Page 67 of Rival Hearts

“Say it again,” I whispered before kissing him.

“You feel sofuckinggood,” his voice was raspy with need as he arched his back, plunging in deeper, securing me tighter.

It didn’t take long for us to get into a rhythm, and each movement took us both closer to the edge.

“Oh God. Grady.” I braced against his chest, so close my arms quivered.

One of his hands drew me to him, our tongues intertwining as I ground down on him one last time before toppling over the edge. His name was a moan on my lips. His arms circled my back, keeping me pressed tightly to him while he maintained the rhythm, seeking his own release.

“Fuck, Maggie. I’m coming.” As he let out a long groan of satisfaction, I kissed him, swallowing his cries of pleasure while he pulsed inside me.

I yawned into his neck as I snuggled into his side. The words which had threatened to burst out of me while we’d been locked together were circling. I needed to talk about something else before they snuck out. “So, you and Trent are okay?”

“We’re working on okay.” He smoothed down my hair. “I made a lot of mistakes.”

“We all did.”

“I’m not sure you did.” He kissed the top of my head.

“Uh, how about how I inadvertently made Trent’s drug operation bigger and better?” My role in his drug empire and his subsequent arrest had bothered me for a long time. Would Trent have gotten far enough to interest the police without me?

“It’s that bigger, better brain of yours.”

I pinched his nipple, and he laughed, stilling my hand. The sound warmed my heart. Grady had felt like a lost cause, someone who would never bother to discover the truth, content to think the worst. He was starting to prove me wrong.

“Honestly, if I think about what he did, it’ll piss me off. You could have gotten arrested because of him,” Grady said, an edge to his voice.

“There were lots of people in town who did get arrested.” I sometimes saw a few of them who’d come back to town after they’d been released from jail. Or I’d run into their parents at functions. I’d never asked any of them to vote for me for mayor. My involvement hadn’t been intentional, but Ihadbeen involved.

Since I’d become mayor, I’d been trying my best to find sustainable employment for the residents of Little Falls. Maybe if Trent and his friends had better choices in high school, they wouldn’t have turned to making and selling drugs.

“Yeah, I remember,” Grady said, his tone quiet. “That whole thing is part of the reason I bailed from the town when I could. First my dad died when I was a kid, then my brother operates a meth ring. People don’t get over that shit.”

I traced patterns on his chest and considered his words. “Should they?”

“Trent couldn’t read. The system failed him. I—” Grady’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “I failed him.”

“I didn’t fare much better. I taught him to read, but I also helped him build a meth empire.” I took a deep breath. After years of analyzing the situation, I didn’t have an easy answer to the guilt—mine or his. My solution had been to repay the community I’d let down through ignorance. Trent had served his time, and now he was trying to help rebuild the town through this fundraiser.

Grady squeezed me tighter and sighed into my hair. “He made his choices.” He kissed my temple. “And I made mine. None of them were good. I don’t know how we’re here right now after the way I treated you.”

I didn’t want the heaviness of the past weighing down our whole night. We’d found our way to this moment. For years, I’d wished for a moment like this with him—no secrets, no more anger. “I find you irresistible,” I said in a teasing tone. “It must be a pheromone thing.”

That wasn’t exactly a joke. There had to be something chemical in the connection, a reason we were so drawn to each other. My first time with him had resulted in my first orgasm. Imagine my surprise when I figured out orgasms didn’t happen every time or with every guy.

Eventually, I’d discovered the thought of Grady could get the job done whether I was with a partner or I was solo.

Inevitably, once the orgasm passed, shame would settle in its place. Why did it need to be him, his image, when he’d treated me so unjustly? My desire for him wasn’t normal.

“You like the way I smell?”

“Basically, yeah. There are worse things.”

He laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest to my ear. I draped across him more fully, staking my claim. Part of me still couldn’t believe we were together like this. I’d wanted him—at one time more than I’d wanted anything else in the world—but I hadn’t allowed myself to dwell on desire once he turned on me. Wishing he’d come to believe me had been on the same level as reversing time to see the first moon landing in person. Impossible.

“And the smell is linked to what?” he asked.

“Genetics.”

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