I stare at him. I knew that he and his former husband hadn’t been in their honeymoon phase, but I hadn’t realized any of this.
“So I’m not going to let a second go by without telling you what you need to hear. What you deserve to hear. You’re a good person, North. You’re one of the best people I have ever met. You’re kind without reason, and you like helping people, even if it’s not what you want to do with your life. You gave up everything without a second thought because that just made sense to you, and I’m going to guess no one ever thanked you for it.”
I swallow, but it catches in my throat, and I have to clear it away. “I didn’t do it to be thanked.”
He laughs, though it’s clear he’s not amused. “I know, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have heard it at least once.” He hesitates, then says, “I know your mother isn’t very kind to you.”
My insides twist, and I have to look away.
Leo catches my chin, but this time, he doesn’t force me to meet his gaze. “You saved me, North. Not just literally. I was ready to roll over and fucking die because I screwed up my first chance at love, and I thought that was it for me. But you showed up and pissed me off at every turn?—”
“Wow,” I whisper. I know my sarcasm is thick. “I sound amazing.”
“No. Listen.” Closing his eyes, he pulls us together as close as he can. There’s no space between us at all anymore. My forehead rests against his, and I feel the soft, puffing exhale of each breath across my cheeks. “You gave me someone to fight. And then, when I actually pulled my head out of my ass, I realized you were actually giving me something to fight for.”
I bite my lip, then lean back and pull his hands into mine. His words are so fucking overwhelming, I don’t know what to do with myself except this. Our fingers make fists together, and I hold them between our beating hearts. “Why aren’t you a best-selling romance author yet?”
“Oh my god,” he groans, then bursts into laughter. “You can’t be serious.”
My lips twitch, but I hold back my smile as I straighten, and I feel like I’m towering over him, but that’s what I want. I want our positions to be flipped. I want him to feel encompassed by me.
Safewith me.
“Leo”—the confession comes in a rush—“I’ve been on edge the last two weeks, waiting for you to finally tell me that you’re done with all of this. That it’s been fun, but I’m not someone you can be serious with.”
His gaze roams my face like he’s searching for someone, and he looks devastated. “You’re not serious.”
I shrug. “I hate that I am, but yeah.”
He snorts. “I thought I’d be too boring for you. I was waiting for you to tell me you didn’t want to do this because I was so dull.”
My brows shoot up high on my forehead. “Are you shitting me? You? Dull?”
With a scoff, he shoves me hard enough I take a single step back. “Yes, me. I’m stale crackers. I’m still pond water. I’m the quiet, humid air right after an intense storm. I?—”
I surge in and kiss him. It seems the only way to really shut him up while also telling him with my body how fucking ridiculous he is. He moans into it, hands scrabbling for purchase, twisting into my T-shirt, and he moves with me like we were always meant to be this.
My head starts swimming as I refuse to break the kiss, walking him over to the kitchen chair, and he sits hard, then spreads his legs so I can straddle them.
“That isn’t you,” I tell him, breathless from devouring his mouth. “And I have a feeling it never was you. I’m sorry if anyone ever made you feel that way.”
He groans and rocks against me, mouth searching for mine. I don’t make him wait for it. His tongue slides past my teeth, and I taste every inch of him.
“We are going to be so late,” I say into the kiss just before it breaks.
He shakes his head. “Don’t fucking care. I want you. Please.”
As though I’m going to say no. This is old hat now, of course. I know every inch of his body. I know what makes him tick, what makes him moan, what makes him flinch. I know what makes his toes curl, and I can do that now that it doesn’t hurt him.
Leaning in, I graze a hard bite over his left tendon, and he melts under me. “Fuck, North.”
“Yeah. I know you like that.” He likes being manhandled and treated a little roughly. I could tell from the first moment I touched him when he wanted it to be anyone else but me.
Only now it’s my hands.
My teeth.
My cock.
