“Yes, you would have,” she mumbled, resting her chin on his chest. “You hate me, too.”
“No, I don’t,” he whispered gently, the truth on the tip of his tongue.
He watched as she rolled her eyes and let her shift slightly, so that she could resume her position laying against his chest, her hair fanned out over his shoulder. Now wasn’t the time for confessions, anyway.
Long minutes passed in the quiet of the room, the fingers of one hand stroking through her curls, the other idly strumming lazily along the bare skin of her upper arm. Her hand rested lightly on his chest.
“You know I’m going to ask, Shaun,” he murmured quietly, continuing to trail his fingers from the tip of her elbow to her shoulder and back again.
Turning her face into his chest, he felt her hand still against his skin. “I’m not going to talk to you about that, Kasey,” she said, her voice muffled where it was buried half in his side and half into the bed beneath them.
“I want to know what this idiot did to lose you.”
Leaning up out of the warm cradle of his arm, she pulled the sheet up with her as she rolled to a sitting position, covering her chest as she turned her face forward, turning away from him. “Kasey, please don’t.”
“Don’t turn away from me,” he murmured, trying his best to keep his voice gentle, but still, a bite rang through. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she snapped, whipping her head around to face him. Christ was she feisty.
“No, you don’t—”
“So just drop it, okay?” she snapped again, then hunched her shoulders in on herself before scooting to the edge of the bed.
“Whoa—” he muttered, curling his arm around her middle and hauling her back into the bed beside him, ignoring her protests. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
“I need to get dressed and go back down to the wedding, to help clean up. We epically failed at our maid of honor and best man duties,” she grumbled around a huff as she tried to disengage his arm that was banded around her like a vice.
“That’s what the staff is for,” he reminded her gently, tightening his hold around her as she struggled. Slapping her ass smartly, he grinned when she gasped. “Stop moving and lay down.”
“Kasey,” she ground out through clenched teeth, and he grinned wider at the annoyance in her voice. Fuck was this fun. “Even if I don’t go back down to the wedding, I still need to go back to the vacation rental. My parents will worry when I don’t come back—”
Reaching for his phone, he opened a text thread with Roxy and shot off a message, asking her to please let the Kendall’s know he’d kidnapped their daughter for the remainder of the evening, but that she was safe. Showing it to Shaun when just a second later a thumbs up emoji appeared from Roxy, he said simply, “See? That wasn’t difficult.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered, shaking her head. “My dad is going to murder you and make me clean it up, then after that, probably murder me.”
“You’re a grown adult,” he reminded her, stroking his hands over the smooth expanse of her back as she slowly, reluctantly, leaned into him. “I think your parents will be more understanding than you give them credit for.”
“Freeman is my dad’s best friend, and he still gave him a black eye when Free told him how he felt about Jodi,” Shaun mumbled dryly, but finally settled back into the circle of his arms. Pulling the sheet up to Shaun’s shoulders, he tucked her against his side.
“I’ll take my chances,” he chuckled, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “You’re worth it.”
He felt her heavy exhale against the skin of his chest and then heard her whisper, “Your funeral.”
He grinned. “Would you mourn me? Visit my grave?”
She shrugged, nuzzling into his side again. “I guess. Those were some pretty great orgasms. I might need a few more, just to make sure, though. For research purposes, of course.”
He laughed out loud, tightening his arms around her, before resting his chin against the top of her head. “I am happy to provide you with as many as it takes, darlin’. Though I have to warn you, I have heard they are habit forming. You may become addicted.”
“A-dick-ted,” Shaun chuckled around a yawn. “I see what you did there.”
“Go to sleep,” he ordered roughly, though he gentled it with another chuckle. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Re-dick-u-lus,” she giggled sleepily. He rolled his eyes in the dark.
“Good night, darlin’,” he murmured dryly.
She didn’t respond because she was already asleep.
