Page 35 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

He guided my hips faster, fucking me the way I had demanded. Hard. Raw. Intense.

And I loved every second of it. I slammed my hand against the foggy window. It made a squeaking noise as he started to guide my hips even faster.

"I want to feel you come around my cock, Hails. Let me feel how much you love me inside of you, baby." He lightly bit down on my nipple.

And I completely unwound. I felt myself tightening around him. "Tyler," I panted as I grabbed a fistful of his hair. "Oh, God, Tyler!"

He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my face down to his. I felt his cock start to pulse, pressing against my walls. A second later, his release shot up inside of me as he groaned into my mouth.

And he didn't stop kissing me when he finished cumming. We continued to make out like two kids in high school. One of his hands cupped my breast and the other was squeezing my ass.

"We should have been doing that this whole trip." He kissed the side of my neck. "That was amazing."

I had never felt this warm before. I had never felt this whole before. I swallowed hard. I was in trouble. Because this didn't feel like meaningless sex. It felt like the best sex of my life. He was still buried deep inside of me and I was already wondering when we were going to do this again.

"Are you okay?" He lightly touched the side of my face. A gentle touch. A loving touch.

Instead of answering, I kissed him again. I was okay when his lips were on mine. I was okay if we stayed in this moment for as long as possible. I was okay as long as I wasn't thinking about what this meant.

My hands disappeared into his hair. I needed to touch every inch of him before this spell was broken. If this was a onetime thing, I wanted to be able to remember it. I needed to remember it. I wasn't naive. I knew that our time together was limited. In a few days I'd be going back to Indiana. And even though he didn't seem eager to go back to New York right away, there was no way he'd ever come back with me to my small town when he was used to living in a city. There was no point in getting attached. So why were tears starting to prickle my eyes? Why did this feel like so much more than a summer fling?

"We should probably call a tow truck before it gets too late," he said as he kissed the side of my neck again.

"Mhm." My voice sounded strange. That was it. The moment was over. I climbed off his lap without looking at him and pulled my shorts back on. "I thought you said you could fix it?"

"I'm pretty sure the axle is bent. A new tire isn't going to fix anything. I was just...agitated."

I glanced back over at him as he buttoned his shorts back in place and reached for his phone in the front console. He didn't look agitated now. He looked relaxed, more relaxed than I had seen him since we met. And I did that. For a brief moment, I had helped him forget. He had made me forget too.

A second ago I had felt so warm. And now I was freezing cold. My clothes were soaked. The rain had somehow made the summer heat disappear. I folded my arms across my chest as Tyler started talking on the phone.

There was a lump in my throat that I couldn't seem to swallow away. What if I didn't want to just make him feel better for a few minutes? What if I wanted to do it again and again and again? I bit the inside of my cheek. What was wrong with me? I didn't do relationships. This certainly wasn't going to be an exception. If anything, our situation was just more of a reason to keep my distance. I pulled my arms tighter around myself.

"You're shivering," he said.

I turned toward him. I hadn't even realized he was off the phone. "I'm okay."

He smiled as he put his arm around me, pulling me close. And I was instantly warm again. How could he make me feel so secure with just one touch? He couldn't be the one to comfort me. I needed to be able to do it myself. I couldn't need him. I rested my head on his shoulder. Well, maybe I could need him for just a second.

Chapter 18

Tyler

Monday

I pushed a strand of hair out of Hails' face as I stared down at her. She had fallen asleep in my arms. Not like the other night, where we had both accidentally ended up in the middle of the bed. She was in my arms because she wanted to be.

Something in my chest felt tight. She said she didn't need flattery. But that's what she deserved. Maybe she was more broken than I even realized. And while I stared down at her, I knew that I wanted to help put the pieces of her back together. I didn't want her to be drowning in debt. I didn't want her to be wounded because of her cheating ex. I wanted to take care of her. I wanted to make everything right.

She sighed into my chest. Her breath was warm on my skin.

For three years I had let myself be second best. I wanted more than that. I needed more than that. It was pathetic, but that's what it really came down to. I wanted to be needed. Wanted. Loved.

I leaned my head against the back of the seat. I was chasing after something that I didn't even understand. No one had ever loved me. Like? Lust? Sure. But not love. And this wasn't exactly the best time to chase after it. I had just signed away three years of my life. I was proud of my decision, but the closer we got to California, the more nervous I got. If I had met Hailey a few days earlier, I honestly wasn't sure if I would have signed the papers. I wasn't anything like my grandfather. Maybe I was a coward, because I certainly wasn't ready to die.

I thought about the fact that I thought Hailey was broken. Maybe I was the broken one. Maybe I wanted her to put me back together one piece at a time. Because I always needed people more than they needed me. That was my life's fucking story.

A truck pulled to a stop in front of our car.

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