Page 54 of Mine to Hold
Rumor shrugged against his body, resting her chin on his chest, and stared at him with wide eyes, hanging on his every word. She had a way of making him feel like he was the most important person in the room. It didn’t matter that he was the only person around, because no one ever gave him this kind of attention.
Except his immediate family.
And they didn’t count.
“To make a long story short, Stephanie was pretty experienced. She taught me a lot of things about sex.”
“Like what, specifically?”
“I don’t know. Like how to do it.” He laughed. “Oral?”
“You mean that thing you did with your tongue?”
“Yeah. That.” He shook his head. “We’re getting sidetracked. The point is, she liked sex. A lot. Even my seventeen-year-old self struggled to keep up. One night, she got ahold of my mother’s handcuffs.”
“Oh my God.” She lifted her head. “You let her tie you up.”
“One of the biggest mistakes of my life.” He let out a sigh. “I had a lot to learn about women and had no idea she was all that pissed at me for blowing her off to hang with my friends.”
“Oh, that’s not cool.”
“It’s not the worst, but yeah, I didn’t even call her.” He shrugged. “I thought she’d forgiven me. She hadn’t. She cuffed me to bed. Naked. Mind you, this was at an abandoned camp. Left me there and then called the cops about a trespasser. Imagine my surprise when my mother walked in.”
Rumor dropped her head to his chest and burst out laughing. “That has to be the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” She brushed her hair from her face. “Any chance I’ll ever meet this girl?”
“Probably. She’s married to a buddy of mine and lives in town.”
“That’s got to be awkward.”
“Only when my mother brings up handcuffs.” He arched a brow. “Your turn, only I’m guessing I don’t want to hear about your first.”
“No. That would just piss you off and sour the mood.” She pressed her warm lips on his chest. “But I did once date this guy for a couple of weeks who had a foot fetish. He liked to suck my toes. It was gross and freaked me out. I had to break up with him.”
“Yeah. I’ll suck on a few things, but toes aren’t one of them.” He reached out, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re a strong woman. I can see that. But I’m sorry you’ve had to run for so long. I hate that you’ve never been able to settle in and see what life is like when you don’t have to look over your shoulder. And that you’ve never been able to develop strong, lasting bonds with people.” She opened her mouth, but he hushed her with his finger. “I get you’ve been doing it all on your own and I respect that. But you don’t have to anymore. Not if you don’t want to.”
“Thank you for adding in that last part. It means a lot.”
“I can be a real selfish prick when I want to be and I want you to give this community a chance. But I also know that your entire adult life has been built on moving. That’s not an easy habit to break, even when you longer have to.”
“Why are you saying this?”
Oh boy. He’d really gone and done it now. He might as well lay it on the line. “Because I care about you. Because I want to see where whatever this is between us can go.” He kissed her softly. “I don’t take many risks when it comes to matters of the heart. Both times I jumped in headfirst, I got burned. Since then, I’ve been dating here and there, but never really putting myself out there. Until you walked into my life. Now look at me. I’m a blubbering idiot.”
“I would never call you that.” She palmed his face. “But can we get through one thing at a time? Deal with the whole Tony and Tom thing before we define what we are or I go making any big plans to stay.”
“I can live with that.” His cell buzzed. He reached across her to the nightstand and lifted it, staring at a text from his father. “My dad will be here in ten minutes.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t exactly say. Only says to get dressed and meet him at the door.”
“How does he know you’re not wearing clothes?”
“He doesn’t, but he’s making an educated guess based on a message from my mother.” Emmerson waved his phone. “Shall I read you my dad’s text?”
“Sure. Why not.”
He laughed. “Hey. You and Rumor need to get out of bed, get dressed, and meet me at the door in ten. There’s something we need to discuss. Something your mother didn’t consider until after we spoke and it’s important. Get moving, Saucy. Damn, that’s an awful name. Who gave it to you anyway? See youshortly.” He tossed back the covers, found his shorts, and hiked them up over his hips.
