Nathan whispered next to my ear, “It hurts how much I miss you. Just tonight, make it stop.”
The torment in his tone, the desire in his gaze…
I leaned forward, placing my lips on his. Softly, so softly, as if at any moment, he could evaporate. But it was all the encouragement Nathan needed. His hands moved to my ass, pulling me to him as he lay back on the bed. He was hard, pressed against my leg. Knowing he still reacted that way to me… it feltgood.
Nathan deepened the kiss, his lips moving fervently against mine. I missed the feel of him, the taste of him. Even the faint hint of beer lingering in his mouth didn’t bother me. I wanted to drown in him.
The way he met each move of my lips, each swipe of my tongue, told me he felt the same.
Unable to resist, I let him pull me under.
When I opened my eyes the next morning, Nathan wasn’t there. If his clothes hadn’t littered the floor, I would’ve thought I dreamed him coming home and seducing me into the hottest make-out of my life. My eye caught the time on the clock on the nightstand next to me—six thirty a.m.Shit.
I flew out of bed to the window, heaving a sigh of relief to see my ladder still leaning against the house. Following the reverse path of last night, I was back in my room in less than ten minutes, hustling to dress for school. I had just enough time to splash water in my hair, brush my teeth, and apply a quick swipe of eyeshadow and lip gloss before I needed to be downstairs for family breakfast. A new tradition my mom instituted after Mr. Sharpe—Gordon, at his insistence—moved in, because she wanted to pretend we were one big happy family.
Initially, I didn’t want to play along. To pretend my heart hadn’t been torn open by what she’d done. Whatthey’ddone. But then Molly was born, the sibling I’d always wanted. She didn’t deserve to live in a tension-filled house. Babies picked up on that. Their surroundings shaped them.
For her, I sucked it up. I played nice until it was no longer entirely pretend.
“Oh, good,” my mother chirped, seeing me descend the last few steps. “We can have a fullfamily breakfast for the first time.”
My knees threatened to give out at the sight of Nathan Sharpe at our kitchen table. His frustratingly unreadable gaze met mine. Fireworks erupted in my belly. Those perfect lips had kissed melast night. I’d rested all my weight on him, savored his strength. Staring at him now, all I wanted was to do it again.
I am a terrible person.
“Isn’t it great to have Nathan home?” Mom trilled with a smile.
Fake. All fake.
She didn’t want Nathan here. I heard her tell Gordon it’d be best for him to stay with his mother, to give him time to cool down. Gordon had snapped back that Nathan was his son and bringing him back to Middlebury was his only shot at getting his forgiveness.
“Brenna, why are you just standing there?” She carried a plate of pancakes to the table. Her actions made me wonder if she’d been body snatched. “Take a seat.”
“You look exhausted,” Nathan chimed in, his blindingly beautiful grin stretching across his face. “Late night, Bren?”
I walked on unsteady legs to the head of the table, opposite Nathan. “Molls woke me up,” I said, focusing my attention on moving pancakes to my plate.
“Good thing she’s so damn cute,” Gordon called from the stairs, Molly in his arms.
Nathan frowned before averting his eyes.
The doorbell rang. An anvil dropped in my stomach. I knew exactly who waited at the front door.
“Like clockwork,” my mom muttered. I glared at her. “You’re too young for a serious relationship, Brenna. I’m looking out foryou.”
Nathan shot up, his chair flying out from behind him, knocking into the wall. I helplessly chased him to the door. I grabbed his hand before he reached it, trying to pause time so I could talk to him before he invited my boyfriend into the house.
Nathan shook off my hand. His demeanor had transformed from the grinning boy at the table earlier. His nostrils flared, and his eyes were cold. “Don’t you want me to meet him?”
The question stunned me silent while I battled being swallowed by my guilt.
“You’re just like your mother.”
I took a step back, clutching my chest like the words were a physical blow. My mouth parted, but no response came out. I kept staring at him, waiting for him to take it back, to apologize, to snap his fingers and break me out of this nightmare.
But he opened the door to Derek, dressed in a plain white T-shirt beneath a long-sleeved navy blue button-up. His megawatt smile faltered as he took in Nathan, then me.
Derek’s eyebrows rose, but he snapped his fingers. “Nathan, right? Brenna didn’t mention you’d be here.”
