The way I kept thinking about her instead of whatever Rhys was saying.
“Yeah,” I say honestly. “But I wanted to come home.”
She laughs softly again.
My grip tightens again.
The buzz in my bloodstream makes everything feel sharper.
Her warmth.
The slow rise and fall of her back beneath my hand.
Something inside me pulls forward.
I don’t have a name for it. It feels strange. New.
It isn’t lust.
It’s something else.
Instinct.
I nuzzle into the curve of her neck, pressing my nose there, my mouth brushing softly over her skin without thinking.
22
TALIA
Damn Sweet
When Jake comes home, he crosses the room in three long strides and drops down behind me, wrapping both arms around my waist.
I gasp softly as his body presses against my back.
“Jake—”
He buries his face in my neck.
His breath is warm against my skin, and I feel the faint scrape of his stubble as he drags his cheek along the curve of my throat.
“You’re home,” I murmur, laughing softly because I can’t quite believe how affectionate he is right now.
“Obviously,” he mutters, but there’s no snark in it.
“You’re squishing me.”
“Good.”
I laugh again because he somehow sounds ridiculous and tender at the same time.
“You’ve been drinking,” I say, turning my head just enough to catch part of his face over my shoulder.
“A little bit.”
“How many is a little bit?”
“Two beers.”
