Wishing I could hold on to these breath-stealing moments forever, I raised his legs to my shoulders, willing myself to become one with him. He writhed as I pumped, his hand moving on his shaft, faster and faster. Being inside Bailey took me apartto the very blood rushing through my veins, and I exploded. Beneath me, Bailey quivered and shook as he came, spilling across our bellies.
Chests heaving, we clung together, bodies slick and sticky with sweat and come. Bailey slid his hands past my waist to knead my ass. “Absolutely fucking perfect.”
“No one’s perfect.” I nuzzled beneath his ear, sucking the lobe. “Especially me.”
“You are perfect. To me.” He traced the tattoos on my arm with his fingertips, then his tongue. I slipped out of him, rolled off to get rid of the condom, and returned to him in bed, where he picked up where he left off, skimming the outline of the infinity symbol.
“That was for Carlos,” I blurted out, shocking myself. Bailey stopped, his finger resting on my skin. “That date is the day he died.” My head hung low. “It was as if I died too.”
I didn’t know what I expected Bailey’s reaction to be. I’d never explained it to anyone, not even to Grady, but I knew my brother had understood. Everyone who knew me accepted it without question.
“I’m glad you didn’t die. But you’re lucky you had someone to love you.”
“Come on, you’ve never been in love before?” I teased.
His smile was devastating in its sadness. “If you’re not loved in return, it’s not true love because that requires sharing. I was in lust and make-believe fantasies about guys who only wanted sex. None of it was real.” He sat up, his mood shifting like the wind. “But enough about me.” He swung his legs off the side of the bed. “Let’s have something to eat to get ready for round two.” He put his pants on.
I stopped him before he could leave the room. “Enough about you? Are you kidding? You haven’t said jack shit about yourself.”
He laughed. “What? I’m a boring guy. Nothing to see here.” He spread his arms wide, but I folded mine and refused to move.
“I disagree. So yeah, let’s have dinner, but we’re gonna talk.” I caught him by the arm as he pushed past me. “I want to know.”
He kept his head down, and the despair in his voice was haunting. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Bailey
I slurped my pho. “This is the best. I could have it every day.”
Keston had finished his and was crunching on a spring roll. “We have some good places down by me. But this is good too.”
“Maybe we’ll try them sometime. Do a comparison.”
He didn’t agree or even respond, and I wondered again why he was so intent on keeping me away from where he lived. I’d only been there one time, and even when I visited him at the shop, I felt he couldn’t wait for me to leave. I knew he liked his privacy, but nonetheless, it didn’t make sense.
“You finished?” He shoved his takeout containers in a bag. “I’ll take your stuff.”
“Yeah, thanks. The recycling goes in the blue bag. I’ll take it out later.” Yawning, I stretched my arms over my head. “What a day. I could go for a beer and just vegging on the couch.”
Finished with his cleanup, Keston returned to the table. “Fine. Get your beer, and you can tell me what the hell happened the other night, because I still can’t figure it out.”
Dammit. I should’ve known he wouldn’t give up. But I kept my cool. “Yeah, no problem. You want one?” I opened the refrigerator.
“No, I’m good.” He sat on the couch. Waiting. Hard eyes pinned to mine as I approached.
“Yeah, you are,” I teased, but he didn’t smile.
“You don’t need to make a joke about everything, you know.”
Sure I did, but he didn’t need to know that. “I’m not. It was amazing before.” I sat next to him, but he shifted away.
“Bailey. Saturday night you almost had a breakdown because you thought your sister was in trouble. Then she talked about your mother.”
“You heard all that?”
The harsh lines of his face softened. “What’s going on? You can talk to me.”
