Page 70 of Bourbon and Lies

“Don’t have to,” she says, drawing her finger along my back as I lie on top of her. “I’m not done with you yet, either.”

She closes her eyes and smiles lazily as she comes down from the high of everything we’ve just done. So beautiful. I trace my fingers around the edges of her arms and shoulders, lost in thought.

The moment she kissed me, I knew I wasn’t going to want anyone else ever again. I didn’t plan for someone to be in my life. But I wanted to make room. With her naked body nestled next to me, it felt like I was finally locking into place.

Chapter 30

Laney

Grant Foxx is dirty.Even after we showered together, he whispered the dirtiest promises in my ear as we both drifted in and out of sleep.“I can’t stop picturing my cock sinking into your pretty pussy. And it is”—his fingers traced along my lips—“so fucking pretty.”

He woke me when he shifted between my legs. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he licked me slowly until I came.“You taste sweeter right after you come.”His lips traced along the back of my shoulder as he held me.“I don’t think I’ve had anything as delicious as you on my tongue.”

I awaken this time with his body wrapped around me and his hand between my legs with just one finger lightly teasing against my slit. I almost thought he was asleep, playing with me as he dreamt, but when I look over my shoulder, he’s smirking with his eyes closed.

“Still hungry?” I study the way his lips tip up even more. This is a beautiful man. Even up close with messy hair and puffy, tired lids, he’s ruggedly sexy.

“Not sure I’ll ever stop being hungry for you.” His arm moves up, pulling me closer. I don’t hold back the smile those words bring. This is what it’s supposed to feel like. To want to be completely held by someone. And they hold tighter and lean in for more. It’s impossible not to think about what he said: “How am I not supposed to fall in love with you now?”

My stomach growls loud enough that he lifts his head up to peer at my face.

“Your stomach is on the same page.” He kisses my shoulder, and then gets up and out of bed in one quick move. I don’t think my body could move that fast right now, even if I was forced to.

He walks around in the mostly dim room, that gray morning tint that comes just before the sun decides to show up above the horizon. The full-length windows show off what I’m sure is a beautiful landscape, but I couldn’t be bothered with that. I’m too busy drinking in this naked man, canvassing his body from his broad back down to his full, toned ass. It’s bite-worthy.

It's the first time I can really see the calligraphy-style tattoo that runs just above his V-cut and along his side toward his back. “I’ve been curious about that...”

He looks down at where my eyes are glued and smiles at me. “My brothers and I got it when we were younger. Thought it was a good way to remember our mom. She’d call us and our dad that. Her bourbon boys.” He runs his thumb along the ink that he can reach. “Not much I remember about her, but I remember that.”

The Bourbon Boys

“How long since?—”

He pulls on a pair of sweats. “I was nine when we lost them.”

Oh god. He grew up without both of his parents.I hadn’t realized.

“Car accident. They didn’t do much without the other. He told us there wasn’t anyone else on this earth he’d rather be with than my mom. Loved her big.” He smiles, looking down at his hands. “It was hard. On all of us, losing them both like that. But I don’t think my dad would have survived long if only my mom had passed. It took a lot of years to realize that was how it should have been.”

“Griz raised you since you were nine, then?”

He nods. “And my nana. Griz remarried when my dad was young. And then we lost her when I graduated high school.”

My eyes water thinking about the amount of loss he’s experienced. And I know there’s more. He sits on the bed in front of me, instantly brushing the single tear that started to fall down my cheek. I want to tell him about parts of me too.

“I never knew my mom. She left my dad when I was little.” I swallow down the emotion that always comes when I think about how great my dad was. “My dad raised me. Got promoted to my best friend when I was about eight. And I had a lot of great years with him. That’s how I try to think about it. When I miss him too much, I remind myself about how much I got. Not what I missed.”

I kiss the palm of his hand that’s been lingering along my neck.

“Tell me about him sometime?”

I nod, swallowing the emotions. “Sometime.”

Tipping up my chin, he presses his lips to mine. It's the simplest of kisses he’s given to me, but for some reason, it means something different. Something that tastes like a promise.

“I’m going to take Julep for a quick walk. I think she forgot you’re in here, because I haven’t heard her whining at the door for a while.”

“She really does love me,” I laugh.

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