Page 102 of Crash & Burn

We get to the end of the third movie and I don’t want the night to end, even though it is late and I have to be at Lenny’s early tomorrow to help Emmett go through some job applications. Since Annie starts veterinarian school in the fall, we have to find someone to replace her by the end of the summer.

The thought of leaving right now though, leaving the comfort of the cozy blanket and having Mia wrapped around me. Sometime towards the end of the second movie, she shifted from sitting up and leaning back against me, to resting her head on my chest and hooking her leg around mine. My arm is resting on her back, and her arm rests across my stomach.

“This is my favorite part,” Mia whispers, just as the characters on the screen have their final interaction. The last scene ends, and Mia lets out a gasp as if never seeing it coming, even though she told me whenEclipsestarted that it is her favorite movie of the series.

The credits begin to roll, and I feel Mia begin to press herself up from my chest, but I use my arm around her to keep her close. The air around us thickens, knowing that our night together is over, that it is time for me to go, but it feels like I just got here.

Chapter 34

Eddie

Nervousness blooms in my belly at the thought ofhowto end tonight, what could be considered as our first official date.

As the credits fade out and the TV goes back to the home screen for the streaming service, Mia turns her body, so her head is resting on my lap, and she is looking up at me.

“Tired, sunshine?” I ask, already knowing the answer. While she looks tired, that look in her pretty brown eyes says otherwise.

She slowly shakes her head, her blonde hair contrasting against my black joggers. My white hoodie feels suffocating all of a sudden, my body heating at the way she is looking at me.

“What did we say about using our words?” I tease.

“No,” she says, sitting up. I watch as she slowly moves in her stupidly silky pajamas. She sits up on her knees, never taking her eyes off me, and I feel like she is the predator and I’m the prey. Her movement is so slow, almost calculated, as she straddles me, my hands naturally finding her hips and hers find the back of my neck.

She leans in, and I’m dying to have her lips on mine, but when I close my eyes, my lips remain untouched. Instead, she leans in further, pressing her soft, pink lips to my forehead, making my chest tighten at the affection. I close my eyes, and she kisses me again, this time more towards the top of my scar, and I have to stop myself from flinching.

The scarred skin doesn’t hurt, the pain of how I got it hurting much more than the actual injury, but it is always the reminder that it is there that stings.

I sit still, trying not to tighten my grip on her hips too much, not wanting to hurt her, but a lot of emotions are coming up for me, faster than I can keep track of. The same thing happened that night in my truck.

She lightly kisses the lid of my eye before she leaves a kiss on my cheek, and I let myself let go of a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding on to. As the exhale leaves my lips, so do those feelings of discomfort. My mind clears, and I remember that I’m not back at that night, the night that everything for my family changed. The night my anger took control of me, and I almost let it kill my father.

I remember that I’m with Mia, in her apartment, with her in my lap, giving me all her attention, and I don’t ever want to take advantage of the time I have with her, especially because I know it is limited.

She kisses my cheek until she gets to my lips, placing a feather-light press to my lips before she continues her journey down my jaw, finding my neck. Her intent changes the moment her lips are on my neck, swiping her tongue against my skin, and I instantly feel like something inside me comes alive.

Something strong.

Strong enough that it might be able to pull all the broken pieces of me back together.

I take in a sharp inhale as she leaves a warm trail of kisses up my neck so hypnotically slow that my head starts to spin, the mix of emotion and pleasure beginning to take over my thoughts, and now all I can focus on is the growing need to have her. All of her. Now.

Mia twists her fingers in my hair, using her grip to gently pull my head to one side, giving her more access to my neck. I slide my hands from her hips to her ass, pulling her into me.

I want her tofeelwhat she is doing to me.

Her lips make their way to my ear, whispering in a way that somehow makes me harder than I already am

“Are you going to let me take care of you tonight?” she asks.

Both my dick and my heart are no match against her.

She has no idea how crazy she is capable of making me.

I want to say yes to her, so badly, and it would be so easy to.

Not only do I know that I will forever give her whatever she asks of me, but she is the only one who has ever made me feel like it is okay to not have it all together, despite the voice in my head telling me that I have no other choice.

Mia on my lap, her lips on my skin.

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