“Shit,” he mutters under his breath, pressing the phone against his chest. The heat between us snaps into a different tension, a jagged edge slicing through the haze of our kisses. Ipull back slightly, heart still racing, chest heaving, and watch him scroll, jaw tight.
“She… still want you back?” I murmur, barely above a whisper, though I don’t actually need an answer. I know. I’ve seen the history, heard the fragments, I’ve felt the weight.
He shakes his head, running a hand through his hair, looking helpless and furious all at once. “No. She doesn’t get it.”
I swallow, still pressed against him, feeling a mixture of triumph and protectiveness rise inside me. His head drops against mine, and I feel him exhale, finally releasing some of the tension. My hands are tangled in his hoodie, his scent, his warmth, and I don’t want to let go.
We stay like that for a long moment, breathing together, letting the world intrude only on the edges. Eventually, he moves slightly, picking me up and carrying me to the sofa again, draping a blanket over us. The rest of the night stretches ahead, peaceful and intimate, filled with touches and whispers and the kind of laughter that makes the heart ache.
I lay my head on his chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat, tracing lines absentmindedly over the taut muscle of his shoulder. His hand moves over my hair, fingers threading through it.
“You smell like last night,” he murmurs, voice low, teasing but gentle, and I grin, pressing closer.
“You like it,” I whisper, brushing my lips against his collarbone.
“I do,” he admits, a small, breathy laugh vibrating against my skin. “God, I do.”
The night stretches into serene intimacy, electric and overwhelming, each kiss and touch a promise of more without words. We don’t need to speak; our bodies are the conversation, heated and slow, a dangerous kind of closeness that leaves me dizzy and wanting more.
By the time exhaustion finally takes hold, we’re still wrapped around each other on the sofa, tangled blankets and limbs, the apartment silent except for our synchronised breathing. My heart still races, my body still humming, but there’s a softness now. A contentment tempered by desire.
And I know, lying here pressed against him, that this is only the beginning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CALLUM
Iwake up with Rose draped across my chest like she belongs there.
For a second, I don’t move. I just breathe her in. Her hair tickles my throat, smelling faintly of that floral shampoo she uses, and something warm and soft spreads through my chest. The kind of feeling I used to think only happened in movies or songs meant to manipulate desperate people.
Her hand rests just under my hoodie, fingertips touching bare skin. It’s innocent. And somehow not innocent at all. The memory of her body pressed to mine last night rushes back. The way she gasped when I kissed her neck, the way she whispered my name. I’m in dangerous territory. I know it. And yet, I don’t care. Not when she’s curled up against me.
She stirs, a sleepy hum against my ribs, and nestles closer. I swear my heart could explode. I brush a strand of hair off her forehead, slow so I don’t wake her, but her eyes blink open anyway. Soft. Brown. Completely disarming.
“Hi,” she whispers, voice still thick with sleep.
Fuck me.
“Hi,” I whisper back, and my voice is embarrassingly wrecked for such a tiny word.
She smiles just a little, not the public smile she gives when she’s nervous, not the guarded one she uses around new people. This one’s different. This one’s for me.
“You snore,” she mumbles.
I scoff. “I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
“No,” I say, brushing my thumb along her jaw. “That was you.”
Her mouth drops open in mock outrage. “I don’t snore!”
“Sure,” I tease, “whatever helps you sleep at night.”
She pokes my ribs and I tense, not because it hurts but because having her hands on me at all makes my brain shut down. She feels it and her fingers still. We stare at each other, and everything goes silent.
Her phone buzzes, sharp and jarring, somewhere under the blanket. She reaches for it, but I grab her wrist gently.
