Page 104 of The Sound Of Silence

“Then I’ll go back to despising you like I did in the beginning.” She stares at me deadpan until her lips pull into a soft smile. “I know you sleep around,” she rasps, her serious expression back in place. “Everyone knows that. But you told me younevertouchanyone; you never allow anyone totouchyouand youdon’tkiss.”

“Willow.”

“No. Please don’tWillowme. If you can’t tell me why I should walk away, that’s fine. But you can’t expect me to listen. It’smyheart to risk. Not yours. So I’m the only one that gets to decide whether this is worth it.”

Removing her skirt and panties, she crawls on top of me, straddling my lap in nothing but her blouse. “And I’m willing to take a chance on you,” she continues as the heat from her core burns me. “But I need something in return. I need you to show me how you feel. If you can’t tell me…showme.”

Her hands shake as she slowly unbuttons her top, her false bravado wavering. The tightness in my chest strengthens as I watch, but when she reaches around to the clasp of her bra, I have to stop her.

“Promise me you won’t hate me until after I’m gone,” I whisper, lifting her into my arms to lay her back on the bed.

Willow nods as she gets comfortable on the mattress, her chest lifting as her legs fall open.

I swallow a lump in my throat, knowing it’s now or never. But when my eyes lock on her core, I’m only left with one final thought before all reason disappears.

Promiseme you’ll forgive yourself when you find out why.

Chapter Forty-Two

Willow

I’veneverbeenoneto take chances. I don’t step out of my comfort zone. I don’tlive. But something is screaming at me to risk it all now, and just like Jesse, I’m too far gone to question it.

I’ve been running scenarios through my head all week, and I still can’t picture a world where I’d ever hate him. Though right now I’m having trouble picturing anything at all with the anticipation of his naked body pressed against me as we mold ourselves into one.

Sucking my lip into my mouth, my breath quickens as he stares between my legs like he wants to devour me, drinking me in with his mouth open and lust-filled eyes locked on my core, seeing the way I drip for him.

He drags his teeth over his bottom lip and his hand flexes, the movement making me bite my cheek to stifle a moan as my insides pulse with need.

As if he can see what he does to me, he snaps out of his stupor and groans before moving up the bed, lifting me with ease to position me on the pillows. When he has me where he wants me, he pushes my legs shut, and a feeling of uncertainty settles in my chest.

I thought he wanted this. I thought I was calling his bluff, making him admit his feelings, but was it all just to placate me?

Lying before him in nothing but a bra is unnerving enough, but in this moment I’m baring more than just my body. I’m baring my soul, and the thought of him rejecting me is torture.

With painstakingly slow movements, Jesse sits back, his throat bobbing as his eyes rake over my body, the intensity of his penetrating stare setting me on fire. My breath hitches as my heart and lungs stage a strike, refusing to function as I lie unmoving, waiting for his next move.

“You deserve the world,” he rasps, his fists now clenched at his sides. “And I can’t be that man—”

“Jesse.” I cut him off, sitting up as my heart fires again, beating out of my chest.Don’t do this, Jesse. Please. “I—”

“Wait.” Jesse shakes his head, and I still instantly. “I can’t be that man… but fuck, do I want to try. For you, I want to try.”

He looks at me expectantly, but I don’t know what to say. All I can do is nod, his words having rendered me speechless. No, not his words—the raw emotion in his voice, the vulnerability in his gaze. That’s what has me at a loss.

Lifting up, I close my eyes and brush a featherlight kiss across his lips, tentatively reaching for his hand. When he doesn’t flinch away, I guide his palm to my chest, splaying his fingers over my heart, mirroring my earlier move.

“Be here with me. Now. In this moment. Block everything else out. It’s just white noise.”

Jesse stiffens, and his eyes burn with so much pain, I know I’ve fucked up. Something I said just triggered him in a way I’m yet to understand, but we can’t give up now. “It’s just you and me, Jesse,” I whisper, my voice breaking as I watch him. He tries so hard to project a no-care attitude, but there’s so much beneath the surface that I’m almost certain he’s never shared. With anyone. “It’s just us.”

Jesse shakes his head and blinks the pain away, a determined look replacing it. “I couldn’t stop this if I tried. I have never wanted anyone the way I want you. But I want to savor it. Take my time. Worship every inch of you. Because…”

He trails off, but I know what he was going to say.

This is it.

I’m not under any illusions. I know we can’t be anything more than this week, but I hate that itfeelslike it’s so much bigger than that.

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