When Darkness Ends (Moments in Boston #3) - Marni Mann Page 0,41

she was dancing around, holding her hair up like it was a cape, telling us she wanted to fly.” She scratched the table with her thumbnail, as though there were something on it that she was trying to chip away. “She told her boyfriend to grab the tire, and he carried it outside. I remember it being so cold and windy, and the snowflakes immediately soaked through our clothes.”

Her hand stilled, and she looked past me—my eyes maybe too much.

“We ended up at some hill. At the top, she sat on the tire and held me on her lap, and we went down.” She smirked, but even that was full of pain. “It was such a steep drop, and I screamed and laughed. At the bottom, the rubber skipped on the snow, and we tumbled out.” When her eyes found mine again, tears were ready to drip. “But it was fun. So much fun. And that was something I never had with her.” She wiped the bottoms of her lids, sighing. “In that moment, she wasn’t yelling at me for not taking care of her, she wasn’t shoving a needle in her arm, she wasn’t dragging me from one guy’s apartment to the next. She was being a mom, and I felt that joy even if it was short-lived.”

“How many times did you go down that hill?”

“Twice.” She blinked, keeping her eyes closed as she whispered, “And the second time was even better.”

My heart was fucking broken.

But I wouldn’t show her that. I wouldn’t even hint at it because Pearl would never want me to feel bad for her.

What I could do instead was fix it.

I reached across the table, holding out my hand for her to grab. “You want fun?”

She clasped her fingers in mine, the sweater falling to her sides, showing me her chest again. “Yes, and if it’s an escape, that’s even better.”

I smiled, feeling my bottom lip under my teeth as an idea came into my head. “Done … and it’s going to start right now.”

Twenty-Eight

Before

Pearl

Ashe stood from his chair and came around to my side of the table, clasping my fingers again and helping me to my feet. We’d come to the library to study, and we had so much work to do, but his expression told me nothing would be getting done today.

“Should we grab our things?” I asked as he weaved us through one of the large, tall stacks.

“They’ll be there when we get back.”

I stayed behind him, our hands locked, finding myself almost jogging to keep up. With Ashe’s legs so much longer than mine, I had to take two steps to his one.

In the back corner of the room, we entered a stairwell and went up two flights and through another door, where he led me down several aisles. I was so lost and had no sense of direction; I couldn’t imagine where he was taking me.

We were halfway down one of the stacks when he slowed and turned around, his hands finding their way to my face. I couldn’t stop smiling as he kissed me, panting a bit as we tried to catch our breath. When his hands moved down my sides and around to my ass, I knew exactly what he had in mind, my body instantly responding. I melted from his touch, his attention causing my skin to hum. Soft moans falling from my lips after each exhale.

He couldn’t wait for our date tomorrow night.

He needed to have me now.

That thought alone was enough for me to get completely lost in.

His mouth moved to my neck, kissing the spots that weren’t covered by my sweater, even pushing it aside so he could feast on more. His hand rose to my breast, pinching my nipple through my bra, the pleasure so sharp that my back arched.

“Ashe …” I tugged on the short strands of his hair, winded against his mouth. “Oh God.” I shuddered as he began unbuttoning my jeans, the pads of his fingers reaching under the top of my panties. “What if someone sees us?”

“They won’t.”

“You know that for sure?”

He backed me up until I was pressed against the rows of books, and I grasped one of the wooden shelves, squeezing it as his finger dipped inside me.

“I promise,” he growled, his sound vibrating through my chest. “This is where I usually study, and I’m always the only one here.”

“Fuuuck.”

I pushed his hand so it went further into my pants, and I spread my thighs to give