Her small, sweet smile and hooded eyes were so exhausted that I was afraid to let go of her as I pulled out.

“Ow,” she whispered, sucking in her breath through her teeth.

“Yeah.” I placed my hands on her hips, supporting her. “Ease down. You’re going to be sore.” “I already am.”

“Stay here,” I told her, handing her a towel and wrapping the other one around my waist. “I’ll go run the shower and come back down to get you.”

“I can make it upstairs,” she laughed. “Stay.” And I walked off.

After running the water and checking the temperature, I ran down and picked Tate up in my arms. “So I guess the birthday spankings are out,” I joked as I carried her upstairs.

She rolled her eyes. “What is it with guys? Madoc already offered at school yesterday.” “He did what?” I halted at the top of the stairs.

She wound her arms tighter around my neck and leaned in, taking my earlobe between her teeth. I let out a hard breath, and Madoc was forgotten.

“The water should be good.” I pulled back the curtain and set her down in the tub.

“Turn on the shower part,” she said sleepily, sitting down on the floor and hugging her knees. “It sounds like rain.”

I pulled out the knob, watching the water spray down on her legs, and then I yanked off my towel to climb in behind her.

Sitting down, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against my chest.

“You know,” I spoke in her ear. “I stayed in your room for a month while you were away.” “What?” She twisted her head towards me, and I hugged her close.

I didn’t know what it was, but all of a sudden I wanted her to know everything.

“When I got into trouble, and my mom left to get sober, your dad took me in. Set me straight again.

Well, straighter, anyway. I slept on your floor.”

I tried to keep my voice light, but I was choking on the words. “I hated that you were gone, Tate. I picked fights with everyone. I skipped classes. Even the love I have for my brother couldn’t pull me out of it. When I controlled you, I had one fucking thing in my life that made sense. That made my blood rush. I looked forward to tomorrow when you were around. If I could zone in on you, then I wasn’t thinking about everything else that hurt.”

Tate laid her head back on my shoulder and peered up at me, wide-awake now. “Why wouldn’t you sleep in my bed?” she asked softly.

I touched my lips to hers, soft and warm. “Because you wouldn’t have wanted me there.” I was a sick man.

I could humiliate her, isolate her, and hurt her, but sleeping in her bed while she was away was too invasive? Yeah, I couldn’t explain it, either.

She leaned in, trailing kisses along my jawline. Shivers spread out across my arms when she whispered against my neck. “I definitely want you in my bed. And I love you.”

Closing my eyes, a big, fat smile spread across my face. If only Madoc could see me now.

Or maybe not… “Say it again.”

“I love you,” she said louder with a laugh in her voice. “More,” I taunted.

“I love you.” She kissed my cheek. “I love you.” Another kiss. “I love you.” And she kept teasing me with her soft, wet kisses until I caught her lips and kissed her hard.

We’re never leaving this shower.

“How are you feeling?” I asked when I’d let her go.

“Good.” She nodded and wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe we should see what it’s like in water.”

Heat and every other fucking source of energy inside of me shot downward, but the crushing disappointment hit me like a brick.

“Can’t,” I mumbled. “I don’t have any more condoms.” Maybe Tate had some.

Wait… she fucking better not.

“Jared, I want a picture!” my loud-mouthed and unusually invasive mother shouted as I raced up the stairs.

Picture?

I shook off my annoyance as I looked for my car keys on my dresser. Tate and I were headed to Homecoming.

Scratch that—Tate, Madoc, and I were headed to Homecoming. They were both waiting outside when all I really wanted to do was punch him in the gut, send him home, and skip town with Tate for the weekend.

But…the asshole did have a hand in making me jealous, forcing me to act, and he was a good friend. Most of all, though, Tate wanted to go. I owed her that.

“No pictures. Jesus,” I cursed, shaking my head as I snatched my keys and rushed downstairs.

But my mother was waiting at the bottom. “Oh, no you don’t.” She grabbed my arm to stop me as I tried to walk past her.

I turned, trying to appear annoyed, but I was a little amused at how naturally she wore the mother role.

Ever since our heart-to-heart at the fish pond, we’d found some common ground. We still weren’t all hugs and kisses, but we spoke gentler and showed more patience.

“What?” I couldn’t hide the smile that peeked out. “I don’t do pictures…Mom.”

Her eyes widened with a sparkle, and she cleared her throat before straightening my black tie. “Alright, but I do have something to say, and you’re not going to like it.” She kept her eyes trained on

her task of fixing my tie and steadied her voice with a firm tone. “Honey, I couldn’t be happier that you and Tate found your way back to each other—”

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 647