Page 72 of Where You Left Me

The more time I spend with her, the more I get used to it. But the reality is, our time together is coming to an end.

“What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when you get back to Connecticut?” I ask and by the way she does a double take, I know I’ve surprised her.

“Um…probably crawl into my bed and sleep.” She snorts a laugh.

It’s a reminder of how much I’m going to miss that laugh. So beautiful, so infectious.

“Is your bed that comfortable or am I wearing you out?” I tease, giving her ass a gentle swat.

She flashes me a grin over her shoulder before she turns around and walks backward. “Both,” she says.

“Good. As long as I have something to do with it.” I rush up to catch her and wrap my arms around her, lifting her off her feet and she squeals. It’s a sound I’ll never grow tired of. I spin her around and she clings to me.

Her legs wrap around my waist, and she tethers her arms around my neck and before I know it, my cock is straining in my gym shorts. That’s all it takes these days. A giggle from her, our fronts pressed together. Heck, probably seeing her dazzling smile would do it.

Mia lowers her face to mine, and I get lost momentarily gazing into her sparkling green eyes. They’re the eyes I looked into when I found out I wasn’t going to make it professionally as a hockey player, the ones I gazed into when Mom got her first cancer diagnosis, and the same ones I looked into when I found out I was going to be a father.

All those big milestones in my life, she was there. But all the ones to follow, she wasn’t. Not when I lost Mom. Not when I quit at the hardware store and began a new career at the bar.

I lift my chin and she lowers her lips to mine. I kiss her with pent-up emotion from all the things we missed. All the kisses we missed. And all the ones we’ll miss in the future.

Squeezing a cheek in each hand, I thrust her against me, and she expels a light gasp. I’m tempted to lay her down in this dirt and fuck her. But I can’t get out of my head. I can’t not think about her leaving. About her life in Connecticut.

I regretfully set her back down on her feet, giving her a light kiss on her forehead before letting her go.

She smiles and takes my hand while we step over the rocky terrain in the middle of the trail. We stay quiet while we pass a few other hikers. But the gnawing questions thrashing in my brain don’t alleviate.

“For a moment there I thought I was going to have to talk you out of stripping me down,” she murmurs.

“Don’t think I didn’t want to.”

“Don’t worry, it was obvious you wanted to,” she teases.

I squeeze her hand. “Later. Back at my apartment. I can’t wait to tear those leggings off you.”

“Or when we get back to the parking lot…in your truck?” she says like a question.

But there’s never any question on where or when, it’s always gonna be a yes from me.

“You always like this or only with me?” Ah, there, the questions are still finding a way to break free.

Her brows pinch together when she looks at me. “You really want to talk about this?”

I shrug. “Can’t help it. I can’t help but wonder if the first thing you wanna do when you get back to Connecticut is call a dude.”

She glares at me, her lips screwed up in a pout.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I mutter.

“Then don’t fucking ask stupid questions like that.”

“Shit. I’m sorry. I’m trying to only think them, but I can’t help if one slips out every once in a while.”

Resting her hands on my shoulders, she says, “I already told you, after this summer spent with you, I’m exhausted. I’m going to sleep for one hundred years.”

“Good. Because by then, you’ll be dead and won’t be able to fuck anyone. Then I won’t lose sleep worrying about what you’re doing over there in Connecticut.” I grab her waist and tug her in so I can give her a kiss.

When she pulls away, she says in a voice above a whisper, “Stop worrying, Jones. I’ve already said, if you and I can’t make it work, I can’t make it work with anyone.” She takes me by the hand again and flashes me a dazzling smile. “Just think of me as a nun, I’ll be married to the church.”

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