Page 72 of The Temptation
“Do you really think Pierce will come around?” I asked in a small, quiet voice.
“What?” Parker lurched upright, his hair standing up in every direction, looking dazed and very confused. “Are you serious?”
Liam gave a jaw-cracking yawn. “Of course. He adores you. He tries to hide it, but you can hear it when he lets himself talk about you.”
“But he also loved Sawyer like a brother. He made some dumbass promise to protect me. I don’t want to be protected. I want to be loved as his boyfriend.I want sex!”
Byron sighed happily and shifted so that he was lying more on the couch. “Mmmm…sex with Sebastian is the best.”
I muffled a giggle, but Parker and Liam had no qualms about nearly falling over laughing.
“Fuck. I’ve gotta remember Byron is a lightweight.” Parker cackled. “He’s too adorable.” The larger man shoved to his feet and shuffled to Byron. “I’ll get him up to a bed. He’s partied out.”
“I’ll get all these plates and glasses to the kitchen for Chef Donovan and Franks,” Liam offered. He stood, swaying only slightly.
I rose at the same time as Liam. “I’ll help.”
We made quick work of getting things tidied up. It wasn’t perfectly clean, but we also didn’t leave it a pigsty.
“Seriously, Simon, I believe Pierce is going to come back here with the desire to make a genuine effort at dating. It won’t be perfect. Pierce strikes me as the type to get bossy, but I’m sure you can whip him into shape.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I just might like Pierce’s bossy side. However, I was also a fan of arguing with him when he was feeling bossy, so it was a win-win for me.
“Are you saying that you and Rome still get into arguments?” I taunted.
Liam had finished rinsing out our glasses in the sink, and he shot me the most unamused look over his shoulder. “All the fucking time.”
I snickered, and that only egged him on.
“I love Rome with everything I am, but there are days he can’t sit still. It boggles my mind to this day that he’s a librarian. I don’t know how they deal with him at the library, unless he saves up all that energy until he’s with me.”
“That’s probably the case,” I agreed.
Liam leaned his hip against the sink and folded his arms across his chest. “And sometimes we fall into the trap of clinging to old, distrustful thoughts. There were a lot of years when we hated each other for all the wrong reasons. Sometimes our brains conjure that shit up when we’re tired or frustrated. We’ve learned that we have to take a step back and remind ourselves that all that shit is done. Pierce will need more time after this trip to still deal with old pain.”
“So, be patient.”
“Exactly. It’ll be worth it.”
Liam and I stumbled our way through the house to the second floor, where we poked our heads into different bedrooms, trying to locate the ones that contained our belongings. I flopped onto the comfortable mattress, so grateful that I hadn’t tried to stick the night out on the couch. This was so much better.
But the best thing was sleeping in Pierce’s bed, his larger body spooning me, his arm draped across my waist, his lips kissing the top of my head when he thought I was already asleep.
Fuck. Please let them be right.
I didn’t need a big, showy apology. I just wanted Pierce to hold me again.
25
PIERCE SUTTON
It was becoming harderand harder to avoid Simon. Especially since he was currently living in my house.
Upon returning from Charlotte, the first thing I’d wanted to do was race to Declan’s house and beg Simon to give me a second chance after the mess I’d made of things so far. I really believed he wouldn’t hesitate to take me back and forgive all the bullshit I’d heaped on him for so long.
But he deserved better than that. He deserved to be showered with love and devotion. He needed proof that I loved him and treasured everything about him. And this evidence needed to be something he’d see every damn day when he was doing the thing he loved most.
To accomplish this task, I needed help. Lots of it.
