Page 83 of Needing Your Love
I considered Darla who’d had him first, and I grew hot and stabby, fingers itchy to knife a bitch for even looking at what was mine.
“What?” I bit out the word. “You seem mad about my past right now.”
Sutton snorted and swatted my thigh. “Far from it, baby boy. I was thinking that all those men had you for an hour or two, but I get to have you in my bed every night. I’m one lucky man.”
I slumped against Sutton’s chest, not having realized my body had tensed. A heavy exhale rid my gut of its ugliness.
“Sorry,” I muttered, closing my eyelids, telling myself I had to do better or Sutton would get sick of me. “Insecurities again.”
He kissed the top of my head before grasping my throat to pull my face toward his.
I peered up at him with an odd angle to my neck, and the adoration in his gaze, the complete lack of any negative emotion caused my eyes to sting. “Kiss me,” I whispered before he could speak, so damned needy for him that my chest wanted to crack open.
He lifted me, situating me atop his lap, and framed my face with his hands. “I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you, sweet boy. Would move the mountains surrounding this town to give you whatever you need.”
I didn’t have the guts to speak up about how long I dreamed of him feeling that way toward me, and Sutton took my mouth, keeping me from begging for the wordforeverwhispering in my mind.
I sank into him, wishing I could curl up inside him where no one would ever be able to tear us apart.
Chapter 31
Sutton
The days ran together, and I couldn’t ever remember ever experiencing such contentment. No amount of angst around town, Kurt stumbling drunk off his ass again on Main Street and needing a ride home, or having to hand over a speeding ticket to a newly licensed driver could take away the lightness in my chest or the bounce in my steps.
Even when exhausted some mornings while heading into the station from having stayed up too late loving on Jimmy, the feeling of weightlessness remained. Jimmy claimed he was blissed out, and I agreed with his description.
Halloween was now only two weeks away, and my boyfriend? roommate? helped me decorate the front lawn even though I would be out on patrol that night and he would be handing out mini Snickers on his own. We’d driven down into Berlin for some extra skeletons and fake tombstones to prop up in the yard. We also had a massive bowl of candy, which both of us couldn’t keep our hands out of. Every night, we fed each other tiny chocolate bars before kissing the sweetness left behind on our tongues.
Next year, I’d told him, we would be buying two bags earlier in the month because I couldn’t get enough of him.
His eyes had lit up, and I’d thought about having the little chat about our future that I’d been putting off until after the closing on his dad’s house in November.
I hoped he would stay. Move out of The Moose he hadn’t slept in for three weeks, pack up all his stuff at his condo in Boston, and come home for good. I felt sure he desired the same but I didn’t want to jump the gun or push him into making a decision until the responsibilities that had brought him back to Pippen Creek were taken care of.
“You about ready?” I hollered up the stairs, having already done so fifteen minutes earlier. The boy took forever to get pretty for me even though I told him every day he was beautiful to me sleepy-eyed, fresh out of the shower, or sweaty after playing basketball with DJ.
It was Friday night, and the football game for the week was at the home stadium south of town, so I’d expected Jimmy to primp more than usual.
“Two minutes!” Jimmy called, and I pulled my winter coat and the one I’d bought for him while we’d been on that shopping spree down in Berlin out of the entryway closet. I’d gotten him a navy-blue hooded jacket he’d turned his nose up at, but the freezing temperatures the past three days changed his mind about it not being flattering. The coat brought out the blue in his eyes though and kept his trim body warm, both wins in my mind.
He skipped down the stairs, cheeks pink, a light sheen of gloss on his lips, and my pulse thrummed, pumping blood straight to my groin.
I groaned, shaking my head and holding out the jacket for him to slip into.
His knowing wink and blown kiss had me fake glowering. “No teasing,” I ordered. “I promised Jamie we’d be there tonight.”
“Wasn’t my fault you couldn’t control yourself and we missed last week’s game,” Jimmy sassed while zipping up.
I lingered in checking my boy out from head to toes. He’d put on baggier jeans because I’d insisted on him wearing thermals underneath since his usual skintight ones wouldn’t do a damned thing to keep the cold from his smooth skin. Wool socks and fur-lined boots covered his piggies, ugly troll feet, he’d claimed when I’d purchased them to ensure my baby boy stayed warm.
“Hat and gloves?” I suggested, and he grumbled something about messing up his hair that had taken an hour to tame.
I stood unmoved.
Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He snatched the hat I’d lain out for him and jammed it atop his head, sticking out his tongue. “Happy now?”
“I will be later once your ass is properly reddened,” I promised, tugging on my own beanie and grabbing the keys off the hook by the door.
