“But it’s all a lie,” she sighed.
“Yeah. It is…”
He sounded so defeated. Mae snuggled her body in closer to his side, letting one hand hold his bicep while the other landed over his heart. But even before she could ask him anything else, he was pulling her closer.
“The girls asked about you.”
“What did you say?”
“Just that today was upsetting and you wanted to go to bed. Nothing about the baby.”
“Thank you.”
“I still think you need to talk to them. It’s been long enough, hasn’t it? And now that the guys know?—”
“Tomorrow… Today was a tough day. I just need you to hold me tonight. Is that okay?”
He sighed, the breath rushing out of his lungs so quickly that Mae felt like she might fall through the mattress. “Of course it’s okay, Michaela. There’s nothing more I’d rather do than lay here with you in my arms.”
“Nothing?” Her brow quirked as she let her fingers run from his chest down his stomach and over his?—
“Hey now,” Stone’s laugh made it impossible to hide her smile. “God. I love you so much. You know that, right?”
“Even after Beau had to hold me back from snapping my fist into that bitch’s face?”
“Mae. I’ve never seen anything hotter in my entire life. Trust me, I wish the only thing I had done was thrown you over my shoulder and brought you right up here to show you just how turned on I was.”
His fingers rested along the band of her sleep shorts.
“I’m worried about your chest…”
“I know. And I’m still worried about your recovery. Still… Wanna make out tonight?”
“Oh my god.” Mae giggled. “How old are we? Thirteen?”
His fingers dug into her side and she giggled. “Who were you making out with at thirteen, Michaela Morgan? I want their name right now so I can look them up and knock them out for touching my girl.”
Mae rolled her eyes, pressing a kiss up onto the underside of Stone’s jaw.
“Remember the first time we drove over to Bell Ridge together and parked by the lake?”he asked.
Mae giggled. “That did not just end with making out. And you know it.”
“Christ. How could I forget? But we did make out for a long time that night. Maybe tomorrow… would you want to…”
“Get in your truck and make out like two people hiding their attraction from all their friends?”
“Yeah… Only this time I think we’d be dodging some reporters?”
“You know what, Sully? I think I’d love that.”
“Good then. It’s a date.”
Mae’s eyes felt like they’d been resting against sandpaper all night. Apparently, that’s what you get when silently crying yourself to sleep, and then waking up a few hours later to do it all again.
“What are you doing here?” she croaked as her eyes met Lily’s. “I thought you were Stone.”
“Nope. But he did call me this morning and asked me to come spend the day with you. So, here I am. And I brought everything with me that we might need, so we aren’t leaving this bed all day unless we have to pee!”
