With a nod, Megan slipped her fingers between mine and gave my hand a squeeze. Then her gaze moved to her brother, almost like she couldn’t believe he was not only here, but not freaking out.
Honestly, I could hardly comprehend it myself.
“As long as you’re happy.” Beck shot me an ominous look, his tight smile edged with a hint of menace. “Dane already knows I’ll kick his ass otherwise.”
“Wow, I’m really feeling the love from the peanut gallery tonight,” I said, and everybody laughed, the mood lightening.
Megan let go of me and threw her arms around her brother. “Thank you.” She then moved to envelop her girlfriends in a hug. “Thank you all.”
She turned back to me, tipped onto her toes, and kissed me on the cheek. “And thank you the most.”
The look in her eyes nearly blew me away, because I saw how much she cared, and that she believed in me, and I knew that I’d do whatever it took to be the guy she needed. We’d take turns saving each other, and because of that, busy schedules had nothing on us.
After all, we had the nights. And there was no one else I’d rather spend them with.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Megan
“Okay, watch.” I pressed the lever and the robotic machine I’d spent the past couple of weeks making in the engineering lab came to life, the crane rising.
Dane wrapped his arms around me, pulling my back against his chest, and ran his tongue along the shell of my ear before gently biting at the lobe.
My grip on the remote loosened and goose bumps swept across my skin. “I feel like you’re not paying attention, and I put a lot of…” My breath whooshed out of my mouth as he pulled me tighter to him and slid his fingers into the waistband of my jeans, undoing the button with a flick of his wrist.
“It’s just that while it’s impressive, I have something that rises like that, and it doesn’t even need a remote. Just a sexy blond girl who’s into engineering.” His lips moved to my neck.
I tried to think of a snappy comeback, but his fingers dipped lower, and thoughts drifted past me like clouds, too hazy to actually catch ahold of.
“Is that…?” Dane spun me in his arms and dragged my jeans down my hips. His jaw slackened as he took in the tiny red underwear I’d worn especially for him. This past week had been crazy, what with playoffs approaching and my huge assignment due, and it’d been a few nights since we’d seen each other, so I wanted to wear something especially sexy.
Now that I’d gained control, I clicked my tongue at him. “You hockey players only ever think with your sticks.”
Hey, better late than never, right?
Dane backed me up until my knees hit the bed and then he lowered his mouth to mine. He parted my lips with his tongue and tasted and teased me with it as he lowered me onto the bed without breaking the kiss. Then his delicious weight pressed me to the mattress.
Wanting even more, I arched my hips, and he groaned. I tugged up his shirt, and he helped me, grabbing it by the back of the collar and tugging it over his head. He made quick work of my shirt, and as he kissed me again, I ran my fingers over his chest and down his abs.
The sweatpants that did little to conceal his arousal went next, and then he slowed the pace, kissing his way down my body and removing my panties, one painstakingly slow inch at a time.
The brush of his whiskers followed by soft lips drove me crazy, and he took his time, kissing and licking and basically torturing me in the most intoxicating way. Pressure built, and I gripped the sheets in my fists as the room spun.
I called out his name as I came apart, and once the room stopped spinning, I wrapped my hand around the base of his shaft. “You’re right. Yours is more impressive.” I drew out the strokes so I could pay him back for the torture he’d inflicted on me.
Before I got my fill, though, he gripped both of my hands in one of his and pinned them above my head.
I was sure that he’d need help with the condom, but he managed it, and then he thrust inside me. I arched against him, and it wasn’t long until we were both tumbling over the edge together.
Dane curled me to him and his lips brushed my neck. “I haven’t been sleeping as well without you in my bed.”
“Me, neither.”
He hugged me tighter and whispered, “I thought you couldn’t need who you didn’t know, but I needed you before I even met you. I just didn’t realize it until I had.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” I traced the sexy line of his forearm. “Through the years, I’d become so used to being lonely, and I started to be mostly okay with it. Then you came into my life, and as soon as you left…I’ve never felt loneliness like that.”
“I promise you that you’ll never have to feel it again,” he said, so much conviction behind the words as he sealed them with a kiss that I knew I could believe him. “I love you so much, eye-maiming attempts and shitty music and all.”
“I love you, too. Even though my music isnotshitty, and you saying so makes me want to maim one of your eyes for reals.”
His chest bumped against me as he laughed, and he reached up and flicked my earring. “I’m so crazy about you that sometimes when I’m supposed to be paying attention in class, I daydream about what earrings you’ll wear next instead.”
“Well now I’m not going to be able to work on my engineering project without thinking about a certain part of your anatomy. One of my favorite parts.”
“Best response ever.” He kissed me again, and I thought about how I’d never been happier. I didn’t have to hold back who I was, I’d checked off everything on my Fresh Start Checklist, and finding a guy who liked me for me and chased away the loneliness ended up being even better than I’d ever dreamed of.
