Page 16 of Falling for You
I let out a breath as he walks away. Once he’s safely gone and out of sight, I grab the hard cider from the counter, crack it open and plop down on the bed.
I try to scroll my phone but Roman is too in my head.
I pull up a text to him, he should be closing now and my brothers should be on their way home.
Me:You owe me an orgasm.
Roman:Date didn’t go well?
Me:You could say that.
My phone rings in my hand and I see Roman’s photo flash on the screen. I hesitate to answer. Do I want to do this again? Do I want to open myself up to be rejected yet again?
Yes. Yes, I do. I’m a glutton for punishment, obviously.
I swipe the green button at the bottom of the screen. “Hey.”
“Hey there. He looked pretty sloppy on the way out. He doesn’t know how you like to be touched, am I right?” His deep voice fills the space of my bedroom.
“No one does,” I admit. “No one touches me like you.”
He growls on the other end of the line, “You can’t say shit like that, Sunshine.”
“And you can’t pull what you pulled in the bathroom. Or calling me Sunshine. You don’t deserve to use the nickname you gave me if you’re too scared to face Hunter.”
He started calling me Sunshine last summer. The bar would always close late at night so he missed the sunsets every day. If I wasn’t there waiting for him I’d send a photo every night right before the sun dipped below the horizon. I relish the nickname. But I mean what I say this time. He needs to grow a pair and tell my brother. I would, but it’s not my best friend. So I’m leaving the decision to him. If he wants this, he needs to fight for it.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m going to tell him. I promise. I need you, I need to hear you moan when I kiss you, gripping your neck tight before I slam my mouth into you. I need to wake up tangled with you in my bed.” I hear him sigh.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can do that again,” I admit.
“It’ll be different this time. I need you like I need air to breathe, Sunshine. I don’t want to feel like I’m suffocating anymore.”
“When Rome?” I whisper out.
“Soon. I will. Just give me some time to figure it out. Please?”
“I’ll give you one month. That puts us at a year of this… whatever this is. Then you either have to give me up, or I’ll tell Hunter myself.”
I hate being that girl. The one who gives an ultimatum. But I’ve spent more of my life pining for Roman Thomas than I have actually being with him, or any other man. Since I had a taste of what it was like to be with him, I don’t want to give it up, but I don’t want to pine for him for the rest of my life in secrecy either.
“One month,” he repeats. “I can do it in one month.”
I yawn, sinking further back into my pillows, the sun, heat and alcohol taking over my heavy eyelids. I lay my phone on the pillow next to me, curling my hands under my chin.
“Go to sleep, Sunshine. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Mmkay, love you Rome.”
I wake up with my phone flat on my face, and a vague recollection of telling Roman I love him. Fuck, I hope I didn’t do that.
I can’t just ask him if I did. It was probably a dream.Right?
Before I can even fully open my eyes, my front door barges open, much earlier than usual.
I cringe, knowing that Hunter is paying this particular construction site a visit this morning to see if there is an unwanted guest in my bed. I need to revoke his key to the cabin. But Liam would just let him in with the spares we keep in the office.
I pull the blankets up over my head and groan, snuggling further into my blanket nest.
