Page 101 of After All This Time

What happens now?

Is the thirst for each other gone now that we've had a taste? For me, it's only gotten stronger. There's this insatiable need to feel him again that scares the hell out of me because where does it stop? What happens when it ends?

Do we pretend this weekend never happened? Do we force ourselves to date other people because we know we can never date each other?

This only ends one way: with my heart scattered across our apartment floor.

And if I know anything about Tobias Sinclair, it's that he never thinks past his dick. At least, he never has before. I know he'll be careful with me—he's not cruel. I know him well enough to know he'd never intentionally hurt me, but that almost makes it worse. Because when this burns out, he'll move on, and I'll be stuck replaying every stolen moment, trying to piece myself back together.

And yet, even knowing all that, I still want more of him. I want him to ruin me in ways I can't come back from. I want him to make me forget, even for a few hours, that this thing between us has an expiration date stamped on it in big, bold letters. Because being broken by Tobias would hurt less than never knowing what it feels like to be whole with him.

I grab my bags and drag them outside my room, planting myself in front of his bedroom door. My heart slams against mychestas I stare at the wood, wondering how the hell we even got here.

What am I supposed to say to him?

Hey, bro, ready to forget your tongue was in my pussy last night while we're stuck in a car for half a day?

Yeah, no. That's lame as shit.

But there's no avoiding this, so I knock, trying to brace myself for whatever version of Tobias waits on the other side.

When he answers, his hair is damp and dripping from the shower, and he's wearing nothing but a towel slung so low on his hips that I can see every cut of muscle leading down to where my mouth was last night.

And fuck me, I am not prepared.

Those tattoos I've been dying to run my lips across are still beaded with water, and that nipple piercing is practically begging me to flick it with my tongue, just to see if it makes him as crazy as I imagine it would.

"Morning, Firefly," he says, smiling like he doesn't have a care in the world.

"Well, it's good to see you're ready to leave," I shoot back, pushing past him into the room and dropping onto the edge of his bed.

"I just gotta throw on some clothes." He gestures to his bags with that infuriatingly sexy smirk. "Look, everything's packed."

"You know I'm happy to drive back and meet you at home if you want to fly," I offer, testing the waters, seeing if he'll take the out I'm giving him. But instead of answering, he drops his towel.

My breath catches in my throat, only to die when I realize he's already wearing underwear.

Disappointment? Yeah, I'm feeling that in spades.

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because it's faster," I say weakly, watching him as he gets dressed.

"Butwhywould I want to do that, Mills? Why would I choose to fly alone when I could drive back with you?"

Oh, fuck me. He really is going to break my heart, isn't he?

"Okay, but you can drive first. I didn't sleep that well."

"Weird," he says, his smile widening as his teeth graze his bottom lip in a way that sends heat pooling low in my stomach. "I had the best night's sleep I think I've ever had."

That smug look should annoy me, but instead, it feels like a lifeline, like he's offering me a way back to him, making it easy for us to fall back into each other.

"Seriously though," he says, his voice softening. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, all good. I just need to get back to my own bed, and, you know… three days of my mom is just…" I roll my eyes because my mom is exhausting, and I barely tolerate her from six hundred miles away.

"I think they're downstairs, actually," I add. "Waiting to say goodbye."

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