Page 17 of It Was Always You

“Is all this really needed,” I ponder out loud as we make our way back to the living room.

“Ideally not, but it’s better to be prepared. Angus is clearly spiralling if recent events are anything to go by. But Jonathan is working round the clock to get this sorted and you back home.” Owen flops onto the sofa, folding his arms behind his head, making his muscles bulge and flashing me a glimpse of his lower stomach. This man is out to torture me to death.

“I suppose that makes sense, except for the part where I wouldn’t have a clue how to even hold one of those guns, never mind use it. Aren’t you wrecked after the drive?” I ask as I sit on the other side of the sofa, trying not to be too obvious in staring at him. My tongue is practically hanging out as he stretches, letting out the most erotic noises and revealing his lower abdomen and waistband of his boxers to my hungry eyes once again.

“Nah, I slept all day, and I’m used to only getting a handful of hours so I’m good. And don’t worry your pretty little head, I’ll show you how to handle a gun, but anyone who comes for you will have to get through me first.” With a smirk, he looks at me as if he has nothing better to do but stare at me and I can’t help but wish I knew what he was thinking for once.

What happened to the boy who would flee a room if we were alone and who’s this sitting in his place? These mixed signals are torture.

Handy I like some pain to go with my pleasure.

“In that case, I suppose we better get to it, huh? Do you think it’s safe enough for me to call Abbie and Jonathan to let them know we got here okay?”

“Sure, but texts would be better going forward. I’ll call Mum while you do that and then we can make a start, yeah?” With that, he hops, and man do I love to watch him go. Those dark jeans are hugging his ass just right.

With a sigh, I shake off my distractions and grab my phone to call Abbie first; she’s likely to be the easier conversation. Plus, I’m not quite ready to speak with my newfound dad while my mind is still clouded with lustful thoughts.

“I’ve told you before. It better be life or death if you wake me before nine,” she grumbles after picking up.

“Does being stuck in my very own ‘only one bed’ trope count?” I tease, laughing as I hear her let out a screech and scramble to sit up.

“You can’t just say that without warning! I need more details here!”

“There’s only one bedroom here, and just one bed. He offered to sleep on the sofa, but I feel bad making him do that…” I trail off, stretching out on said sofa.

“Absolutely not. This is your moment to feel him out and see if there’s a chance.” Her excitement is contagious, and I can’t help but giggle like a schoolgirl at the thought of all the possibilities being stuck here alone has created.

“You might just have a point,” I hum before changing the subject and letting her know I’ll text her when I can before hanging up and ringing Jonathan next.

“Sweetheart, is everything okay?”

It’s nice, to feel someone genuinely cares for you. It’s a feeling I don’t think I’ve felt from anyone except Abbie since Mum died. I didn’t even realise how much I needed someone other than her to give a shit until now. Having Jonathan in my life is softening the jagged edges around the hole losing Mum left. “Everything’s good. I just wanted to let you know we got here okay.”

“That’s good, hopefully, it won’t be too long and then we can get you home. I’m going to miss our breakfast chats almost as much as I miss our dinners at O’Neill’s.”

After some light-hearted talk, we say our goodbyes and hang up. Owen returns as I’m staring at the ceiling wondering how I went from feeling like I might die of loneliness to this craziness all in a matter of weeks.

“Everything good?” he asks, leaning over the back of the sofa to look at me.

“Yeah, there’s just been so much change lately that sometimes I wonder how I got here.” I shoot him a soft smile before getting lost in his green eyes.

“If you need a day or two to gather your thoughts, we can put off the self-defence stuff. If your head’s not in it, you could get hurt and I don’t want that.”

As tempting as it is to put off something I know is absolutely

going to suck, at least for the first few times, I hop up from the sofa, shaking my head. “Tempting, but we might as well get to it. How bad can it be?”

Chapter 15

Horribly bad.

So bad I’m currently doubled over and cupping my balls.

Once I’d assessed and established she had a good base of fitness as a starting point, I thought starting with MMA basics like push kicks to strengthen her legs was a good idea. However, I hadn’t anticipated her repeatedly missing the bag and kicking me instead. I also didn’t account for how distracting the sight of her in a dark grey sports bra and matching shorts would be. All I can think about is how perfect her tits are, how good they would look in my hands, and her ass…fuck, it deserves to be worshipped. By me and only me.

“This is a waste of time. We’ve been at this for ages, and if anything, I’m getting worse.” Sighing, she flops back onto the mat and looks up at me. Standing above her, I have the perfect view of her cleavage. Shaking off that thought and thinking with my other head for a minute, I brainstorm for a way to get things back on track.

“How about we try something different and circle back to this later? There’s a jiu-jitsu move called the full guard. It’s a solid imitation of the position that asshole had you in back in that alley. But instead of letting me pin your legs, you’ll wrap them around me to break my hold,” I explain, and she nods her consent. This move is going to put us fucking close, and my cock twitches at that thought.

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