Page 160 of Babies for the Big Shot
I think it’s my name. I don’t know. I can’t think.
She tightens around me and I feel her start to fall apart, her breath catching, her rhythm faltering. She buries her face in my neck, trembling.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper. “Let go, baby. I’ve got you.”
And she does.
She cries out, a raw, beautiful sound that sends me over the edge with her. I grip her hips, holding her down as I thrust up once, twice, and then I’m gone, completely undone, spilling into her as my whole body shudders with release.
We collapse together, still tangled, still connected, her heartbeat against mine, a drum calling me home.
I press a kiss to her damp temple. “I love you.”
Her breath is still shaky, her smile dazed but so real. “I love you too, Nick. So much.”
And just like that, I know I’ll never be the same.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Sara
I don’t knowwhy I’m back here.
I mean, Ido, but I’ve also spent the last four minutes pretending to browse a table of books as if I’m not totally loitering.
Evelyn’s behind the counter, flipping through a hardcover. She hasn’t looked up, which I’m taking as her version of a welcome mat. Or a challenge. Hard to say.
I fake-read the back of1984as if I didn’t suffer through it in tenth grade.
Finally, I clear my throat. “Hey.”
She glances up and smiles. “Back again?”
“Yeah. I hope that’s okay?”
Evelyn closes the book with a softthunkand raises one brow. “That depends. You aren’t haunting me for sport, are you?”
Fair.
“Mostly haunting,” I say. “But also maybe… attempting human connection?”
Evelyn gives me a look, but it’s not sharp this time. “Ambitious.”
I shrug. “Yeah, well, we had such a nice chat before…”
Her lips twitch. “About my brother.”
I nod. “But I also want to knowyou.”
I don’t know if I can fix what’s broken here, but I want to try.
She nods, and I swear the air between us warms by, like, two degrees.
I glance at the nearest shelf. “So. What’s the verdict, are you one of those alphabetize-by-author types or chaos librarian?”
She tilts her head, amused. “Genre first. Then alphabetical. But with exceptions.”
“Oh no. You’re one ofthose.”
