Page 94 of Absolutely Pucked
My eyes got hot, and to my horror, when I tried to speak, my throat got all tight and rough. I was not a crier. I really wasn’t. He was turning me all upside down and inside out.
“You don’t have to say it back.”
“I can’t,” I rasped. “I mean, I do. But…it’s…I’m…”
He gentled his touch on me, palming my cheek and taking a softer kiss this time. “That’s good enough for now.”
For now.
With a heavy breath, I sat back and waved at my legs. “Carry on.”
He grinned as he finished his business, pulling off my pants, tossing my shoe to the side, unstrapping my prosthetic belt, and easing the socket off my stump. He gave it a gentle massage for a few moments, then yanked a pair of definitely new pajama pants from the floor. They were neatly folded and dark purple with black cats all over them.
“I couldn’t find any that looked like Nugget, so I went with Athena-themed ones,” he said as he gently lifted my foot and slid my leg inside. It was when they were around my hips that I realized he’d cut and hemmed the second pant leg to just barely rest at the edge of my residual limb. “I hope I got this right.”
“You’re as good at getting things right as you are at getting things wrong,” I told him honestly. “Ghosting me was a big fuckup, but this is making up for it.”
“Yeah?” He sounded insecure, like maybe I wasn’tstill ass over tits in love with him after the two weeks he’d been gone.
“Come on,” he urged, standing up and helping me join him. He took most of my weight so I could take small hops, and then I dropped down to crawl into the tent. It was covered in pillows and blankets that were also obviously new.
“Do I want to know how much you spent on this?”
“My accounts were unfrozen, so I splurged,” he told me.
I turned around and crossed my leg before looking at him. “I see. So you and Delia worked things out?”
He gave a solemn nod. “I’m getting divorced. I called my old boss and told him to go fuck himself, and if he tried to stop me from doing anything, I was going to expose his ass in court. He backed down. Delia called Tucker?—”
“Wait. Shut up. She did not.” The balls on that woman were bull-sized. Minotaur-sized. Fuck’s sake. “What did she want?”
“To chat him up. Then to see if he would give up info on me so she could convince me to work it out with her. I’m sorry to say I’m still getting divorced.”
I grinned. “My heart is crying for her.”
Snorting, he leaned in and stole another kiss. “I still don’t have a job or a real place to live, but I have my car back. I’m getting my life back.”
“So, are you going back to California, or?—”
“I’ll have to for the divorce, but I’m done with that place. This is my home.” He touched the side of my jaw. “You are my home.”
Every emotion I’d been trying to hold back hit melike cascading, rolling thunder. I let out a single gasp, and then suddenly, I found myself in his arms, kissing him frantic, desperate, pouring every ounce of pain I’d been feeling in his long absence from my mouth to his.
He kissed me back with the same feral ferocity, grunting as he yanked me into his lap, gasping as he thrust up against me, his mouth wide, tongue sliding against my own. “Ford,” he murmured, half-whine, half-gasp. “Ford, Ford.”
He said my name like it meant something. Like it was important.
Like I was worthy.
With a small grunt, I stopped the kissing and pulled back, adjusting myself on his lap so my leg hooked around his back. We were both breathing heavy, both a little unsteady, his hands roaming over me like he wasn’t sure where to touch me, or how much, or for how long.
I met his gaze and squared my shoulders. I was ready for this. I’d never said it to a partner before. I’d never even thought about it with anyone. Not like this. Tucker and Boden were different, but so was Killian.
“I owe you an apology for knowing damn well we could have talked to Tucker and worked this out,” I started. “I knew your brother better than that, and I take responsibility for that pain. The way I wanted you was warring with the guilt I felt because it was almost like I was taking your side over his.”
“I know,” he rasped, dragging fingertips along my arms.
Leaning forward, I knocked my forehead against his and kissed him softly. “The way I wanted you was likenothing I’d ever felt before. I didn’t want to admit it, but it scared the absolute shit out of me.”
