Page 75 of Tangled Up In You
“I love you,” he said, bringing my hand up to cup his face.
His stubble tickled my palm, and I smoothed my thumb along his cheek. Staring into his gray eyes, I felt as if my whole world was right in front of me—in his gaze, in the feel of his skin on mine, the sound of his somewhat raspy voice. The beating of his heart against mine.
It felt surreal to love someone so much. I’d loved him when we were younger, but what I felt for him in that moment was greater than love. It was all-consuming and powerful, striking me in the center of my chest like lightning and then fanning all throughout my synapses and sinking into my bones.
“I love you too,” I said, moving my hand from his face and down to take his hand. “That’s why I’m not letting you just give up without a fight.”
“You’re right. I don’t need to run from this,” Corbin said, and even though trepidation still lingered in his gaze, his voice was steady. “I’ll call Jen tomorrow and figure out the best way to go about it. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being my voice of reason.”
We were supposed to fly back to Willow the next day, and with recent events, I wasn’t sure if that was still the plan. Would I be going back home alone? If so, when would I see him again?”
As I was in my head, Corbin walked over and grabbed his phone.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said, approaching him and taking it from his hand. “Seeing it all will just upset you further.”
“I know,” he answered, plopping down on the bed and slinging an arm over his eyes. “I just hate not knowing. It’s fucking killing me. I can’t focus on anything but what they’re saying about me.”
I sat beside him, resting my hand on his inner thigh. “It doesn’t matter what they’re saying, Cor.”
“Can we stop talking about it for tonight?” He moved his arm and studied me with sad eyes. “Tomorrow…I don’t know. Everything will change. I just want to hang onto this moment with you for as long as I can.”
Maybe sex couldn’t fix everything…but it couldn’t hurt.
I crawled up his body and grabbed his arms, pinning them above his head. He gave me a shit eating grin as he looked up at me with a seductive gleam in his eyes. I kissed him deeply. We’d fucked a lot that week, but I wanted to make love to him.
I broke the kiss to remove his pants and the rest of the clothing separating us.
His cocky smile faded as he took in my expression, and he lifted his hand to brush his knuckles along my jaw. Our lips met again, and he entwined his fingers in my hair. I melted against him, chest to chest, mouth to mouth, and heart to heart.
I took my time prepping him, loving the sounds he made as my fingers moved inside of his heat.
“Hunt,” he moaned, gripping my shoulder as I lay between his legs. “I need you. All of you.”
When I entered him, he wrapped his arms around my neck. I kissed his temple, his cheek, his jaw, and then his lips, fusing our tongues as his body welcomed more of me.
Nothing felt more perfect than it did right then.
Whatever happened tomorrow would happen. There was no stopping the inevitable. But for one of the first times ever, I wasn’t worried about our future. Even if he went back to Kansas City or anywhere else as he sorted this out, I knew he’d always find his way back to me.
Chapter 24
Corbin
Jennifer was a rock star. No, better than that. She was a damn super hero. Magazines, online blogs, sports journalists from all over—all were reaching out and wanting an official statement from me. People were chomping at the bit to be the first one to have an exclusive interview. Jen took the calls and the messages and handled everything with so much poise.
Hunter had to return to Willow because Spring Break was over, and he had to be back at school that Monday, but I texted him constantly. I hated not having him with me, but I didn’t plan on being gone for long.
What really touched me was when my teammates all reached out to see how I was doing. A huge part of me had been worried about what they’d say. How they’d treat me. After hearing from them, I was ashamed I ever thought they’d reject me for it. Not all seemed welcoming, but most of them did.
“Man, I’m fucking pissed at how it happened to you,” Austin said as we sat in my living room back in Kansas City. “But do you feel any relief that it’s finally out in the open? I mean, you’ve struggled with how to come out for a while.”
His blond hair hung a little in his green eyes, giving him a surfer look. His vacation had given him a nice golden tan, and if the small peeks of his ass were anything to go by, he didn’t have any tan lines. We were dressed in our gym clothes, having just finished working out in my home gym.
I hadn’t wanted to go to the public gym just yet, not until all of this shit blew over.
