My chest grips as I power through. Not letting a millisecond of silence in, not until my point’s made, loud and clear.
“I don’t want you thinking you aren’t enough,” I add fast. “Because you are. You’reeverything.”
Bracing for impact, I turn my head to see how he’s feeling about all this.
His brows lift. That’s all. Then his lips lift up a bit more. “Is being enough something you’re worriedIthink aboutmyself,” he asks, “oryou?”
Oof. That hits me square into this tense chest of mine.
I grin and dodge that, ‘cause some bad habits don’t die. “I’m a lot, babe. You’ve probably noticed.” I pat my chest to loosen it up. “So maybe if Em’s with us, you won’t have to deal with all of me on your own.”
His pretty lips purse closed, like he’s thinking of what to say. Calling me an idiot would be a good start.
But instead, he moves even closer to me, going partly on top of me, one leg between mine, his body grounding me like he’s my damn gravity. ‘Cause he is.
Then his finger trails slowly over my chest, until they find theEinked over my skin.
I hold my breath and let him take his time. I just suggested something stupid, so I’m surprised he hasn’t kicked me out of bed.
Maybe it was a bad idea to bring it up after he fucked my brains out. That’s probably why I’m not thinking straight.
So, like the glutton for punishment I am, I prompt another dumb proposal. “Do you want me to laser it off?”
He looks confused. “What…?” Then his eyes find the letter he’s been tracing with his finger. “Oh, your tattoo?”
“Yep,” I say, trying for casual but sounding terrified. “I got it while I was high as a kite. Which explains a lot of my life decisions honestly.”
His finger follows the loops of the letter. “It’sEfor Elle, right?”
“Yeah.” I watch him closely. “It was impulsive. A sort of promise thing?” I blow out a breath. “Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking. But now that we’re together, I’m just waiting for you to tell me to scratch it off.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. My heel bounces on the bed. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get dumped.
Then he laughs, just a little. It slips out of him, light and breathy, like it surprised him on the way up.
He rests his head on my chest, shoulders shaking. The noise out of him sounds more like a wheeze by the tail end, worrying me.
“Hey,” I say. His body’s not bouncing back as fast without clean Kys in his system. “You good?”
He nods, his smile back on when he lifts his head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” I rub his back, sitting up with a wince when my ass reminds me I just took his dick for hours.
“I’m still rebuilding my stamina,” he says, slowly easing me back to lie down. “That’s all.”
He stays leaned into me, breathing through his nose, chin resting against my chest.
“Since we’re airing some stuff out, I’m sure you noticed that, whenwe were taking Kys on the ship, I got jealous a lot over anyone else who you spent time with.”
I nod. Makes sense. It made my spirals worse too.
“It felt louder. Harder to reason with. Kys, clean or dirty, makes me see red. Redder, really.”
His fingers slide into mine.
“But since stopping,” he says, “it’s easier to think. Easier to sort what’s mine from what’s not.”
His thumb brushes my knuckles.
