Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,72

heard from you in days, after telling you how I felt, and my responsibility to my family … it all was too much in that moment. I thought I had to be a certain way. My entire life, I’ve felt like I have to be a certain way.”

She pulls back, a half-laugh half-sob coming out of her mouth. “And that’s one of the reasons you’re such a good man. Why I love you.”

I cut her off, just because I need to get this out. “But you came along and threw my straight and narrow out the window. And thank God you did. You showed me that life doesn’t have to be black and white, it can be shades of gray, or better, shades of color. We can go off script and still accomplish goals and be there for the people counting on us … honestly, it makes life that much sweeter. You taught me that. I was too afraid to see it, too scared of throwing away the rule book, but I’m not now. I have you.”

Presley kisses me first, practically jumps in my lap and sends the car teetering dangerously back and forth. I wrap my arms around her, threading my fingers in her hair because I’ve missed that feeling so much. Her mouth consumes mine, and I pour everything I have into my own kiss to her.

My apologies.

My love.

My excitement for a future with her.

As we exit the ride, we do it hand in hand. We’re connected, our past left somewhere at the top of the wheel.

There is only the great, wonderful future ahead of us.

39

Presley

We wake on and off throughout the night; the sheets cocooning our bodies, our hands wandering.

Our fingers are drunk with sleep, but the haze of lust is more powerful, and won’t let us slip back under until we’ve satisfied each other. Keaton’s sighs tingle down my frame, leaving goose bumps in their wake. My eyes aren’t even open, I’m with him only by touch and sound.

“I love you,” he murmurs in my ear as he rolls on top of me, slipping into me.

I bury my face in his neck, inhaling the scent of his skin as he slowly rolls in and out of me. “I love you so much.”

He makes love to me softly, slowly, achingly. The warmth of his skin seeps into mine, our moans mingle until they are one. Keaton stokes my desire, leaving me burning long after I climax. He follows on my orgasm’s heels, growling quietly as his tongue assaults my mouth, his cock pulsing inside me.

I’m not sure what time it is when the light finally reaches behind my lids and has me blinking out of my sleep. Keaton is still in the bed beside me, which is rare for him, because he’s usually an up-at-dawn kind of person. It gives me a chance to observe him, to trace the lines of his body and face with my eyes, while he’s this vulnerable and peaceful.

When I went to work the Pumpkin Festival with Lily last night, ending it on the Ferris wheel telling Keaton I loved him was the last thing I thought would happen. Obviously, I’m incredibly elated that it did, but this all still feels pretty surreal.

One minute, I was in denial about nursing a severely damaged heart, and the next, my real life dream man was kissing me back after I took a chance and attacked his mouth.

But, that’s how Keaton has always been with me. Honest, open, and he has no qualms about how serious he is about a future with me. That’s what I wanted to show him, how I wanted to tell him about my feelings. Up on that Ferris wheel, I meant it when I said I wasn’t scared, that I had no urge to flee at the first sign of commitment anymore.

That’s how much I love him.

Now, his chest rises and falls in time with his sleep-breathing, and I admire the curve of his bicep where it’s tossed over my waist. His eyelashes fan his cheeks, and there is a little bit of drool on his pillow.

Mr. Perfect isn’t entirely perfect, after all.

Except … he is.

My stomach growls, loudly, and I try to shrug away from him as to not disturb his beauty sleep. But Keaton stirs, smiling as he pulls me back to him, and I bury my head in the warmth of his chest.

“Hungry, huh?” He chuckles, rubbing his big hands up and down my back.

“Someone left me