her racing heart, on her hungry hands. Because if I focus on me, I’m gonna come.
“I love you, Quinn. No matter how hard it gets, you’ll always have a home with me.”
“God.” I look up in time to catch sight of a tear squeezing past her lashes. Her hips slow, her hands turn gentler, and leaning against my chest, she keeps moving, but it’s calmer, kinder. “You just turned it from fucking to lovemaking,” she pants. “Still feels good.”
“Still feels good,” I echo and grip her ass until she hisses. “Still feels amazing.”
I push her back a few inches, and cup her face. I kiss her, and use her, I slam up inside her body, and when she comes on a cry, I swallow the sounds down and free myself to come too.
I free myself to love without worrying about tomorrow.
I free myself to love without being mad that it won’t work out for us.
Five minutes later, I carry her upstairs to my bed, gently lay her down – because I don’t want to hurt her shoulder – and sliding straight in, I show her how to make love. How it could be, if only we had forever.
Will
Yeah. Nope.
“Go inside.” I say it out loud, even as I sit in Jamie’s rental and tap the steering wheel. “Grab your shit. Tell her to stay put.” My tapping turns to thrumming. “Command her to stay, demand that she stay. Then you leave.”
My heart slams hard against my chest, because I’m about to undo something I’ve been doing for the entirety of my life. For twenty-three years, I’ve been my baby sister’s only caregiver, her only family, her only home. But there’s another now. A really good, safe, perfect family. And they want her. Jamie wants her, but more than that, so does his sister, his mother, his father. Sophia, Jay, all of the guys at Checkmate, and all of the folks at the gym. They’re a family, and they all want to welcome her in.
Up until now, I was the only person I trusted to do the right thing and keep her safe. But now this other family has come along, and they’re the real deal, they’re solid, and protective. They have enough money to keep her safe, and Sophia has the brains to neutralize any other enemy that might try to step forward.
Up until now, I was the best thing for Quinn.
But if I’m being completely honest, that’s no longer true.
I’m a danger for her, and keeping her with me is morally wrong.
It’s the wrong choice.
“Just go in, Will. Go inside, and tell her you have to leave.” My hand thrumming turns to drumming, to an impatient staccato as I chant it in my head. Go inside. Go inside. “Go inside! Fuck it.” I snatch the key from the ignition and shove the car door open. Then heading up the front porch, I let myself in and offer a hand for the growling dog as she guards her castle.
Giselle.
How bad would stealing a dog be on that scale of morality?
“Bad.” I shake my head and close the door. “It’s bad,” I repeat on a whisper.
The house is still lit up, despite it being past midnight. The kitchen is messy from cooking, and the living room is trashed. I take a single moment to wonder if there’s been a break-in, but then my stomach lurches when I catch sight of a pair of cut off shorts on the floor.
A shirt, on the arm of the couch.
My stomach rebels, and my brain screams for me to leave.
But I force the words past my lips. Just a whisper. A rehearsal. “You have to stay here, Bubbles. You have to stay safe.”
I move through the mess, glance at empty plates on the coffee table, the two beers beside them.
You have to stay here, Bubbles. You have to stay safe.
I look to the TV as it plays a vampire show with the volume turned down low, then I glance back to the dog. If dogs could smile, I’d swear this one is doing it. She’s telling me to stop looking. To bypass this entire room, and get the fuck out.
You have to stay here, Bubbles. You have to stay safe.
Then I step between the couch and the coffee table, and my foot catches on a bra. A black bra, with a little bit of glitter in the middle.
You have to stay here, Bubbles. You have to—
“Nope.” I spin away when I discover a pair of