I grunt as she closes the distance between us.
I watch as she lifts her hand and presses it against the center of my chest. Her palm is warm, firm as she presses it against my body. Dipping my chin, I catch her gaze and hold it. She licks her lips as she looks up at me.
“I don’t want you to leave. You can tell me that I’m being stupid, silly, clingy. I don’t care, I don’t want to be alone here.”
Watching her, I don’t say anything in response to her words immediately. I want to tell her that she’s not stupid, she’s not clingy either, that I want to take her with me. I don’t say any of that. I probably make a colossal mistake, but I wouldn’t be Mountain if I didn’t fuck everything up.
I wouldn’t be Wilder Lopez if I didn’t hurt a woman.
“You better get used to it, babe. I’m not on your time, you’re on mine. This is what I do, this is who I am. Just ‘cause I’ve been with you for a couple days, don’t get some kind of false sense of who I am deep down, Leighton.”
“Yeah?” she asks, squaring her shoulders slightly. “Who are you, then?”
Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around her wrist and tug her closer to me. She falls forward, her body pressing against my chest as she tips her head back so that she can look up into my eyes.
“I’m not a fuckin’ nice guy. I’m not a savior. I won’t be faithful, I won’t be perfect. What I will be is absolutely fucking real with you. What I won’t be is a liar. You ask me if I fucked someone, I’ll tell you the truth of it. You want a man who tells you that you don’t look fat in a pair of jeans even if you do? You got the wrong guy for that shit.”
She blinks, her lip curling before she shakes her head once and lets out a snort of laughter. “You’re typical, Mountain.”
“Yeah?”
She nods her head. “Just like every man I have ever seen before. Scared of what could be out there, adamant that you are indeed some magical beast who isn’t controlled by anyone, least of all your own feelings. That’s fine. I’ve never been in a real relationship before, nobody has ever been faithful to me and I’ve never seen anyone be faithful to another person, ever.”
I watch her, unsure of how I feel about her words. Not because I magically want to change for her, I’m in my forties, I’m not going to become a different person any time soon. The way she speaks, with certainty. It makes my heart jump in my chest.
Maybe I could prove her words wrong, maybe I could prove my own wrong. I’ve never been one to conform, not in any way, shape, or form. If I’m just like the rest of my brothers, isn’t that just another sense of conforming? Though, now most of them are faithful to their wives, completely devoted to their families, even the threesome of our group.
I shouldn’t give a fuck what other people do. All I should worry about is my damn self, and her—Leighton.
LEIGHTON
Mountain doesn’t say anything. He holds me against his chest, his jaw clenched and grinding back and forth as he stares down at me. I lick my lips, wishing I could know exactly what he’s thinking. He shakes his head once as if to empty his head of the thoughts that are rolling around in there.
“Mountain,” I breathe.
He shakes his head again, then dips his chin and touches his mouth to mine. “How about we just learn about one another, do what makes us happy, and not worry about other people?” I chance asking.
“How do you do that?”
He smiles against my lips. “How about we forget what other people have done to us, worry about what we do to one another. Make our own rules.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” I exhale.
“Might be surprised, babe. This is a different world. You stepped over the threshold of this building and you stepped into a place with its own set of rules. They aren’t like the rest of society.”
“You think I haven’t been in a world made up of its own rules?” I ask.
He chuckles, his breath fanning over my face. “Yeah, you have. How about you just play in this one for a while without being worried about every little thing? These men will take