Page 71 of Replay
“Oh, Trouble,” he growls, moving his lips away from my groin and giving my hard nipple a cheeky peck through his shirt. “I’ll wait forever for you.” He hits me with a lazy smile as he slides off me, his hand resting on my belly. “What’s on your mind?”
I exhale heavily and begin toying with the hem of the sheet. “Bria.”
I glance over to see his adorable sleepy smile has now been replaced with confusion. “Why the bloody hell are you thinking of her?”
“Because she had a key to your flat,” I reply quickly.
He squeezes my side, a tender look sweeping across his face. “I told you that it was a minor oversight.”
“There’s got to be more to that story,” I say, chewing my lips nervously. Santino is this rich, successful lawyer with a gorgeous flat, a loving, supportive family, and Bria was the perfect woman at his fingertips. What on earth went wrong there? And what on earth is he doing with me? “I want to know why it didn’t work out.”
He sighs and rolls onto his back, propping his arm behind his head. “It’s not that great of a story.”
“Indulge me.” I turn on my side to watch him.
He groans and rubs his eyes, seemingly trying to wake up his brain a bit more. “I told you I’d known Bria since we were young, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, she was always interested in me. She made that very clear. But I never wanted to go there with her because I didn’t want anything serious back then. And even when I changed my life around a bit, I avoided her because well…to be very candid…I thought she’d be the one. Our families were close, she understood my culture, and she was also a lawyer…so it just made a lot of sense. But at the time, I wasn’t ready for that so I just stayed away from her. About six months ago, I ran into her when I was home visiting my family, and she hit me out of nowhere with an ultimatum. She told me I’d put her on ice for too long, and it was now or never.”
Jealousy niggles at my belly, but I do my best to hide it and continue listening.
“So…we started dating,” he continues with a shrug. “And it got serious rather quickly because we’ve known each other for ages. We were able to skip all that getting to know you stuff. I guess that’s why I gave her a key because a level of trust was there already.”
I exhale heavily, hating how much I hate this story. “So, what went wrong then?”
“Nothing specific. It just never felt right. I tried. Believe me, I tried. I wanted it to work because I feared if I couldn’t make it work with Bria, I couldn’t make it work with anyone. But after two months when she told me she loved me and I couldn’t say it back, I knew that staying with her would be selfish and cruel. So I told her we needed some time apart.”
I frown at that choice of wording. “So, did she think you two were just taking a break? Not fully over?”
“No,” he replies quickly. “Maybe.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”
I see the torment on his face, and it makes every nerve in my body feel insecure. Like he’s with me but not really with me. I will be no different than all the other women he’s dated. “Do you want to try again with her?”
His eyes snap to mine. “Why would you ask me that?”
I shrug nervously. “Because there’s a lot of history there and family connections. Are you just passing the time with me?”
“Tilly.” He says my name with so much force that I hold my breath for fear of what he’ll say next. “I told you last night that I’m crazy about you. You and I haven’t even been together a month, and I already feel a million times more for you than I ever did for Bria after knowing her most of my life. I am not passing the time with you.”
He runs both hands through his hair, making it even more disheveled than before. “If she even so much as contacts me again, I will tell her it’s inappropriate, okay?”
I rub my lips together and nod, trying to force his words into my hardened heart. It doesn’t make sense. Why he cares about me…a recovering alcoholic who’s living with her brother and forcing him to date her in secret because she is still trying to get her life together. But he’s here. With me. Only time will tell if I’ll make the cut past two months.
And as much as I hate to admit it, this relationship feels…important. Like there’s a reason we’ve found each other again. I don’t know why exactly, but I know that questioning it only makes me crazier. And Santino has had enough of my crazy for the past twenty-four hours.
I inhale sharply and reach out to sift my fingers through Santino’s hair. “God, you’re so into me.”
He growls and nips at my finger. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“We better get busy then,” I say with an all-business look. “I need to get home before my brother leaves for work, and you’ve got a situation down there that clearly needs tending to.”
His body shakes with laughter as I slip under the covers to give him a proper Scottish goodbye.
Okay, I don’t know for sure if a blow job is Scottish, but I suspect we give the best of them.
A bit later, I creep quietly into Mac and Freya’s house. Mac is usually showering by this time, so if I hurry, I can get upstairs before he even knows I’m missing. Just as I hit the bottom step, Mac’s voice calls out, “Tilly?”
