want me to hang up those blankets so you can get some rest?”

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