“I’m not trying to overstep,” he says softly. “And if you don’t want me to come, I understand. But you’ve worked too hard not to show off a little bit.”
I sigh, resting my head on Davis’s shoulder and pressing my nose against the warm skin of his throat. “How did you get to be so smart?”
He huffs a laugh, ruffling my hair. “I’m good at learning when I’m interested in the subject. And you’ve been the sole subject of my interest for a long time now, Cecelia Taylor.”
The acknowledgement worms through me, warm but with a cool slide in its wake. “Sorry, but I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It’s okay. You were putting your dreams first, which is exactly what you should have been doing.” He hesitates slightly, his chest hitching under my fingertips. “And I should have made a move, but I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of you not wanting me. It seemed safer to pretend we weren’t together because you didn’t know how I felt, instead of finding out you didn’t want me.”
Heat burns at the back of my eyes. “You were protecting yourself.”
He shrugs. “I told myself I was. Really, I was just being a coward.”
“Says who?”
He laughs again. “Aggie. She called me out. Me and Jake. A couple of home truths about letting our egos get in the way of being there for you girls when you needed us. She was right.”
Giggles burst out of me, and Davis runs a hand over my shaking shoulders.
“I can only imagine how that conversation went,” I say. “I hope she wasn’t too mean.”
“Nah,” Davis says. “She reminds me of my mum. I’m lucky to have her looking out for me.”
“Me too.”
His arm tightens around me. “We’re all looking out for you, Cece. Whatever happens next, we’ve got your back. Ada’s, too.”
“I know. And I appreciate that.”
I straighten up, pulling back to study him. He looks incredible, his dark hair falling everywhere, his pretty eyes on my mouth, and my cum still on his face. In his black jeans and dark hoodie, he’s the picture of a rebel. A rockstar. If he were anyone but Davis, I’d say he should be selling out arenas, girls screaming and falling at his feet. But heisDavis, so he also looks like safety and kindness. And most importantly, he looks like he’smine.
“Come on,” I say, tugging our linked fingers. “Let’s go back to the hotel. We’ll go to this dumb reunion, have a couple of drinks with our friends, and after the speeches, you’ll come up to my room and fuck me, Davis Sanderson.”
He grins. “Yes, ma’am.”
I smile as he gets back into the driver’s seat and starts the car. It’s time we all got what we deserve.
28
Ada
The four of us pile into the back of Jake’s Uber, laughing and joking as if we’ve done this a thousand times. As though we frequently travel in the same vehicle and often to worst-case scenarios.
Jake sits between me and Cece, stretching his arms across the backseat like he owns the whole car, as Davis parks himself beside the driver. Forever on duty. Forever our underpaid security detail.
I smile at the thought as the Uber leaves the curb. Cece pulls out a tube of lip gloss and leans across Jake. “Come here.”
“I’m fine,” I protest.
“You’ve chewed half the red off your mouth! We’re supposed to show up to this thing looking normal. Not like we’ve been fighting crime all weekend.”
“Fighting crime is a bit of a stretch,” I say. “Anyway, we’re meeting up with Betty and her husband remember? I can do my lips in the bathroom.”
“Every moment is a chance to look wonderful,” Cece quips like a deranged stage mother.
