Page 109 of Dare To Fall

I groan. “You’re killing me, Kitten.”

“I’d rather be fucking you.”

“Only when you’re drunk.” I roll off her and sit up, twisting to place my feet on the floor.

“Where are you going?”

“To make coffee.”

“But I don’t want coffee.” There’s a sulky tone to her voice that would be funny at any other time.

“And I don’t want to be screamed at tomorrow morning when you’re sober and decide I took advantage of you again.”

“You’re not taking advantage of me. I’m an adult. I can make decisions for myself.” Her protest is ruined by another little hiccup.

I turn and rest one knee on the bed so I can lean over her. Gripping her chin, I turn her head to me and press a hard kiss to her lips. “You’re also a fucking lightweight when it comes to alcohol. When you’re sober, if you still want me to fuck you, we can revisit this.”

“I’m not drunk,” she protests. “I’m just a little …” The pout turns into a brilliant smile. “Tipsy!” She reaches up to run her finger along the stubble coating my jaw, reminding me I haven’t shaved in a couple of days. “It’s so rough. I like how it feels against my skin. I want to feel it between my legs.”

I turn my face into her palm and kiss it. “Come and drink some coffee with me.”

“I’d rather sit on your face.”

A begrudging laugh escapes me. “Baby, you’re going to be the fucking death of me.” I break away from her again and straighten. “How about this? We’ll have coffee, and then if you still want to, I’ll bury my face into your pussy and make you come on my tongue all night long.”

“Promise?” She hiccups again.

“I swear on my life. I’ll do whatever you want, for as long as you want, as long as you’re sober when you ask me.” I hold out a hand. “Deal?”

She eyes my fingers, then wraps hers around them. “Deal!”

I tug her off the bed and lead her back along the hallway to the kitchen. She perches at the breakfast bar while I set up the coffee machine.

“How can you do that if you have problems with measurements?”

I glance over at her. She has her chin propped up on her hand and is watching me.

I take out a filter sheet and show it to her. “There’s a fill line, so I know how much to put in.”

“When did you realize you had a problem with numbers?”

I scoop coffee into the machine, close the lid and hit the power button. “I think my mom figured it out first. I remember her adapting how she’d explain distance. Instead of numbers, she’d use landmarks as a reference point. Mom arranged for me to see someone, but she did it in such a way that I didn’t know I was being tested for something. I just thought it was the same for everyone. It wasn’t really until I went to Churchill Bradley and became friends with Kellan, that I realized it wasn’t.”

“Who else knows?”

“Kellan, the faculty.” I shrug. “I don’t know if my dad knows or ever noticed. He was at work a lot when I was growing up, and it was usually just me and Mom at home. By the time Mom died, I’d become adept at working around it.” I fill two mugs, add cream and sugar to Ari’s and take them both across to her. “I’m not ashamed of it, Ari. I don’t hide it. It’s just not something that comes up in conversation. Because I’ve always lived with it, I’m used to adapting things as I go, so I don’t really pay attention to it, unless I’m in a situation where I have no choice. It’s entirely possible other people know and haven’t commented on it.”

Chapter 74

Arabella

I take the mug from Eli and curl my fingers around it. “Someone must have figured it out.”

He places his own on the bar and taps the rim of my mug. “Drink.”

Scrunching up my nose, I sigh. “If I drink it all, we can go back to bed, right? You aren’t going to change your mind?”

“I’ve already promised you we will, if that’s still what you want.”

---