Be brave. Be brave. You can do this, Milo!I chanted to myself.
A soft, amused look passed over Jay’s face, and he bit his lip as he watched me do my best to be authoritative.
“You’re so fucking cute, Milo,” he said, his gaze rolling over me as I huddled in the mess of oversized fabric he’d dressed me in.
“Well, I’m not trying to be cute! I’m being serious! We need to talk about this, Jay. You have to tell me what’s going on,” I insisted, and the amusement drained off his face.
He collapsed on the couch and ran a hand down his face, letting out a frustrated groan.
“I know… I just… I don’t want to lose you. Once I tell you everything, there’s a good chance you’ll want to leave Neurovance… leaveme.I know it’s selfish. I know I need to tell you. I just… I just wanted a little more time with you.”
He peeked over at me, looking so sad that my heart broke.
“I’m sorry.”
I unfolded myself and slid closer, crawling into his lap so I could straddle him. His hands found my hips, and he effortlessly slid me closer, fitting us together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle.
“Don’t be sorry,” I said, dropping a quick peck on his nose that caused a bright smile to spread across his face. “I’m not going to leave you. I just need to know what I’m getting into here so we can figure out what we’re going to do together.”
The smile slipped off his face, and his eyes swam with a darkness that I worried no amount of nose kisses would ever wipe away.
“Don’t make promises you might not keep, Milo. You’ve barely known me for a month. You don’t owe me anything. If I tell you this and you decide to leave, I won’t stop you. I might even encourage you to do it. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
I scowled at him, and whatever it was he saw on my face caused him to chuckle softly.
“Well, that’s not your decision to make, buster,” I snarked, crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest.
“Buster?”He laughed. “Who are you callingbuster?”
I huffed, tilting my chin up defiantly.
“You! And if you don’t start talking, I’ll have to start withholding sex.” I smirked as his mouth dropped in mock horror.
“Youwouldn’t.” He grinned up at me. “That would be a cruel and unusual punishment.” He dug his fingers harder into my hips and buried his face in my throat, nipping and kissing me playfully until I wassquirming in his lap. “Now that I’ve had a taste, I don’t think I’d survive without it.”
I laughed and pushed him away before growing serious again.
“Then you’d better start talking.”
He sighed and leaned back into the couch, looking up at me with those sad eyes that made my chest hurt.
“Alright. I’ll tell you. But you have to promise that if it’s too much, you’ll do whatever you think is right for you, Milo. I already feel bad enough putting you on Luke’s radar. You can’t stay here just because you feel bad for me.”
“I promise,” I said, knowing already there was nothing he could tell me that would make me want to abandon him.
“Okay. It all started when my dad died.”
Imoved to get off Jay’s lap so we could talk, but he tightened his grip on my hips, holding me in place.
“Stay? This is… hard for me to talk about. I need… I need to be touching you.”
His eyes were so wide and innocent as he looked up at me, and I melted. He was so dominant in bed, but then there were moments like this where I just wanted to curl my body around him and protect him.
He was hurting and lonely, and I just wanted to take all his pain away.
“Of course.” I nodded, wriggling my way more firmly in his lap and brushing his dark hair out of his face. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He gave me a bright smile and brushed a soft kiss over my lips before clearing his throat.
