Conception (The Wellingtons #4) - Tessa Teevan Page 0,89
her shirt then sets a knee on the bed. “You should probably get going. They’ll be waiting for you.”
It’s not even a cut anymore. A knife’s twisted in my gut. And my heart.
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’ll put on some coffee for you to take on the road.”
“Right. Thanks.”
She’s out the door without another word. I’m disappointed when she doesn’t join me in the shower. I linger, hoping she’ll get the hint, but she never comes.
Guess she’s ready to bite the bullet and get this over with. Might as well give her what she wants.
By the time I’m dressed and have thrown my stuff into my duffel bag, Amelia has a travel coffee mug ready for me.
I raise an eyebrow at her. “How exactly am I s’posed to get this back to you?”
Her answering smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’ll figure it out,” she says with a wink.
Is she really as unaffected as she seems?
I can’t stick around to find out.
I grab my keys off the counter and head towards the front door. She’s on my heels, and we say nothing until we’re beside my car. I set the coffee inside and turn back to her.
Things feel awkward. Like we’re back in the beginning, unsure of what to say to each other. Fuck this.
I open my arms, and Amelia hesitates for a moment before she rushes into them. I press my face against her hair, breathing in her scent, committing it to memory. Sunshine and peaches and vanilla. Three more things to add to the list of items that’ll forever make me think of this woman.
She pulls away from me all too quickly, brushing the back of her hand against her cheeks. When I cup her chin and use my thumb to assist, she pushes it away, laughing it off. “I’m sorry. I’m such a sap. I don’t cry. Like, ever. I’m just being ridiculous.” She gives me a watery smile. “It’s just been one hell of a summer and I’m already mourning the sheer amount of orgasms I’m losing out on by you leaving early.”
She’s mourning orgasms while my insides are twisting at the thought of leaving her, not knowing if I’ll ever see her again.
Fuck.
I’ve really gotta get out of here.
I plaster on a grin. “Babe, you’ve got Polaroids and a camera full of snaps of me in various stages of undress. I know how good you are with your fingers. You won’t be missin’ out on too many orgasms.” I lean in with a wink. “They just won’t be as gratifying as they would be if they were my fingers. My tongue. My cock.”
A pretty pink flushes her cheeks. “You might find a few surprises in your duffel bag.”
I raise an eyebrow and pick the bag up.
Her arm shoots out and she stops me. “No! Those are for later…when you’re far away from here and missing me.”
“Amelia, you tellin’ me you took dirty pictures of yourself?”
“It was Sunny’s idea. She helped.”
Hell, I love Sunny Mayfield.
I capture her mouth, sliding my tongue between her parted lips. She winds her arms around my neck and we stand there, savoring this, knowing all too well it’s the last time.
And then she unwinds her arms and lowers herself to the ground, giving my biceps one last squeeze before she steps back.
“I’ll miss you, Knox.” Her voice is laced with sincerity.
I think back to that first day, when she was just a girl I wanted to fool around with for the summer. I never could have imagined how much she’d come to mean to me. How ingrained in my soul she’d become.
Nothing could have prepared me for the pain of this moment.
I want to give her one last kiss. One for the road. But I don’t because, if I do, I may not be able to break away.
“I’ll miss you, too, Melia,” I offer, my voice husky and low.
Our eyes lock, and I think Amelia’s about to say something else. But before she can, Mrs. Mayfield’s morning greeting from down the lane breaks our connection.
“It’s that time, I guess,” she says on an exhale.
“Yeah, guess so.”
I pick up my duffel bag and chuck it into the back seat. After closing the door, I lean against it, taking in the sight of Amelia one last time. The very thought makes it hard to breathe.
She doesn’t want me to stay.
I don’t see how I can ever leave.
This was my fault. I put the blockade up, and she built her walls even higher.