Page 24 of From the Wreckage
For a moment, I don’t trust my voice.
“That is so sweet.” My voice trembles, overwhelmed by what I’m feeling.
A smile curves his lips. “Only for you.”
Our eye contact holds, the air charged between us.
My mind nags at me, reminding me that Joey and I aren’t over yet. Even though we aren’t officially boyfriend and girlfriend because Joey doesn’t like labels. Still, the guilt nags at me enough that I stand and walk toward a flat stone beside the dock, then toss it into the water. It skips once, twice, then plunks under. “Not bad, huh?”
Everett chuckles low in his throat and gets up, finding his own stone. “Not bad if you’re a rookie.”
I turn to him with raised brows. “Oh, so you’re an expert now?”
“Used to play football for a living.” His shoulders tense as soon as he says the words, and his gaze stays locked on the water.
“Football?” I ask gently.
He flicks his stone. It sails farther than mine, skipping five perfect times before sinking. “Yup,” he says, his voice clipped.
I don’t push. Not with the tension radiating from him. Instead, I laugh and nudge him with my shoulder. “Show-off.”
He finally looks at me then, and it’s like the air shifts. His brown eyes soften, heat simmering beneath the guarded edges. My next stone slips from my fingers, forgotten.
The teasing fades into silence, the kind that hums with unspoken things. Everett leans closer, slow enough that I can stop him, but I don’t.
When his lips brush mine, it’s soft, almost reverent. A taste, careful and steady, like he’s making sure I know it’s a choice. That I have the power to stop this. My chest tightens with how badly I wanthim.
I lean into him, deepening the kiss. His quiet groan against my mouth sends a shiver down my spine. His hand slides to the side of my neck, thumb stroking my jaw as if he can’t believe I’m real.
The kiss sharpens and grows hungry. He parts my lips, and I let him in, heat flooding through me as the world narrows to nothing but the scrape of the stubble on his face and the low rumble in his throat. My fingers curl into his shirt, clinging like I might fall all over again—only this time, I wouldn’t mind if I did.
What began as a sweet brush of lips unravels into something darker and needier. A claiming.
And the scariest part is, I’m not sure I ever want him to stop.
When we finally break apart, it’s not because I want to. It’s because we both need air. I’m breathing hard, my chest rising and falling like I’ve just sprinted around the lake. His forehead rests against mine, his breath ragged, eyes burning into mine as if he’s trying to memorize every second of this.
The silence stretches, thick and trembling. My pulse is still racing when the words tumble out before I can stop them. “I don’t feel broken when I’m with you.”
His jaw flexes, his hand still cradling the back of my neck like I might disappear if he lets go.
And in his stormy, fierce eyes, I see an unspoken promise. One that says he won’t let anything or anyone hurt me.
CHAPTER 17
Everett
Her words replayin my head long after her lips leave mine.I don’t feel broken when I’m with you.
It guts me. I saw the shadows in her eyes when she said it. Whatever broke her, it wasn’t small. Something happened. Something she’s not ready to tell me.
And God help me, I want to demand answers, tear down every wall until I know who or what put that look in her eyes.
But I don’t.
She gave me a piece of herself in that moment, and if I push, I’ll lose it. So I hold it close and leave it alone. For now.
We stay on the dock for a while, skipping more stones, laughing over her terrible form, teasing until the heaviness fades into something easy. Her laughter does things to me I don’t have words for.
