Which didn’t happen.
Not for a long time.
He just held me.
His arms wrapped tightly around my shaking body, one hand stroking my hair while he whispered, “That’s my girl,” over and over.
I barely breathed.
He kissed my temple. My cheek. My lips. “You okay?”
I nodded into his chest. I was ruined. Fucked full.
And still, he didn’t let me go.
Instead, he spooned me, and kept his cock inside.
I didn’t remember falling asleep. Just the warmth of him, the steady rise and fall of his chest against my back, his arm heavy across my waist like he wasn’t planning on letting me go anytime soon.
The room had gone quiet, city lights dimming behind the curtains, the kind of silence that only came after everything finally settled. My body felt loose, boneless, like I’d melted into the bed and taken him with me.
Aiden was already halfway gone. I could tell by the way his breathing had deepened, slower now, calmer. Every now and then his fingers twitched against my side, like even in sleep he was reaching for me.
My phone lit up on the nightstand and pulled me out of my daze. A sharp little ping that cut through the quiet.
I groaned softly, shifting just enough to reach for it, careful not to disturb him. My fingers fumbled for a second before I grabbed it, flipping it to silent out of instinct. The glow of the screen lit up the dark, and for a second I considered just ignoring it.
But my eyes caught the subject line of the email:Re: Placement at TheSan Antonio School of Fine Arts.
My stomach dropped, and I pushed up slightly on my elbow to read what it said.
Congratulations…
The word hit me right between the eyes, and the rest blurred together before snapping back into focus.Scholarship. Acceptance.
My heart kicked hard against my ribs. I stared at the screen, reading it again. And again. As if it might change if I blinked too hard.
I’d gotten it.
I’d actually gotten in.
Aiden stirred beside me, his arm tightening where it rested across me.
“What is it?” His voice was rough with sleep. “Everything okay?”
I blinked, the moment snapping in half. I turned the screen off quickly and set the phone back on the nightstand, face down like that might hide the weight of it.
“Yeah,” I said, sliding back down to tuck myself into him again. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
His breathing evened out again, sleep pulling him back under. But that was gone for me now. I stayed awake. Eyes wide open in the dark. Heart still racing.
Because it wasn’t nothing.
Not even close.
29
Aiden
