Page 125 of Third and Ten

“You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

He doesn’t slur that time.

“I am?” I squeak.

He nods intently, as if the sight of me is painful, then reaches back for the shirt before handing it over grudgingly.

“Now, will you please come to bed with me?” he asks once I’ve pulled it down over me like a nightgown.

“Okay.” I smile.

He turns the covers and sheets back, allowing me to slide in first before he follows and wraps his arms around me. Then he scoots in until our faces are nearly touching.

“I love you, Ten. So much.”

“I love you, too, JD.”

“Please, don’t ever push me away again.”

“I won’t. I promise.” And I mean it.

He brings his lips down to meet mine. Relief floods my chest as he kisses me slowly and tenderly, pulling away after a while and using his arms to tuck me in against him. I feel him kiss the top of my head, then he sighs contentedly.

I worry that things will get out of hand with the whiskey still strong on his breath, but I hear him snoring softly within minutes. I smile and turn to assume the position of the smaller spoon before I drift off to sleep in his arms.

CHAPTER 37

JD

“Do. Not. Move.” I command Tenley from behind when I sense her waking in the morning, my voice husky. “Just let me have this for a minute.”

She breaks out into a fit of immature giggles when I press myself against her, which leads to lots of movement and me muttering a few protests under my breath before being forced to let her go. She flips over to face me.

“I’m sorry,” she says, cringing, though I hope she can see the amusement in my eyes.

But then I’m frozen, unable to answer her right away because I’m too busy staring at her. All I’ve wanted for the past few months is this very moment, the chance to wake up with her in my arms, and it’s just as amazing as I dreamed it would be. Sure, the last few days were rough, but this makes all of the moping worth it. “I’m sorry about last night. I hope I behaved myself,” I finally say.

She smiles. “You were a bit of a handful.”

“Was I?”

“You don’t remember?” she asks, her face forlorn.

“I remember what you texted me earlier and that you said you love me again when you came over to beg for my forgiveness…” I trail off, pulling her closer.

Relief settles in her expression. I allow my hands to roam, sliding down her shoulders and back until they land on her butt.

Man, is it soft…and hot.

“I also seem to recall you bossing me around, forcing me to strip down to my caleçons, then smacking my ass,” I ramble on, shooting her a cocky smirk.

She glares at me, trying to maintain a straight face. “Yeah, that’s not exactly how all that went down, buddy.”

“But some of it went down, apparently.”

“More or less,” she says with a shrug.

I roll over to my stomach, offering my backside to her. “Well, anytime, baby, just say the word, and it’s all yours.” She giggles again, but she goes abruptly quiet when I lean over to grab my phone off of the night stand. Then I hear her sigh, and I realize she’s checking me out. Maybe all that extra time in the gym wasn’t a total waste, after all. I smile to myself and make a show of stretching and flexing my back muscles before turning back to her.

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