My toes curl.
My calves cramp.
My arms shake.
And I come hard and wet and messy all over his magnificent erection until I’m spent and collapse on top of him, gasping for breath.
He’s panting beneath me too.
“So…much…better…than sexts,” I gasp out.
He half chuckles, then loops one arm around my back. “Yes.”
We lay together catching our breath, and eventually I shiver under the breeze of the ceiling fan. He helps me clean up in the bathroom, and then we return to bed.
Exhausted.
But so glad to be here.
He spoons me, murmuring soft questions about the game tonight, about when I have to leave in the morning, about if we can say screw the world and go get a little beach hut in Mexico and spend every day like this.
And just as I’m about to drift off with a smile on my face, he lifts his head.
“Mm?” I say.
He pulls away. “Thought I heard my phone.”
“What’s that?” I’m so tired, I’m loopy.
But I register the sag and shift of the mattress as he climbs out of bed. Hear the pad of his feet on the wood floor. Know that he’s nearby and coming back.
I’m still smiling and nearly asleep when he sucks in a sharp breath and mutters a very strong, “Fuck.”
I sit up. “Duncan?”
“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t hear my phone. Where are you? Are you okay? Shoot, Paisley, I’m sorry. I—yeah. Yeah. I’ll be right there. Don’t move.”
My heart freezes in my chest.
Not sleepy anymore.
Something’s wrong.
26
Duncan
Fuck.
Fuck.
I’m staying in Copper Valley so I can be here if my niece needs anything.
That’s what I’ve told every fucking person who’s asked for months.
And the one night she needs me, I didn’t have my phone close enough. I wasn’t paying attention.
Once we get to her, I know I’ll be able to forgive myself.
