“Before or after we fought? Or before or after he kissed me?”
I grin across at her, knowing just how much she would have liked that. “All of it.”
Tully presses her lips together, deep in thought as she goes over her night with Rivers, making me wonder if maybe it isn’t as good as what I think it is. “I think it’s all good,” she finally tells me. “We talked, and while nothing has changed, I don’t feel as though I need to tear him apart every time I see him.”
“I guess that’s a start,” I murmur, wondering how the hell they could go from that to him kissing her.
“Yeah, I think I’ve been doubting how he actually feels about me like as though saying he wasn’t good enough was just some kind of excuse, but he’s hurting just as much as I am. He feels it like I do.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” I smile, feeling a little cocky but doing a great job not letting it show. “He loves you, but what does that mean moving forward?”
She shakes her head and I see the hurt still lingering in her eyes. “It means nothing,” she says. “He’s not prepared to jump headfirst into this with me, so I guess I’m left with the ‘trying to move on plan’.”
“Rocko?” I question.
“Yep, and he’ll be staying with Alyssa, silently killing me every time I see them together.”
“Maybe it’s not a great idea to be dating Rocko. I don’t think your heart is ready yet.”
“I need something to distract me from the thought of his tongue down her throat instead of mine.”
“Shit,” I sigh. “Maybe you should both just stop dating.”
“I can’t ask him to do that,” she says. “Just because he’s not mine, doesn’t mean he can’t try to find happiness somewhere else. That’s not fair.”
A body barges between us before Rivers bends down and presses a kiss to the side of her face. “Yes, you can,” he murmurs. “Just say the word and I’ll stop. I won’t do it if it’s hurting you.”
Tully presses her hand into his and he pulls her out of the chair before walking away, side by side, clearly with still a little more to discuss.
“You never came back,” a deep, accusing voice murmurs from behind me.
I turn in my seat to find a pair of green eyes staring into mine with nothing but a mischievous smirk on his face, and considering the large bulge currently tenting the front of his sweat pants, I have a damn good feeling what he’s got planned for me. I shrug my shoulders and give him an innocent smile. “Yeah, well, you never took me on a date.”
I wait for the usual ‘I knew that was going to come back and bite me on the ass’ comment that always seems to get thrown around, but when something else comes shooting from his mouth, I find myself gasping and clenching my thighs in anticipation.
“Henley Fucking Bronx,” he warns so low that the sound shoots straight down to my lady bits. “Get that fine ass of yours back to that tent, and when I get there, you better be wearing not a goddamn thing, on your hands and knees with your ass up in the air, ready and waiting for me.”
Fuck me. I think I stare at him a moment too long before scrambling to my feet and hurrying to the tent. I’ve done a few stupid things in my life, but not offering myself up on a platter to Noah Cage when he’s ready to put it down is not going to be one of them.
A moment later, I’m ready and waiting just as he told me too. And when he comes in and curls his hand around my hair, holding me still, I bite down on my lip knowing I better hold on tight for one hell of a wild ride.
Chapter 17
Aria sits between me and Tully at their breakfast table while Violet busily runs around the kitchen, putting things away before we all have to get out of here in about ten minutes.
I try to force a little more breakfast down Aria’s throat, you know, all that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ stuff that parents, teachers, and doctors are always going on about. I mean, there has to be some sort of merit in that, but just to be sure, I grab a few more slices of fruit and add them to the pile on her plate.
“Would you quit trying to feed the kid?” Tully grumbles around a piece of toast. “She’ll be the size of an elephant if you don’t let up.”
“She’s fine,” I grumble. “She’s like me. She loves her food.”
“Exactly, and just like you, she’ll end up with a tummy ache.”