Page 74 of Pick Six
“Had what?”
“I wish you would have told me. I was nervous that day. I had cold feet and just like a gut intuition that something wasn’t right. But then I kept thinking no, it’s just a big life decision and I’m nervous because of that. If you’d just said something, anything… You had to pick that day to be the good guy?” I glance up at him.
“Yeah. I fucked up. But we can fix it now.”
I stand up on my toes so I can kiss him on the lips again, and he presses a soft kiss back before he runs his thumb over my lips. His eyes study my face for a moment and then his free hand slides down my body.
“Take these off and turn around.” He tugs at the jeans I have on, and I feel my pulse in my throat.
“What?”
“Do it. Now. You’re lucky I don’t make you put the dress on first.”
I look at him stunned, but he just raises his brow a little higher in response.
I do as he asks, and I hear him behind me, the sound of a zipper and a condom wrapper being ripped open. When his attention returns to me, he runs his fingers up my sides and slides his hand up the column of my throat, kissing the side of my jaw.
“Look at me, Saint.” My eyes meet his in the mirror and he gives me a heart-stopping grin. “You picked the wrong guy. And I’m fucking sorry he hurt you. I’m sorry I let him. That I didn’t fix this all sooner. But we’re gonna fix it now. Every fucking bad memory you have. You hear me?”
I nod and close my eyes as he kisses the side of my neck down to my shoulder, and then he takes the hem of my shirt and lifts it over my head, tossing it to the side before he undoes my bra, adding it to the pile next to it.
THIRTY-NINE
Alex
I hatehim for what he’s done to her. For what I let him do to her because I didn’t speak up sooner. Made her feel less than when she’s this fucking perfect and sweet. Seeing her standing in front of me, her gorgeous skin contrasted against all of the tattoos on my arms as I hold her. She leans back against me, and it reminds me of all the ways the two of us shouldn’t make sense. All the ways we’re too different. Except somehow, she’s all I can think about. All I’ve been able to think about for years.
I slide my hand down, skating over the skin of her stomach, dipping beneath the band of her underwear, and parting her to slide my fingers gently over her clit. She’s already wet for me and when I stroke her softly, she writhes against me, her eyes closed, and her lower lip drawn up between her teeth. When she’s like this I could confess everything. Get on my knees and beg her for anything she’s willing to give, and I don’t think she has a clue how much I want her. Fuckingcraveher and have all this time.
“I love when you’re like this, Saint. When you give yourself over to me. Let me have you. Would you have let me in that day? If I’d come to your bridal suite and told you I needed to talk to you?”
I stroke her steadily, gently, giving her just enough that it’s teasing her because I want to draw this out. Watch her for a while. Having her here in this house, where I had to sit and watch her be his dutiful little wife while he neglected her. Didn’t give her the time or attention she fucking deserved.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I would have let you in, Alex.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the best man.”
“What if I’d confessed to you? Told you I was fantasizing about fucking you? That I couldn’t stop thinking about you and fucking comets and hikes and the way you tasted like grapefruit and tequila. Would you have run away with me?”
“Yes.”
And that “Yes” sets me on fire. I don’t care if it’s a lie or a thing she’d only say yes to in retrospect. It sends my heart into a heavy rhythm because it means she’s thought of me,thinksof me as someone she wants.
I slide a finger inside, testing her, and she’s getting so fucking wet thinking about this that I can barely fucking breathe when I feel her. It makes me want to take her hard and fast, give her a taste of what I could have been doing for her all along. Except I want this fantasy with her for as long as I can have it. I slide a second finger inside, fucking her slow and gentle with them while she rocks against me.
“You’re getting so fucking wet thinking about this, Saint. Look at my girl, soaking my fingers and these panties.”
She lets out a choked gasp when I grind my palm against her clit, giving her a touch of the friction I know she needs.
“And if I stole you away, you’d have spread these gorgeous thighs for me? Let me have a fucking taste of you?”
“Yes. I fantasized for months about it after that first night.”
