Jude: Of course. Where are you?
Me: Leaving my parents’ house. I can’t go back to my staff right now. I’m a mess.
Jude: We can stay at the Palmer House tonight. I’ll cancel my appearances, make the reservation, and text you the room number.
Me: Okay. Thank you.
Jude: See you there.
I start my car and drive away, grateful my mom didn’t come home when I was there. Just thinking about my dad telling her this news makes me break down in angry tears again.
It’s all been a lie. Finding out about my dad’s affair has opened my eyes about myself and my own motivations in a big way. Turns out my ugly, shameful secret—my relationship with Jude—is actually the truest thing I have going.
Chapter 23
Beforeshe even has a chance to knock, I’m pulling her inside the hotel room and wrapping her in my arms. She melts into me, squeezing my body tightly as if I’m her anchor.
“It’ll be okay,” I whisper in her hair.
“It won’t be okay. Nothing will ever be the same.” She fists my shirt in her hands and buries her face in my chest.
I soothe her, rubbing her back, and I kiss her head tenderly. “I’m sorry,” I tell her because I don’t know what else to say in a moment like this. My hands tangle in her hair, resting at the nape of her neck, and I stay silent.
She peers up at me with glassy eyes, tears ready to fall. “I knew my father was a jerk, but I didn’t realize what an asshole he really is, Jude.”
I hold back my laughter. Most people know Stan Preston isn’t a good man—he’s a politician and one that’s been in the system for far too long to keep his nose clean. But even if the world knew it, his daughter hadn’t processed the information. She looked at her father with rose-colored glasses. It’s hard to see the imperfections in our families, even if they’re obvious to everyone else.
“I’m so mad right now, I want to…”
“I know,” I say, tightening my arms around her.
“I feel like my life is spinning out of control, and no matter how hard I try to stop it, I can’t.”
Pressing my lips against her forehead, I whisper. “I’m sorry.”
She looks up, meeting my lips. “You’re the only person in my life who brings me joy.” She smiles softly.
My hands move to her face, cupping her cheeks in my palms and I return the smile. “I feel the same.” Leaning forward, I brush our lips together, relishing her softness.
She stands on her tiptoes and snakes her arms around my neck. “Kiss me, Jude. There’s nothing more I want than to get lost in you tonight.”
“Are you sure about that, Reagan? There’s no going back.”
“I’m sure,” she whispers, looking me straight in the eyes without blinking.
This isn’t how I planned our first time to take place, but after months of kissing, flirting, and heavy petting, I can’t resist. There’s also something undeniably hot about knowing I can make the rest of the world go away for her.
I crush my mouth against hers, inhaling her breath and mingling it with my own. In this moment, everything else in our lives begins to fall away and the only thing that matters is us.
Her hands glide under my shirt, sending chills down my spine from the scrape of her fingernails against my skin. My hands sweep down her body, cupping her ass in my hands as I lift her against me and carry her toward the bed. Our lips never leave each other, the need to stay connected and lost stronger than ever before. There’s nothing soft and gentle about this. We’re needy, greedy, and hungry for the other.
Gently, I place her on the bed underneath me and settle between her legs. My cock’s already hard, straining against my sweatpants and aching to be inside her.
The tips of my fingers find the straps of her cami, sliding them down her arms to expose her breasts. I’m not ready to break our kiss; the air she feeds me is far too sweet to stop.
My hand moves from her arm to her chest, grasping her bra-clad breast in my palm. Her heart’s beating wildly under my fingertips, matching the rapid rhythm of my own. The tiny moan she’s making has my brain going haywire, telling me to go faster than I want to, and I ignore it. I’m going to savor every moment I’m touching Reagan because I don’t know when I’ll have another chance.
She’s clawing at my skin and moving my shirt up my back. When her hands are between my shoulder blades, our lips part while she pulls the shirt over my head.
