Page 28 of Unpredictable

“I fucking love you.”

I freeze as his words penetrate my blissful fog.

Did he say it, or did I imagine it?

The noise from around us comes roaring back as the reality of the situation sinks in. I push at his chest as he pulls out.

“What’s wrong, babe?” His look of concern makes me question what I heard once again.

I wait for him to repeat his words.

“Did I hurt you? You’re looking at me weird,” he mumbles as he cleans himself up before using the sheet from the bed to also clean me up.

Before I can respond, he curses. “Fuck. We didn’t use a condom.Fuck.” He runs his hands through his hair before turning back to me. His words haven’t even hit me yet. He stands, staring at me with a vulnerability that I’m not used to seeing from him.

“Please, for the love of God, tell me you’re on birth control.”

“Of course,” I answer absentmindedly.

He lets out a relieved breath. “Thank God.” He leans down, kissing my lips. “Let’s get out of here.”

“The sheets, we need to burn the sheets in the fire,” I remind him.

“I’m sure someone will do it for us. The virgin sacrifice has been done, the blood will be burned and the group will continue partying. We’re done for the night. Let’s go.”

I let him help me up and back to his car. I know I’m supposed to stay and help clean up. My mind knows leaving with him is a terrible idea. My soul knows that something just happened between us that I should be worried about. None of that matters.

The heart wants what it wants. My heart wants Sterling, anyway I can have him, even if it’s only for one night.

We’re both silent as he drives. I don’t even think to ask where he’s taking us. My mind is begging me to listen to reason, while my heart clings to his words.

I fucking love you.

My heart soars as butterflies fill my stomach. What do I do? Do I acknowledge his statement? Do I say it back? Do I pretend I didn’t hear it?

As we pull up to his house, he steals all my thoughts. He races around the car to open the door. Within moments, I’m out of the car and being pulled towards the door. Once it’s open, he starts to lead me inside but must decide I’m moving too slow. Within an instant, I’m flung up and over his shoulder as he takes the stairs two at a time.

Once in his room, he flings me down on the bed before stepping back and removing his boxers. I move to take off my own lingerie, but his voice stops me.

“No.”

I freeze, unsure what to do. My heart races as my mind goes over every negative reason why he’s saying no, the main one being that he changed his mind.

“What are we doing here?” I whisper.

He moves closer to me before kissing me softly. “I’m about to show you exactly how sorry I am and how much I’ve missed you every single second since you walked out that door.”

“You don’t have to.” I avert my eyes, embarrassed for some reason that he’s admitting he was wrong.

He grabs my chin gently and turns my face back towards him. “I do. Let me worship every inch of your body.” He kisses me softly once more before trailing his lips back to my ear. He nibbles on my lobe before moving down my neck. He kisses every inch of my collarbone, from one side to the other, each kiss searing his words deeper in my mind.

I fucking love you.

I might not have been sure he said the words, but I feel each word with every kiss and touch placed on my body.

The same softness from the ceremony seeps into his motions now. This new side of Sterling is one I’ve never seen. We have had more sex than I can count, but this isn’t just sex. There is a new connection that has never been there before. Maybe it’s because he’s finally accepting what we can be.

I know we have a lot to work out, issues we are going to need to get over, but we can overcome them all.

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