Page 28 of Wish Me Home

I shoved my hand between us, wrapped it around his leaking erection, and jerked him roughly in time with my thrusts. He cried out, eyes tightly closed and head thrown back. The warm rush of his release painted my hand and chest. The muscles that clamped down around me were enough to push me over the edge and I grunted as I spilled into the condom inside of him.

We both collapsed completely onto the bed in a mess of tangled limbs. I struggled to catch my breath, but I had to sit up and dispose of the damn condom. My arms and legs felt like jello, so I mostly settled for rolling off of him.

I tied off the condom and dropped it into a trash can he had next to his bed, then curled into his side. Cody still lay sprawled across the bed, having not moved much in his post orgasmic haze. He sighed when my hand came to rest on his chest, drawing lazy circles across his skin.

“That’s it,” he sighed.

“What?”

He laughed before he turned and blinked at me. He pulled my face closer, placing a gentle kiss against my lips and giving a soft smile. “You aren’t allowed to go back to Chicago.”

My chest ached because it wasn’t that easy. I had my job to return to, no matter how much I didn’t care for it. The last several days at home with my aunt had made me realize how much I missed home and now Cody was suddenly thrown into the picture. We still hadn’t established what we were to each other.

“It’s not that simple,” I explained, rolling onto my back to stare at the ceiling. It felt crazy to have these thoughts of throwing in the towel at my job. Moving back home to be with a man that was hardly here and to be with my aunt again seemed extreme.

I stood from the bed, fished my boxers from the floor, and pulled them over my legs. He watched me, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Looking around his apartment I walked over to the tree in the corner.

“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” His voice wafted across the small room. I knelt down next to the tree to figure out why the middle section wouldn’t light up. When I saw the problem, I let out a small laugh. I unplugged one cord and plugged it into another. I then plugged the middle section into the correct outlet and it illuminated.

“Holy shit!” I heard him shuffle across the room. He knelt down next to me examining my handy work. “How’d you get that to work?”

I chuckled, motioning to the cords that he’d stuffed in the back of the tree. “It didn’t seem odd that you had to stretch that cord? You skipped the plug for the middle section.”

He turned to face me with a brilliant smile, making all the heaviness from a moment ago lift away. “I really like your smile,” he said, running the back of his hand down the side of my face.

The smile that I hadn’t realized was stretching across my face dropped a little, but I leaned into his touch. Not that I actively avoided it. There just wasn’t a lot to be happy about. He naturally brought it out in me. That should have been the biggest sign that I needed to figure something out to be with this man.

“Come to Portland with me.”

I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. He’d spent the last five days trying to convince me to spend as much time with my aunt as possible andnowhe wanted me to come with him.

Chapter Eighteen

Cody

Myhearthammeredinmy chest. I wasn’t sure what had prompted me to tell him to come with me. It wasn’t like meeting my parents was going to be a pleasant experience. There was a lot of shit we had to work through, although maybe if I brought a boyfriend home it would lessen the blow.

Was Emmett my boyfriend?

How he wasn’t answering was making me more nervous. I sat on the floor and dropped my hands to my lap. My nakedness suddenly made me feel even more uncomfortable and vulnerable. I should have grabbed something before coming over here.

“You’d really want that?” His voice was quiet, almost unsure.

Tentatively, I grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. His gaze searched mine again, looking for what I assumed was any sign of hesitation.

“I’d love to introduce you…” I swallowed, trying to get the words out. “I’d like to introduce you as my boyfriend. If that was okay?”

And right there in front of that ridiculous, tiny Christmas tree, Emmett launched himself at me. His arms wrapped around my neck, knocking me to the ground, reminiscent of the way he’d knocked me over at the beach.

“Of course. Yes! You can introduce me however you want.” He sobbed into my neck, and it took me a moment to realize he was crying.

Pulling back, I brushed his hair back to look at his face, relieved to see they were happy tears and not those from regret. My stiff body relaxed as I held onto him, bringing a smile to my face. He wore a watery, happy smile before he leaned in and kissed me. His lips were salty from his tears.

“Great!” I laughed because getting on a flight was relatively easy for me and a perk of working for the airline. But getting him on with me was more tricky. “Now I just have to figure out how to get you there.”

“On one condition, Cody.” His words caused me to pause.

“What’s that?”

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