I wouldn’t know how deeply I could love, and how painful it is to not be loved back.
Two more days. That’s all I need to survive.
CHAPTER44
THE BALL’S IN YOUR COURT
LINCOLN
If I thought waking up to her in my apartment was pleasant, waking up to Ivy curled around me is electrifying. This is what I missed out on after the masquerade.
This is what I’ve been searching for.
She’s always beautiful, but the mornings provide an extra glow, illuminating her from the inside out. “Did you sleep well?” I brush the hair off her cheek, watching her eyes flutter closed before she blinks back at me.
“Mmm,” she hums with a smile. “I’m angry at how nice this bed is. Do you think there’s a way to sneak it back with us? I could get used to waking up like this.”
So could I, and it has nothing to do with the mattress. She comes willingly when I press my fingers into the hot give of her skin and hook her thigh over mine. “I’d recommend holding off judgment. You haven’t tried my bed yet.”
Ivy licks her lips. “That’s true, but if it turns out your bed is better, how am I supposed to go back to sleeping in mine?”
“You don’t,” I say, my voice low and rough with sleep. Leaning down, I kiss along her jaw. “If you think I’m going to spend another night sleeping without you, I’m not doing my job right.”
She exhales a sigh, melting against me. There’s nothing I want more than to peel off her clothes and take my time in devouring her, but I need to know where she stands first. Still, I can’t help but test the boundaries a fraction, crushing her to me, letting her feel how hard I am, tasting the sleep lingering on her skin.
I can feel the fight in her. I’d rather she threw caution out the window, but that’s a decision Ivy needs to make on her own. Whatever it takes to convince her that I want this, I’ll do it. The rest is up to her.
When she pushes back, I let her roll away, but I don’t hide how much I want her.
Soon, I’ll ask her to clarify what this is, leaving no doubt in her mind that I want all of her, in every way. I’m in this 100 percent, and I want nothing less in return.
By the time we slink down to breakfast, the room is nearly empty.
“About time you two joined us,” Richard says from the head of the table. He stands and throws his napkin down. “Perhaps tomorrow you can respect everyone enough to be on time.” Silence follows him as he walks out.
Arsehole.
Reed, Felicity, and Darcy are huddled together at one end, and Ivy and I make our way to them. Before I can sit, Reed has kicked my chair out, shifting it out of my hands the way he used to when we were kids.
“What the ever-loving hell was that for?” I ask.
The chair scrapes against the floor as I pull it back and sit down, filling our plates with food while Ivy pours me a tea.
“No thanks to you, I’ve ruined my diet,” Reed pouts. Felicity leans forward to loudly whisper, “He’s been stress baking gingersnaps.”
While Darce smirks into her tea, Ivy openly laughs at Reed’s misfortune while her hands are cupped around a mug of coffee that’s more milk than caffeine.
“You’re welcome,” I joke. “Eat enough of them, and it might finally dislodge the stick that’s up your arse.”
Reed sips his tea with one hand while flipping me off with the other, and it takes me back twenty years in a blink. Christ, was he a pissy teenager.
Maybe this weekend won’t be all bad.
“So how do you all spend the day?” Ivy asks, stuffing a croissant with berries before taking a bite. “Is there a game hall I haven’t seen yet, or are we to line up single file so Richard can judge us formally?”
Reed rests his elbows on the table, a bad habit he’s never grown out of. He’s dressed casually, in a blue T-shirt and mismatched navy shorts. There’s a fucking fedora on the table by his arm, and it’s killing me not to take the piss out of him for it. “I overheard Kyle mention he wants to detox in the sauna, so that counts out anything involving the pool,” he says, and I agree. “If you’re a hand at tennis, Ivy, I was going to head to the court.”
Ivy shifts eagerly in her chair. “I haven’t played since middle school, but I’ve already missed my morning run, so I’d love to join you.”
