I shrug. “I had a drawer at his place and some stuff in the closet. I was due to move in after the wedding. But it never felt like mine… or even like itcouldbe mine someday.”
“Did you think about leaving him before the wedding day?”
I pull in a breath. “Yes. Obviously I knew I didn’t love him. But he wasn’t a bad man. I knew my family would always be comfortable if I went through with it, and that was… enough. We’d never had money. Even when I started working, almost all my money went to Mom for rent. So the idea of not having to struggle was… great.” I pick at the skin on my fingers.
His expression is full of sympathy, and I exhale, relieved that I don’t hear any judgement in his voice.
I turn in my seat so I’m facing him. “Your friends are super fun. You must miss them, being so far from New York.”
“I do. I miss my life there, but the Colorado Club is important.” His brow furrows, and he looks so serious that I get the urge to tickle him.
“Wanna give me a piggyback ride to the cabin?” I ask.
“A piggyback ride?” he asks, like he thinks I might have lost my mind.
I shrug. “I haven’t had a piggyback ride for a very long time. I want to remember what it feels like.”
He slides out of his side of the truck and opens the door to my side. I grin at him, wondering if he’s going to follow through.
He turns and bends, encouraging me onto his back. I squeal as I climb on, and he grips my legs tight before he stands. I tighten my grip around his neck and he strides over to my cabin. His neck is warm and solid. I slide my fingers into the neck of the t-shirt under his plaid button-down. He groans at the contact.
He turns his back to the stairs and I hop off. Then he faces me. “How was it?”
“The best I ever had,” I reply. How could it not be? Byron is hot as holy hell, but he’s also kind and funny. He has the kind of friends who are only friends with good people.
He grips either side of the porch railings and grins up at me.
“It’s cold,” I say. “We should go inside.” I grab him by the shirt and pull him up the stairs.
I want him. It’s as simple as that.
He climbs up the stairs, and I keep pulling until my ass hits the door. He keeps walking until our bodies are pressed together. He cups my face and dips down for a kiss.
I moan as his lips press against mine. It’s different from the half kiss he gave me at the bar. Not that that kiss wasn’t good. It was better than good. And it was surprising because it was as if he was claiming me in front of all of his friends—letting them know I’m off-limits.
It was cute and territorial and made me melt.
But this kind of private, desperate kiss is my favorite of Byron’s kisses.
I sweep my hands up the sides of his chest. He’s all hard muscle under the soft plaid.
“What a day,” I say dreamily, when he releases me from his kiss.
“It’s not over yet.” He rounds his hands over my ass. “Let’s go inside.”
I fumble with the keys and let us in.
“You moved things around. I didn’t notice earlier.”
“Oh yeah, the mattress is on the floor. I’m going to sleep in here tonight to give the bedroom ceiling a chance to dry out.”
He doesn’t answer. When I look around, his eyes are full of heat. “You won’t do much sleeping tonight.” He tugs me to him with his fingers tucked into the waist of my jeans. He presses kisses down my neck, and instantly it feels like last night never ended.
We shrug off our coats and I pull at his shirt, my hands trembling with need for him. Why the hell did we waste time going to the bar tonight? We could have been here doing this. All night.
I don’t know how I’ve managed to retain my self-control all evening. Right at this moment, I’d be happy to drop to my knees and take his dick in my mouth even if all his friends were watching. I just want to feel him. I want him to feel me.
As if he can hear what I’m thinking, he pulls open my jeans and shoves his hand down my pants. His fingers find my folds. I know I’m wet.