Page 61 of Too Late

She begins to move on top of me and she’s all I see.

I close my eyes and she’s all I fucking see.

THIRTY-FIVE

SLOAN

Ihad no idea it could feel like this.

That sounds so cliché, even as I’m thinking it. But his hands, his mouth, the way he touches me—it’s like my response is what he lives for.

And right now, the only thing I’m focused on is the way he’s moving his hand against me, touching me in just the right place that I’m afraid I might not only wake Asa up, but the entire neighborhood. As if he can sense this, he covers my mouth with his, stifling my moans as I crush myself against him. My legs begin to shake, my arms, my whole body, as a sensation I’ve never felt slams through me.

“Luke,” I moan against his lips. I love his name. I love saying it out loud. I love that I can tell how muchheloves it when I say his real name out loud.

As weak as I am in this moment, I find the strength to continue moving until I’m the one having to stiflehissounds. His mouth is incredible. He tastes like fruit. He tastes sweet.

Nothing like the bitterness I swallow when I kiss Asa.

When we’re both no longer shaking, and I’m unmoving on top of him, he leans forward and feathers his lips across my shoulder.

I don’t know how I went from hating him two hours ago in the kitchen to feeling more for him in this moment than all the days before combined. Knowing that he’s not like Asa … that he’s the completeoppositeof Asa … it’s so …attractive.

He’s good. He’s agood guy.They actually exist.

It all came together like an epiphany while I was floating in the pool. Him calling himself by the wrong name. Him taking a Spanish class that is years beneath his ability, only to conveniently be in there with me. The way he continued to reassure me that I needed to trust him, but he would never saywhy. Using another girl as a decoy.

That was the kicker. I figured that one out before he even came clean at the pool.

When Dalton said Carter … orLuke,rather … was telling the truth, I knew there was more to it. More to Tillie. More to Luke blatantly making out with someone else when he’s in the same house as me. I told myself that if he came outside and denied ever being with her, I would know then that he’s a liar. That he’s just like Asa.

But if he came outside and told me the truth—that he was using her to throw Asa off—then I knew I was right. That it was part of the job for him.

I just didn’t know which one I preferred to hear. That he was just like Asa … or that he’d been using me this whole time togetto Asa.

As soon as he realized I had figured it out, I was expecting that to be the end of us. I thought he would fear for his job and try to cut some kind of deal with me to keep me quiet. Because guys like him … guys with careers, who are good and successful and kind … they don’t fall for girls like me. Or at least that’s what I was raised to believe.

But I was wrong, because he’s not worried about his job. The only concern he had was for me. And to be someone’s main concern feels a hell of a lot like being loved.

When he says all he sees is me, I believe him. Because all I see is him. And right now, I want to soak up every second of him. His arms are wrapped around me and we’re both just trying to catch our breath. This was stupid. We both know it, but right now I would say it was completely worth it.

“As much as I wish you could stay right where you are forever, you should go back inside,” he says. He kisses the side of my head.

I know he’s right, but I wish he wasn’t. Inside is the last place I want to be after this. I run my fingers through his hair and can smell the fresh scent of shampoo. “Did you shower before you came back to the house?” He smiles; I can see it even in the dark. “So you showeredandyou had condoms in your car? Were you expecting to get laid tonight?” I tease.

He drops his head against the headrest and a slow, satisfied grin stretches across his lips. “I showered because I like to look good for you. I have a condom in my car because I like to be prepared. And it’s been there for six months, in case you’re curious.”

I was, but I don’t have a right to be. He knows what still happens between Asa and me at night. If I could stop it I would, but it’s just not an option right now. Not until I’m no longer in this house.

But we don’t talk about that. About the fact that I’m still with Asa, and about how what just happened between Luke and me wasn’t right, no matter how right it felt. But I honestly don’t care that I just cheated on Asa. I should feel guilty, but I don’t.

Karma’s a bitch, Asa Jackson.

Luke runs his thumb over my arm and pushes down my bra strap. He dips his thumb under it, rubbing back and forth. I’m tracing his jaw. He has a great face. Masculine in all the right places, but a hint of soft femininity to his lips.

“How did you figure it out?” he asks.

I grin. “You’re all I see, Luke. And I’m really smart.”

---