And the way he’s holding me right now?
This absolutely perfecthugwe’re sharing?
Well, it just might be the sexiest thing we’ve done yet.
Because it feels like staying.
Not just passion.
Not just heat.
Staying.
Chapter22
J.T
Afew days have passed since that BBQ at Thatcher’s.Since Evan came at me swinging, yelling, crying like the world was ending.
For him, I imagine it’s felt like that a whole lot lately.
The kid’s world got kicked out from under him.His dad split, poisoned the well on the way out, and now some big bastard he barely knows is suddenly standing next to his mother, holding her hand.
Yeah.I’d probably swing too.
So I let him.
Not because I enjoyed it, but because sometimes a boy needs to burn off the fear and anger before he can hear anything else.You bottle that shit up and it rots inside you.
I’ve seen that happen to grown men.
Hell, I’ve been that man.
Kelly had a moment of panic, just like I knew she would.She’s a mother first—everything else comes second.That’s one of the reasons I fell for her so damn hard in the first place.
But there’s no way I’m letting that woman walk away from me now.
Not after everything between us.
Not after the way she looks when she wakes up tangled in my sheets, hair a mess and cheeks pink from sleep.
Not after the way she curls into my side like she finally found somewhere safe to land.
I crossed that line already.
Every damn boundary there was between us—gone.
See, I could’ve stayed on the outside.
Could’ve kept my distance.
Could’ve admired her from across the damn room like I did for years, pretending I didn’t want her while my whole body knew better.
I could’ve worshipped from afar.
But the second I stepped forward?The second I touched her?The second I kissed her, and she kissed me back like she’d been starving for me just as long as I’d been starving for her?
That was it.
