to stumble upon that. I’d known all along what Adrian was capable of, but I hadn’t needed to actually see it for myself.
“So, why didn’t you tell Gavin the truth?” he asked, his voice a soft rumble against my ear.
I shrugged, but my position hindered the movement. “Gavin’s the only family I have. I didn’t want him to take Adrian’s side.”
“So you didn’t trust him to back you up?”
I pushed up off Jake, glaring down at him. Why was everyone making this about trust?
“Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” he said, propping himself up on one arm and watching me closely. “I simply asked a question.”
“Yeah? Well, it sure as shit sounds like you’ve got his back on this one. Why was it okay for him to lie to me but not for me to lie to him?”
I could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to say more, but he clamped his mouth shut, which only pissed me off more. We engaged in a stare off but he backed down first.
“Come here, Pres,” he said softly, pulling me back down to him. “I’m on your side, no matter what. You have to know that.”
Well, I didn’t.
Reluctantly, I eased back against him, trying to see things from his perspective. Sure, it sounded like a bunch of high school bullshit, even to me. But at the time, the thought of losing my best friend had terrified me. Gavin had warned me away from Adrian—rightfully so—but I hadn’t listened. Which made me as guilty as he was for that.
“Stay here tonight,” Jake whispered, his arms tightening around me.
I nodded but didn’t say anything, sliding my hands over Jake’s smooth chest. His hand mirrored the motion on my back, sending chills along my spine. This was headed right back where it had started, and I couldn’t deny that I wanted it. So much easier to get lost in the moment than to have to deal with all the shit.
I made the first move, easing out of Jake’s embrace and lying on top of him, straddling his hips. I could feel the rigid length of his erection against my sex and knew he was up for round two.
Rather than ask permission, I shifted my hips, allowing his cock to slide through my folds. When a soft rumble sounded in Jake’s chest, his eyes locked with mine, I slid my hand between our bodies and took him inside me once again.
“Presley.” The way he said my name … there was emotion behind it that I couldn’t name. Something I’d never heard in anyone’s voice before, and it made me want to think that this could be more than what it was.
Only I wasn’t sure that was the case. I remembered Jake’s words from before.
When I’m around you, I can write. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can do anything.
Why is that?
I think I’ve found my muse.
And I’d found mine in him. But was that enough? Or were we merely using one another?
I wanted more. Or at least I thought I did. When I was around him, I wanted to let him protect me from the world.
“Look at me, Presley.”
His whispered words had me opening my eyes, and I hadn’t realized that I’d closed them.
“Make love to me,” he urged, his hands gently gripping my hips, rocking me forward and back along his cock.
So that was what I did, pretending, for this moment in time, that I was more to him than merely inspiration.
And knowing deep in my heart that he was definitely more than that for me.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Jake
One week later—Monday
For the past week, ever since Presley and I had made love in my bed, I hadn’t felt the same. Perhaps that was due to the fact that the next morning I’d woken to find her gone. Not that it had surprised me. It had pissed me off, but I’d still been expecting it. I’d been what she’d needed at the time. Someone to take her mind off her problems.
Never mind that I couldn’t count on one hand how many times I’d used a woman the same way Presley had used me.
The truth was, I was a changed man after our time away together, or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Either way, none of it mattered, because from the moment I’d woken up that next morning, the inspiration had disappeared. Right along with Presley.
And that pissed me the fuck off.
Although I’d seen her once during the week when I’d