Page 76 of Sunshine
I press harder, and he grunts but doesn’t tell me to stop. I can almost feel the knot unraveling beneath my fingers, and every so often, Dylan shifts his hips, causing my slick center to slip on his skin.
“What time is it?” he asks, voice muffled by his arms.
I lean to one side to pick up my phone. “Just after eleven,” I mumble, distracted by a text message from Daisy.
“Fifteen more minutes,” Dylan replies before he turns his head, sinks against the blanket, and closes his eyes with a lazy sigh. “Half an hour max.”
I swipe to open the message, read it, and almost drop my phone.
Daisy
I think Dylan is seeing someone! He usually brings his paperwork home, but he’s been “working late” nearly every night this week. I bet he’s sneaking out to meet a girl!
Shit.Shit!My fingers tremble as I tap out a reply.
Do you know who it is?
How the hell did I get myself into this situation? The screen blurs as my eyes switch focus, looking past my phone and catching on the few scattered freckles sprayed across Dylan’s smooth, toned back. Is it possible that something so commonplace as a half-dozen dark freckles can also be so irresistibly sexy? I sweep my hair over one shoulder so I can lean down and kiss each and every one of them, swirling the tip of my tongue across Dylan’s salty skin, and he moans in reply.
My pulse flutters between my legs, and I straighten with chagrin.That’show I ended up here. I can’t keep my mind—or my mouth—off him.
Beneath me, Dylan’s perfect body rises and falls with the easy breaths of someone without a care in the world, even though I know that’s not true. He worries constantly about everything and everyone, but for a moment, I let myself believe that I’ve done something to relieve a little of the pressure he’s under. It helps to pretend there’s a reason other than my selfishness that we’re risking our relationship with Daisy to spend these nights together.
The three dots of Daisy’s incoming reply flicker at the base of my screen, and I try to mirror the rhythm of Dylan’s lungs—in and out, in and out—to keep the panic at bay. I never wanted to keep secrets from Daisy. I still don’t. What I want is to confess all the things I’m thinking and feeling, the same way we share everything else. Maybe she’d be happy for me. Maybe…
I shake my head and brush my thumb over her smiling profile pic. Maybe she’d be happy…if this thing between me and Dylanwere real. If it could last. If I could guarantee her that nobody would get hurt.
But I’m not that stupid. Dylan’s been alone for too long. He’s overworked and wants a little fun, and I remind him of the man he used to be. Dylan doesn’t love me, and we’re not making each other any promises. That’s my reality. It’s why I can’t give up the nanny job in Europe this summer, and it’s also why I haven’t told Dylan that Daisy suspects something. It would only add to his stress when I’ve been trying so hard to make his life easier. Prove I can be what he needs.
There might not be a way out of this that leaves everyone unscathed, but I can hope that the only person hurt in the end is me. And lying here with Dylan in an empty field under the stars, I can’t help but think that my hurt is a price worth paying.
My phone lights up with Daisy’s reply, and I’m ashamed of the relief I feel when I read it.
Daisy
Nope. I thought you might have some ideas. Have you noticed anything different about Dylan lately?
My thumbs hover over the screen until I finally switch it off and set it aside. I can’t tell the truth. I can’t bring myself to tell Daisy a blatant lie.
But what if… What if I told Dylan I didn’t want to leave this summer? That there’s an email in my drafts folder declining the nannying job in Europe as well as the offer of work in Maine? What if I stopped running and stayed in Aster Springs? Would that change anything?
But if I stay, how do I confess to my best friend in the world that I’ve been lying to her for months? I can’t. Not aftereverything she’s been through and the promises we’ve made to each other. Maybe if I’d been honest from the start…
My chest grows heavy. I wasn’t honest. And it’s too late now.
Desperate for a distraction, I return to massaging Dylan’s shoulders, transferring my weight to my palms and using that as an excuse to tilt my hips and drag my warm, wet center over his smooth skin.
With a choked grunt, Dylan pushes up on his elbows, wiggling a little to indicate he’s about to flip over, and when I rise on my knees to give him room, he spins onto his back and, with a cocky smirk that says he knows exactly what I’m after, he grabs my hips and settles me on top of him again. This time, my naked pussy is against his hard length, and he slides his hands up underneath my sweater to toy with my nipple rings.
“You already came twice tonight,” he says, his voice low and tight. “You want more, Sunshine?”
I moan, my hips rocking and wet folds slipping against his cock as I nod. “Yes. I want more.”
“So fucking greedy.” His sharp jaw clenches, and his fingers dig into my hips, moving me harder and faster on his dick.
I bite my lip, a humming whimper sounding low in my throat. “Greedy for you.”
“Fuck yeah, you are. Just the way I like you. Ravenous and dripping. All for me.”
