Page 55 of Overdue

I’m kissing him with wild abandon when he swings my leg over his hips. He has me completely preoccupied with his mouth when he pushes me down his shaft. I moan into his mouth at the sudden fullness. I’m so slick that I began sliding up and down him immediately.

Sitting up so I can move easier, I watch as he places his hands behind his head again.

“Ride me hard, bratty girl.”

Everything in my body tightens. My orgasm smashes into me with the force of a Mac truck. I want to stay in the moment forever. In the back of my brain, I can feel when he rolls us over.

“You’re my brat,” he growls in my ear right before he slams back into me. I feel the next orgasm building already. All I can do is hold onto Reed as it crashes over me. It’s not as strong, but still amazing.

With a long groan, Reed stills over me. I force my eyes open to watch as he comes inside me. He’s beautiful. His eyes are squeezed closed in concentration, and his hair is a tangled mess. He opens his eyes and smiles. His lips graze mine before he rolls off me. We lay tangled together, trying to catch our breath.

“So let me get this straight,” he finally says. “This whole time we were fighting, it was really one long bout of foreplay?”

“Looks like it.” I laugh.

“Fuck me for not figuring that out sooner.”

“And, for the first time ever, I didn’t mind being called brat.”

We laugh. We’ve lost so much time being petty. He rolls over so he can look at me.

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll try to only call you brat in bed, and you agree to share this room with me,” he says.

I push to a sitting position so I can look around. It’s a nice room. It would be even nicer with fresh paint and new curtains, but the bed is a definite keeper.

Reed sits up next to me. He’s waiting for me to say something, anything. Yeah, this room will do. Especially if I get to wake up next to Reed every morning. So, it looks like we’ve officially moved in together.

“Can I paint it a soft lavender?” I ask, giving him my best side-eye. He grins back.

“Anything. Let’s dress. We can go paint shopping, get something to eat, and pick up your stuff. Welcome to your new place.”

My new place. I like the sound of that. I tackle him back onto the bed. We can get to all of that other stuff later. Right now, I have other plans.

twenty

AUSTEN

Do you ever have those days that you’re so happy, it doesn’t seem real? I used to never have those. I would have ones that turned out good enough. But never the bliss I feel now when I peel my eyes open to catch Reed buttoning up his shirt. To know that he will be here every night to hold me as I fall asleep.

If I said any of this out loud, everyone would look at me like I’m crazy. They’d ask, how could I not have been happy before. I had everything: a loving family, friends, a place to live, a job I enjoyed, and my whole, bright future ahead of me.

But, there was always something missing. That one thing I needed to fill complete.

When I think of Reed’s and my past, I see it in a whole new light. I guess love can do that to you. Instead of the scowls I thought he looked at me with, now all I remember is the longing in his eyes. He was just a quiet boy trying to be seen, and I pushed him away. I can’t redo the past. Thankfully, Reed never gave up on me.

Growing up together gives us a different perspective than a lot of people. I know he loves to hang out with friends, and he knows I’d rather stay at home with a book. I know he has a small scar on his ankle where the Robbines’ dog bit him, and he knows I don’t like my ears. I also know he’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe. It makes me rethink the reason he had me grounded in high school.

I also love that we’re learning who we are together as adults. What turns us on. What freaks us out (bats give him the willies). I like knowing he’s completely addicted to Bridgerton and watches an episode with his Gran every Thursday night when I’m working late. He finds it amusing that I refuse to wear any pink except for undergarments.

The best part, though, is finding all the things we have in common. We both have an unhealthy addiction to coffee. Reed makes sure I have a cup warming when I crawl out of bed every morning. We both love to sleep with the bedroom really cold. It’s why we’ll have to mortgage the house to pay the electric bill this summer. And, on Saturdays, we love to sleep as late as we can.

Today is no exception, until my phone rings.

“Why,” I moan into the mouthpiece when I see Brontë’s name on the caller ID.

“Hey, how come I had to hear from Eliot that you got offered a book deal?” Crap. I forgot all about calling Brontë. We were a little too busy celebrating when we walked in the door last night. Reed was explaining all the reasons he needed to spank me on the drive home and… well, you know how that turned out.

“Sorry, I got busy.”

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