Page 62 of Stealing Home

My stomach clenches at the sensation of his fingertips on my sensitive skin. The last time we fucked was over the phone a few days ago; he called me from his hotel room during the Albany trip. I still feel bad about it, but I distracted him rather than give him the truth I owe him, first with the moon and a confession I didn’t mind making, and then, when I got back to the house, with some long-distance dirty talk. It was the coward’s way out, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk about why I ghosted him.

“It would need to be fast. Penny said they’d be back soon.”

He bites my jaw lightly before working his way up to a proper kiss. He traces over the lacy edge of my underwear. “I can be quick.”

I want to ride him on the couch. I want his hands on my ass, digging in, and to feel just how deep he can get from this angle. I haven’t had it that way in months, and I know he’s been holding back.

I pull my shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor. I’m wearing his favorite bra of mine, the lime green one with a tiny bow in between the cups. He groans at the sight, burying his face in them. He slips one strap down my arm, then the other.

“It’s been so long since you fucked my pussy,” I can’t help but murmur as he sucks my nipple through the thin fabric.

He muffles a moan against my skin.

I drag my nails down his back. “I’d be so good for you, babe, please.”

“I know you would,” he rasps. He slips his hand underneath my skirt and spanks me. He doesn’t do it hard enough to hurt—although the tease is enough to make me want that. “You make the prettiest goddamn noises when I’m inside you. Angel, I remember them all.”

I rock against him. I smile when his breath hitches; I can feel the growing bulge in his pants. I keep rocking gently as I knock the baseball cap off his head, wind my hands through his hair, and tug. “You could use a toy in my ass, too.”

“You’re gonna kill me.”

My smile widens as I kiss him. He’s close to giving in. “If it’s too much, I can stop.”

“Don’t you dare.”

I pull up his t-shirt, running my fingers over the hard lines of his abs. “Oh yeah? You sure you can handle it, Callahan?”

He throws his t-shirt onto the floor next to mine. His eyes glitter as he unhooks my bra. I let it fall. He rolls one nipple between his thumb and forefinger, lowering his head to capture the other in his mouth. I clench my core from the sensation. My body is yearning for more; my panties are damp already. If I need to finally share the truth that I owe him to get him inside me the way I’ve been dreaming about, I’ll do it. I scratch his scalp, letting my head fall back.

“Always for you, Mia Angel.” His voice might be teasing, but his eyes betray a deeper seriousness. “Even if you refuse to just tell—”

The front door opens.

Fuck. Fuck fuckfuck.

“Oh, come on,” I hear Cooper say. “Not again.”

* * *

Penny inspectsme up and down as she crosses her arms over her chest. She has a slight sunburn on her face, and her hair, braided back, is frizzy. She’s wearing a Grand Canyon t-shirt and I see a tattoo on her wrist, but I don’t dare ask about it. The last time I saw her this indignant was… well, it was when she tried to talk to me after she and Cooper realized that Sebastian and I were more than friends. The moment she got to the hotel in Florida, where the Frozen Four was happening, she called me, and I couldn’t bring myself to get into it all. I knew right then that I was going to stand Sebastian up, and the last person I wanted to admit that to was the girlfriend of his brother. No one tells you how much it sucks, sometimes, when your best friend falls in love.

I clear my throat. The moment everyone processed the situation—the situation being me and Sebastian, shirtless, making out on the living room couch like total idiots—and I managed to get my shirt back on, she dragged me upstairs. Penny has seen me shirtless before, thanks to the perils of roommate life, but I could have lived without flashing Cooper.

Now I’m sitting on the end of Izzy’s bed, feeling like I just got called to the headmistress’s office. And I should know, because I went to Headmistress Donnelly’s office way too often in high school. I’m still amazed that I didn’t get expelled after the accidental fire in the chemistry lab.

I can feel myself wilting under Penny’s gaze the longer she stares at me, so I just start blathering. “You have to tell me all about the road trip. What happened to that poem you wrote for your mom?”

“How long, Mia?”

I try for a smile. “You look good, Pen.”

“Mia. How long?”

“The pictures you posted on Instagram are so pretty. You actually got matching tattoos? Was it your idea? I thought you said you were too scared of needles to get one.”

“Mia—”

I swallow, pressing forward. “I missed you. I didn’t want to bother you while you were getting alone time across the country with your hockey player, but I didn’t realize until you were gone just how much we talk. I have a funny story about Tangerine to—”

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