Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
This is it.
No more holding back.
Whatever challenges we have to face, we face them together.
“I miss you,” I rasp. I take a step toward her, but she doesn’t move. “I can’t sleep. My bed is too big, too empty. My house is too quiet,” I say, taking another step. She still doesn’t move, but the rapid rise and fall of her breath tells me she’s affected by my words.
I take one more step, bringing us chest to chest. My palms lift to cradle her cheeks as she tilts her head back to look at me. “I don’t want to be anywhere but with you.” My confession is whispered as I bend my head closer to hers.
“Tell me you don’t feel it, Mandy. Tell me it’s all in my head, and I’ll go.” My eyes bore into hers. Watching. Waiting. My heart slams against my ribs as the silence stretches between us. Then, she moves.
She grips my shirt, her eyes welling with tears. “I don’t want you to go,” she murmurs. “I feel it, too, but Will, we have to think about this. It’s more than just us. I’m a single mom, and your daughter is my best friend. I can’t lose her, but I don’t want to lose you either.”
Dropping my hands, I wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly. “I know, baby, but we’ll figure it out together. Bellamy, she’ll come around. When she understands what you mean to me, she’ll accept us.”
I know in my heart that my daughter wants her best friend to be happy and loved, and I can make sure that’s how she stays. Bellamy just needs to see us together. Then she’ll know what we have. While unexpected, it’s everything.
She pushes at my chest, and I drop my arms, allowing her the space she needs. I expect her to pull away, but she doesn’t. Instead, it’s her soft, gentle hands that rest against my cheeks. “I didn’t mean to fall for you,” she utters.
“You didn’t fall on your own, and you never have to worry. I’m right here, waiting to catch you. Both of you. Mia is a part of this, too. I know that the two of you are a package deal, and I want that. I want both of you,” I say, bending to press my forehead to hers.
“We want you, too,” she breathes. The conviction in her tone undoes me, and I need to kiss her.
Slowly, I trail my hands from her waist up her back, until I slide my hand to cradle the nape of her neck. I move in at a snail’s pace, giving her time to pull away, but she doesn’t. Instead, she rises on her toes, and her mouth meets mine.
The kiss deepens naturally, unhurried but full of everything we haven’t said. I feel her melt into me, and I tighten my hold, one arm wrapping around her waist, anchoring her against my chest. She fits there. Too perfectly. Like she’s always belonged.
I can’t explain the feeling that washes over me. Comfort. Coming home. Relief so sharp it almost hurts. And beneath it all, love. So much fucking love for this beautiful woman in my arms that it steals the air from my lungs.
I can’t stop kissing her, can’t seem to get close enough to her, so I bend, place my hands on the back of her thighs, and lift her into my arms. On instinct, she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, never breaking our kiss. Her tongue slides against mine with such ease, you’d think we’ve been devouring each other for years.
“Will,” she moans as she grinds against me.
“Tell me what you need, baby.” I’ll give her anything. Everything.
“More. You. More of you,” she says, between kisses.
“Here?” I ask because I need more, too.
“Bedroom,” she rasps, and my feet are on the move. I carry her upstairs, with her face buried in my neck, her teeth and tongue nipping and licking, to the one room that has haunted me from our first kiss. Pushing open the bedroom door, I walk her to the bed and place her down gently.
Amanda immediately widens her legs, making room for me as I brush her hair back out of her eyes. She peers up at me under long lashes, the small lamp on the nightstand allowing enough light for me to make out her features.
“I tried to come to bed, but I missed you, too,” she confesses.
“I’m here now,” I assure her. If it were up to me, I’d pack them up tonight and move them into my place, but I know we have some hurdles to jump before we get to that point, but that’s what I want. Amanda and Mia in my life, in my home, in my heart, where they both belong.