Page 72 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

Just thinking about the things this man could do to me, my stomach tightens. I’d let him to. I’d let him do all the things.

To kill time, I’m on my laptop on the couch when I hear his truck pull in. He’s earlier than usual, and my insides smile. Trying to remain calm, I sit there and listen to him close the truck door, then open and close the garage door, kick off his shoes, and make his way into the kitchen.

Could he be any more handsome? With his chiseled jaw, expressive eyes, and his confident, sure walk, my breath catches at just the sight of him. He’s wearing his standard attire of a Tarpons T-shirt and athletic shorts, but it’s his hands that twitch by his side that my gaze falls to.

“You know that’s my spot on the couch, right?”

His words break me from my perusal of him.

“Is it really?”

He raises one brow at me, and I look around the living room. There’s the couch, the coffee table in front of it, two chairs—one on each side of the couch, and a console table with the television across from me. Oh no. Of course this is his spot, and I don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner. I’ve been sitting here for months.

“Why didn’t you say anything? I would have moved,” I tell him as I scoot to the end of the couch so he can sit down, too.

He shrugs one shoulder, then sits down in the middle instead of on the other end. Every single part of me lights up with awareness as he angles to face me a little. His arm stretches across the back of the couch, where his fingers dip into my hair.

My head instantly tingles, and every part of me says, “Yeeees.”

“You’re home earlier than usual today.”

I’m fishing. He probably knows I’m fishing, but I need him to give me something. Put me out of my misery about how this is going to go.

“All I’ve done for the past four days is think about you. Hell, all I’ve done since I found you in my house is think about you. Knowing you were here and I wasn’t? Well, I’m here now.”

“You’ve thought about me?” Butterflies stand up and celebrate. All I’ve done, for what feels like forever, is think about him.

His gaze scans over my face and pauses on my lips. “I don’t know what it is either. I don’t know if it’s because you’re Lance’s sister, so you instantly have this layer of trust with me that others don’t get, or if it’s just because you’re you.”

“That’s funny because I’ve had those same thoughts. Is it because you’re my brother’s best friend, therefore cliché and expected, or is it because you’re you? But I can tell you, after being with you these past few months, it’s unequivocally because you’re you.”

His eyes flare. He likes my words. Suddenly, I’m wondering if he’s a words guy. Is words of affirmation one of his love languages? I’ll need to test all five to see if I can figure it out. I want him to feel loved. I want him to have all his tanks full and feel like he’s someone important. Because he is.

I lean into him just a little, and he matches my movement, lifts his other hand, and tucks some loose hair behind my ear.

“Your hair drives me wild,” he says. “I’m low-key obsessed with it and think you are so beautiful.”

I want to make a joke here and say, “I bet you say that to all the girls,” but after knowing Tyler these past couple of months, really knowing him, I know for certain this is not something he says very often.

“So are you,” I tell him, sweeping back some of his hair that’s fallen onto his forehead.

It’s so strange to be touching him. In many ways, for all these years, Tyler has been this mythical, magical creature, untouchable, but now he is in front of me, and I’m certain he wants nothing more than for me to touch him all over.

“Lily,” he all but whispers, his hand on the back of the couch moving to clasp the back of my neck. “If you don’t want this to happen, now would be a good time to tell me.”

“Oh, I want this to happen. I’ve dreamed of this for years.” My hand reaches out and brushes over his rib cage. The muscles underneath quiver, and his gaze darkens.

He chuckles, and tiny wrinkles form at the edge of his eyes. “Well, no need to make you wait any longer.”

With that, he closes the distance between us and seals his lips to mine.

I swear my insides felt like a two-liter soda that had been shaken and was just waiting to pop. But the moment he parted my lips with his and I exhaled, all that pressure released. I needed this. I needed him.

Tyler shifts, wraps his large arms around me, and pulls so I slide over and straddle his lap. He’s so solid and warm, and I feel like I’m living in a dream come true.

“I want to touch every inch of you,” he mumbles against my mouth. “You’ve been killing me walking around my house for weeks in these tiny shorts, showing off your perfect ass and gorgeous legs,” he says as he runs his hands down my back to my butt where he palms both cheeks and rocks me against him.

With that movement, not only do I feel how much he wants me, but I also swallow his groan.