Page 74 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
What was he thinking?
At one point, Pantone insisted the three of them practice the song they were supposed to sing during the upcoming church service. Troy Lee retrieved his guitar from his vehicle and handed it to Emmett, who’d moved to sit next to Pantone on one of the padded loungers. “You know how to play that, right?”
Emmett fixed him with a look, exasperated. “If I can play a bass, I can play a six-string.”
They worked through the praise song a couple of times, Emmett strumming the melody, their voices blending beautifully. Savannah homed in on his voice, singing of wanting nothing more than worship. He seemed calmer, more centered with each note, and as they descended the steps to the driveway, he appeared almost normal.
Now she was the one tied in tense knots.
In the darkness of the truck, the questions hovered on her tongue, but he’d all but begged for space tonight. She couldn’t pile on simply to put her own mind at ease.
Back home, standing on the walkway before their apartments, she caught his hand and drew him to her. She didn’t want him alone tonight. She leaned up to touch her mouth to his. “Stay with me.”
He tangled one hand in her hair and held her lips under his. She framed his face with her palms.
“I want you,” she murmured against his mouth. “I wantyou, Em.”
On a groan, he sank further into the kiss, and after a moment, she led him inside, down the hall and to her bed. Determined to impart how badly she wanted him, she touched and tasted all of him, finally straddling him and taking him as deeply into her body as she could, to that point where she wasn’t sure he ended and she began. She thrust down over him, a slow, wet slide, until he tightened beneath her on the onslaught of a helpless climax. Only then did she let go and let the pleasure take her as well.
Wrapped together, they fell asleep. As usual, they surfaced together a few minutes before the alarm. She ran her hand up and down his side, unwilling to leave him in uncertainty.
“Em, what Pantone was saying last night about being with someone and not knowing if they’re thinking of someone else…” She rested her lips against his pectoral. “That’s what’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“Part of it.” He rested an arm across his eyes.
“It’s not true. I miss him, but I don’t wish you were him. I don’t think about him when I’m with you.” She didn’t know how to make him believe. Desperate, she propped up on her elbow and moved his arm aside so she could see his eyes. “I don’t.”
“I believe you.” His voice emerged hoarse and husked with sleep, but the wall remained. “I don’t expect you not to miss him, Savannah. You loved him. That doesn’t just go away.”
The missing piece slanted into place.You loved him.Look atme.
Oh, God.
She stared into blue eyes completely laid bare. “You’re in love with me, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” His throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “I knew it the night Landra came home.”
“Oh.” The pained sound escaped her lips, and she sat up, a hand over her heart. God, why did thishurt?
“I know you don’t love me, and it doesn’t matter.” He pushed up to sit against the headboard, but didn’t touch her. “I’m committed, Savannah. I decided I’d rather live with it than without you.”
“I don’t want that for you,” she whispered.
“Then you have to be the one to go.” He rested his wrists on his updrawn knees. “Because I won’t leave.”
“I can’t leave you.” The words fell from her lips before she’d even thought, and his lashes fell, a spasm of something—pain? fear?—twisting his features. Tears clogged her throat. “What do we do?”
“Let it ride. Let me love you.”
“It’s not fair.” She shook her head. Take that from him when she couldn’t give anything back? “That means I’m taking.”
“No, it means I’m giving and you’re receiving.” He did touch her then, reaching to cup the back of her neck and pull her near, his nose against her temple. “I just need to know you’re not going to leave me because of it. If I know that, I’ll be fine.”
She lifted her own hands to tangle in his hair. “No, I’m not going to leave you.”
He nodded, skin moving against hers. “Then we do today.”
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