Spiked by Love (Bellevue Bullies #6) - Toni Aleo Page 0,77
all in,” he whispers, staring at me with his one good eye. “And I want to be. But this, us, isn’t easy because I care what you think. I care what you do. I care who you talk to and don’t talk to. I care about you, all of you. You aren’t just some girl who is cool and fun to hang with. You’re the girl. The only girl I want to spend my time with. I want so desperately to believe that we can work and I can give you all of me, but I know you have the power to break me in half.”
I cup his jaw in my hand. “You just have to trust I wouldn’t do that to you.” I press my lips to his, and he melts against me. I don’t break our contact, but I do pull back some. “It’s that risk, Ash B. The one I’ve been telling you about constantly.”
He closes his eye, pressing his nose into mine. “I hear you,” he whispers against my lips. “But this risk isn’t an easy one, and I like easy.”
I move my bottom lip with his. “But aren’t the best things in life not easy?”
He curves his lips as he moves his nose along mine. “I think my dad has said that a time or two.”
“Exactly. Believe me, Ash, I’m the risk you want to take.”
“You don’t have to convince me, Ally,” he says earnestly, and his eye tells me he means his words. “At all. But still, I’m so used to hiding myself and the part that feels things, that I’m worried when I let them out, you’ll be scared away.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Or I’ll fall so deeply for you, I won’t see any other way out.”
He smiles as he wraps his fingers around my wrist. “That doesn’t freak you out?”
“No, ’cause I want it,” I say simply. “You’ve always wanted a relationship. Why don’t you try a real, loving one?”
He exhales hard. “I was in one back at the volleyball court,” he says and I grin, sliding my thumb along his bottom lip. “But you’ll have to be patient.”
I scoff. “Believe me, I’m a pro at patience. Just look how long I’ve waited for you.”
“I wish you hadn’t,” he says softly. “I wish we had done this sooner. Maybe then I wouldn’t be how I am today.”
“It wasn’t our time. Now, it is.”
Something shifts in his eye, and I feel it all over. I know what I feel is true. I also know that when he allows himself to feel what I am feeling, fear will be a thing of the past. I can be patient because I know my forever and a day is in my hands.
I just need him to catch up.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ally
When I get to my dorm, I’m on cloud nine.
I’ve had some good sex in my very short life—while Taco is a dipshit bastard, he was still good in bed—but nothing, and I’m not saying this because I love the dude, compares to Asher. I can still taste his skin, feel his fingers on me. And when he bit my ankle? It was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. The way he sank his teeth into my skin brought out some crazy Twilight fantasies, but I’m not a teenager and I don’t want Edward Cullen. No, I want Asher Brooks. All of Asher. Okay, maybe I am a bit partial, but holy hell, he makes me feel amazing.
I swear Asher loved every inch of me. Every. Single. Inch. If there was something he could lick or touch, he was doing just that. He wanted me. Fully. And that was an experience. I think maybe that’s why it was so great with Asher. Between the fact that we know and care for each other, he worshiped my body, my mind, and my soul. Shit. It was amazing, and whoo-wee, I want more. So much more and I get to have more when I go back to his place.
But going back to his place, even though I promised I would, has me hesitating. I don’t want to overstay my welcome, but I want to be with him. I hate that I get like this. It’s obvious he wants to see me. Even before we started burning up the sheets, he wanted to hang with me all the time. I don’t think I’m overstaying, but honestly, I really don’t care if I am.