Page 33 of Trustfall

“Fucking delicious,” he groans.

He picks up my abandoned underwear and slides it back up my legs. “It’s late, and you need to be up early. You should try to get some sleep. Maybe that did the trick.”

How can he be so casual after he just turned my entire world upside down? As I sit up, I notice the rather large tent in his sweatpants. I’ve known he was hard this whole time. I could feel it nudging my back when I first sat on his lap, but I was so preoccupied I completely forgot about it. He sees me ogling and adjusts himself.

“Eyes up here, Em.”

“Sorry, but—that looks painful. Can I?—”

“No.”

“No?”

“This isn’t about me. It’s about helping you sleep. Remember?”

“Yeah, but I can return the favor. Helpyousleep?”

“You can take something without having to give anything back, Emory. It’s allowed.” He stands up and walks to the sliding glass door. “Plus, you can always return the favor when it’s not the middle of the night, and you don’t have to be up in two hours. In the meantime, I’m fully capable of putting myself to sleep,” he says with a wink.

Just like that, the corny, sweet guy I knew in high school is back—as if he didn’t just alter my brain chemistry with his tongue. And now I’m going to imagine him touching himself mere feet from me for the rest of the night. So much for getting any sleep despite the earth-shattering orgasm.

“Night, Little Wells,” he says. Then he’s gone, and I’m left wondering what the fuck just happened. Luke fingered me on his back porch. Luke Collins—the man who acted like I didn’t exist for years—made me come. Within minutes of touching me. I’ve never come that fast in my life.

As I make my way back to the guest room on unsteady legs, it hits me that what just happened was the most intimate experience of my life. Jaxon was more of the “get in and get out” type. It was usually quick and rarely romantic.

Even the first time.

Snap out of it, Emory. You do not need to ruin a perfectly good orgasm high by thinking about the night you lost your virginity.

I can’t seem to help comparing this to my only other sexual relationship. Jaxon never, and I meannever,would have even entertained the idea of getting me off without getting anything in return. He could barely get me off to begin with…

You can take something without having to give anything back.

Luke’s words ring in my ears as I use the light of my phone to see while I change out of my completely ruined underwear and into a fresh pair. He’s right. I never take without giving something back in return. Whenever Jaxon did something nice, even early on in our relationship, I always felt like I owed him something. Over time, he stopped giving and just kept taking. Until there was nothing left for him to take.

But he must have left something behind. A tiny part of my real self that took root. Over time, that small piece has grown, and I didn't even notice until tonight—until Luke showed me that I could reclaim what Jaxon had stolen from me. I knew getting physical with someone again would bring up all the emotional baggage I'd packed away in my closet of shame, but I didn't realize it would make me feel stronger.

As I pull the covers back and settle into bed, I glance over at Allie, who's pretending to be asleep. I can tell because one of her eyes flickers open to peek at me, then quickly shuts when she sees me looking.

“I know you’re awake, Al.”

“Did you honestly think I could sleep through you screaming the house down?”

“You…um, heard?” Thankfully, it's dark enough that she can't see the blush creeping up my cheeks.

“Uh, yeah. I heard. I think our entire street heard. And I haven’t been laid in like a month, so I’m honestly jealous as hell. I would ask you for all the details, but it would just get me even more hot and bothered, and I forgot my vibrator.”

Forgot? As in, it was a consideration for her to bring a vibrator to our neighbor’s house when we’re crashing here for one night and sharing a room? I shake my head.

“I’m going to table the very necessary discussion we need to have about boundaries because it’s so late,” I say. “Let’s just say that it was good. Really good.”

“Jealousy aside, I was thrilled when I heard you getting your clam slammed. You really needed that. It’s been alongtime coming. I mean, you haven’t had sex in ages,” she goes on.

“Okay, okay. Jeez, I get the picture. It was cobweb city down there. But…we didn’t have sex.”

“That screaming was from something other than a dick?”

“I’m not going to give you details. I wouldn’t even if you did have your vibrator.” I scrunch my face at the insinuation I just made. “But let’s just say he gave and didn’t expect anything in return.”

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