“It’s beautiful.”
You’re beautiful. “I don’t share this part of my life with just anyone.”
“So you’re telling me that I made the cut?”
“No. What I’m telling you is that you’re the one and only. At least when it comes to this room and this bed. You’re it.” I can’t stop the word vomit from spewing from my mouth. I’m sure I’ve said too much. I’m sure she’s going to have questions, and I don’t know how to answer them. She’s been home less than forty-eight hours, and here I am staking my claim. I’ve stayed silent all these years, not wanting to scare her away, and now here I am laying all of my cards on the table. I wanted her to follow her dreams and then come home. That’s why I’ve kept my desire for her all to myself. I could never live with myself if I held her back in any way.
She’s quiet, and I know she’s trying to work out the meaning of my words in her head. I probably shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. However, my feelings are not new to me, but to her, I’m sure they’re a shock. I’ve done a good job—at least I think I have—of hiding what she does to me. My control slipped when she climbed into my bed.
“Rip?”
“Yeah, baby?” The term of endearment seems to have her finally relaxing again in my arms.
“Will you kiss me?”
“My fucking pleasure,” I mutter, before searching for her lips in the dark of the room. Our lips mold together as if they were two pieces to a puzzle. She shifts, and I pull her on top of me.
I get lost in her kiss. My hands roam her body, sliding again under the oversized T-shirt she’s wearing. Her skin is so damn soft, and I moan from the feel under my fingertips.
My cock is hard as steel. Even through the shorts I’m wearing, I can feel the heat of her. I want nothing more than to strip her bare and bury myself inside her. I want to make her mine. However, I know it’s not the right time. Not yet. I’ve blindsided her, and she’s been drinking. I want us both sober the first time I feel her from the inside.
I know that McKenna Dawson is my forever. My hope is that I have a chance to prove that to her. That’s not tonight, though. I swore years ago I would always do right by her. Blue balls be damned. I won’t push her for more.
One day soon, if I have my way, I’ll be able to make her my wife for real, and we’ll get our forever after all.
I smile against her lips as I remember her words at our first wedding all those years ago. We were just kids, but I knew then that McKenna would change my life. I just didn’t know how.
I lose track of time as we make out like teenagers. It’s sometime in the middle of the night that I wrap my body around hers, and we fall into a deep sleep. In fact, it’s safe to say it’s the best night of sleep I’ve had in my entire life, and it was a mere few hours at best.
Chapter 4
McKenna
When Rip’s lips press against my shoulder, I can’t stop the smile that takes over my face. Not that he can see it in this position. We’re still in his bed, and from the looks of the light coming in through the blinds, the sun is high in the sky. His arms are wrapped tightly around me, and his hard cock is pressing into my ass.
It’s not a bad way to wake up.
Speaking of waking up, I should slide out of his arms and head home. He was saying things last night that have my mind all jumbled. I was buzzed, but I knew what I was doing when I asked him to kiss me. It was that or ask him to explain what he meant when he said I was it. He said I was the one and only woman in his bed.
My heart leaps in my throat as the teenager in me who crushed on him appears with full sixteen-year-old giddiness. I would never have expected to be staying the night in his bed, let alone in his arms. Top both of those things with his words, and I’m a swoony, girly mess of twisted emotions.
“Morning,” his deep raspy voice greets me.
There’s a flutter in my chest at the sound of his gruff, sleep-laced voice. Turning in his arms, I don’t try to hide my smile when I see his long hair mussed and his eyes still heavy from sleep. He’s a sight to behold. “Morning.” My hands have a mind of their own as I reach out and push his hair out of his eyes.
“What’s the plan for today?” he asks.
“Uh… I’m not sure. I’m sure Laramie is going to want to talk wedding plans.”
His grin grows wider. “I’m sure you’re right. Is there anything you want to do?”
“I need to study for the bar exam.”
“Today?” he asks, and is that disappointment that I hear?
“I should.”
“Kenna.” He leans in and presses his lips to my forehead. “Give me today. I promise I’ll do whatever I can the next two weeks to help you study, but I just… you’re here, and I’m not ready to give you back to books just yet.”
“You gave me up to books, did you?” I tease.
Something crosses his face, but he quickly masks it. “I missed you. Please.” He juts out his lip in a pout, which is needless. He had me at “I’m not ready to give you back to books.”
“Fine. One more day, but if I fail, it’s on you.” I point at him, trying to sound stern when we both know I’m anything but.
“Thank you.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my lips. I didn’t know what to expect in the light of day. It certainly wasn’t more kisses, and him holding me as if I’m precious to him. “And taking a break will help clear your head. What would you like to do? Anything you’ve been wanting to do?” His hand on my back pulls me a little closer, which is fine with me. I don’t think I’ll ever be close enough to him to meet my satisfaction.
“Not specifically other than just relax. That’s not something I’ve done much of the last five years,” I confess.
His brow furrows. “Tell me what you want to do, baby. Whatever it is, as long as it’s not studying, I’ll make it happen.”
I’m able to pretend to not be affected. I pretend that lying here in his arms, his kisses, and his whispered terms of endearment aren’t affecting me. This isn’t us. We’ve always been close. There’s not much to do in small-town Texas, and since his sister is my best friend, we naturally became close as well. Not this close. Not the kissing kind of close. A hug here or there and a hand offered to help me out of the truck or off a stump sitting around a bonfire, not sharing kisses that leave me breathless, and not sleeping in each other’s arms.
This is new for us.
I don’t hate it.
I just don’t know what it means.
“You hungry?” he asks.
“Yes. And I need a shower and a toothbrush.”
“You can use my shower, and there are spare toothbrushes I get from the dentist in the bottom drawer.”
“I uh… just assumed I would go home for those things. I need clean clothes.” Something crosses over his face but leaves just as quickly as it appeared.
“You could do that,” he says cautiously. “Or I could give you some of the clothes that Laramie leaves here for nights like this. You shower while I make you breakfast.”