Hands press to my waist as I begin to type a reply. I didn’t even see Nick move from the couch. Nevertheless, as he slides his arms around me and sinks his chin onto my shoulder, I lean into him as if we’ve done this before in another life.
“Tell my brother you’re busy,” he says in my ear.
“He seems distraught,” I say.
“Oh, he is. He’s texted me multiple times, too. I don’t know what exactly you did to him this afternoon.”
“Probably the first time he’s ever had to chase anything,” I say, cheeks heating.
Nick groans and hugs me tighter. “I love that,” he says, kissing my jaw. “Were you planning to invite him over tonight?”
“Should I?”
He takes the phone from my hands and sets it in the plastic fruit bowl nearby. His lips land on the side of my neck, fingers grasping mine and pressing my palms onto the lip of the counter. He leans forward and pins my hips between him and the cabinet. A groan leaves me that I can’t stop.Fuck. He’s kissing down my throat and sliding the sweatshirt off my shoulder, a hand cupping one of my tits.
“Nick…”
I’ve barely recovered from our first round. My knees are weak, but not as weak as my willpower.
He can fuck me until I’m nothing more than a rag doll.
“If you want to invite him, you can. It’s your choice,” he replies.
I consider it as my eyes close. I could. I could rush into having both of them here, their hands exploring and squeezing, mouths biting and sucking and worshipping me entirely.
However, Jax’s face when I told him to wait flashes behind my eyes, and I smile nervously.
“I think I need to tell him alone,” I decide.
Nick lets out an exhale and leans his forehead against my hair. “Honestly, thank fuck. I wasn’t ready to share you tonight.”
“Sounds like someone is being greedy.”
He chuckles into my neck before flipping me around to face him. My breath catches upon seeing his eyes. They’re dark. Hungry.Tortured. As if he’s holding back telling me about a part of his past that he’s tried to hide from.
He pushes a strand of hair off my face, and I lean into his touch.
“Why do you always look like you’re one wrong move away from losing everything?” I ask softly.
The tattoos around his neck move with his swallow, his gaze somehow becoming even more serious than before. For a second, I wonder if I’ve said something I shouldn’t have, if I brought up a fresh affliction that he isn’t ready to discuss.
However, when he sighs, I practically see him folding.
“Because I am,” he says.
“How so?”
His hair drifts into his eyes when he looks around us like the walls might hold the answer. There’s a pause, a silent consideration as to what to say and if he even wants to say it.
I reach up and squeeze his fingers, hoping it assures him he can say anything.
If it’s grief, I understand it more than I do most things.
Nick clears his throat. “A long time ago, I lost everything because of who I fell in love with. And she… She was lost, too.”
I gulp at the lump daring to rise in my throat. Fuck. I wasn’t expecting this.
“What happened?” I ask.
