Page 40 of Unbreak Me
“I’m barely hanging on,” I softly growl.
“Maybe it’s time you let go,” she whispers.
“Maybe it’s time I did.” I force myself to take a step back even though every part of me wants to go toward her. “But not tonight. You’ve had too much to drink, and I’m not about to do something that either of us will regret in the morning.”
“I haven’t had too much to drink.” She pushes herself off the post, and I catch her by the elbow as she sways. “Oh God.” She covers her mouth, and I have just enough warning to hold her hair before she bends over and empties her stomach onto the sand.
“You were saying?” I chuckle softly.
“I think I liked it better when you were avoiding me,” she groans.
Laughing, I pull out my phone and text Travis that it’s time to go and to meet us at his truck. Putting it back in my pocket, I scoop Eve up in my arms and hear her moan softly against my chest.
Travis chuckles when he sees us walking up to the truck. “Did the tequila get the best of you?”
“Don’t mention the word tequila,” she mumbles.
Sophia hands Eve a bottle of water. “Drink some of this. It will help.”
“Thanks.” She takes a sip and sighs. “I’m so sorry I ruined your night out. You guys don’t have to leave. I can Uber back home if you want to stay.”
“You didn’t ruin our night,” Sophia laughs. “We told the babysitter midnight, and it’s almost 11:30, so we were leaving soon anyway.”
“I’ve got to get my wife to bed,” Travis points to Sophia.
“Hey…I’m not that drunk. I’m not even tired yet.” Her green eyes narrow at Travis.
“Who said anything about going to sleep?” He winks and opens the truck door for her.
“I like where your mind is going,” she giggles and hops into the truck. Chuckling, he opens the back door for us and walks over to the driver’s side.
By the time we get home, Eve’s sleeping against me.
Sophia looks over her shoulder at me. “Go ahead and get Eve to bed. I’ll watch Ryland until you come to get her.”
“Thanks.” I gently lift Eve up and carry her back to my place. I bypass the couch and head for my bedroom instead. Lying her down, I take off her sandals and get one of my t-shirts from my drawer. I dress her quickly, not wanting to torture myself with images of her finally naked in my bed.
Pulling the covers around her, I head to the main house to get Ryland. She barely stirs as I lie her down in her bed. Smiling, I kiss her soft curls before turning on her night light.
When I come back in to check on Eve, she is still sleeping. I place a glass of water on the nightstand with two Motrins that I know she’ll need in the morning.
I start to leave, but her soft voice stops me. “Stay…please.” I glance down, and her blue eyes blink sleepily up at me. “I just want to feel you next to me again while I sleep.” The plea in her voice has me lifting my shirt and stripping down to my black boxers.
She turns away from me as I climb in, and I know she’s remembering how we used to sleep. I feel another piece of my wall crumble as I settle behind her and bring her close. Emotions slam into me as she sighs and burrows deeper against me. Her strawberry scent hits me as I breathe deeply into her soft hair.
“Thank you,” she whispers before sleep takes her back under.
My arm around her tightens as I hold her close to me. I’ve craved her body next to me for years, and I wasn’t prepared for the rush of feelings it brings to hold her like this again. I want this every night for the rest of my life. She said she was waiting for me to be ready, and I really hope she means it because I don’t have the strength to stay away anymore.
I scroll through my emails,but I’m not able to focus as I wait for Eve to appear in my office. We have a meeting in five minutes to go over her trial this week. It’s completely unnecessary, but it was already scheduled and will give me a chance to say a few more things that I held back in our last interview.
She walks in, and my breath still gets stolen every time I see her. It took everything in me to leave her sleeping this morningwhen all I wanted to do was wake her up with the feeling of me being inside her like she used to love.
By the time I got back from the gym, she was showered and feeding Ryland breakfast. I told her to take the day off if she wasn’t feeling good, but she insisted it was just a small headache thanks to the Motrin I left by the bed.
“How has your morning been? Headache better?” I’ve been under a car all morning and haven’t seen her since she arrived.
“Headache is gone. Thank God.” She hesitates, looking embarrassed. “Thanks for taking care of me last night. If you couldn’t tell, I haven’t drank in a long time,” she gives a small laugh.
