Chapter 33

CHAPTER33

You’re hiding something from me.

God, his brother really was a pain in the ass, Bryce thought as he shoved his phone back in his pocket and sighed heavily, only to realize that he couldn’t stop smiling. Last night…

There really were no words to describe last night.

He’d taken his time touching, kissing, and licking Cayley’s body while she’d alternated between moaning his name and begging him not to stop. He’d never felt anything better than Cayley in his arms. He loved the way that she’d whispered his name as she’d arched her back while she’d struggled not to move while he’d licked her, only to give up on a groan and gently rock her hips against his mouth, riding his tongue as he’d struggled not to lose his fucking mind.

For years, Bryce had wondered what it would be like to do so many of the things that he did to her last night, only to realize that none of his fantasies even came close to the real thing. She was so much softer and sweeter than he could have ever imagined. When he’d pressed his lips against her slit, he hadn’t been able to hold back the groan that tore through him as his cock hardened past the point of pain, desperate to feel her wrapped around him.

He had to remind himself that she wanted to go slow when he ran the tip of his tongue over her slit. God, she’d been so fucking sweet. He hadn’t been able to think past getting another taste of her. He’d taken his time teasing her, tracing her slit and pressed kisses against her soft lips, making her moan his name before he ran the tip of his tongue between her slit and nearly fucking came when his tongue brushed against her clit.

After that…

He hadn’t been able to get enough of her.

He’d licked her, teasing her little clit, one minute and the next, he was taking it between his lips and gently suckling it while he ran his hands over her. When he ran his tongue down to her core, he’d traced it, loving the way that she’d mumbled his name, pleading for him to slide his tongue inside her as she struggled to stay still until that became too much for her and she gave in, gently rolling her hips so that she was riding his mouth as she moaned in ecstasy.

He slid his tongue inside her, groaning as her sheath tightened around him before he focused back on her clit. He’d never enjoyed foreplay before, never cared enough to do the bare minimum to get what he needed from a woman before, a hard, fast fuck so that he could lose himself and escape his fucked-up life for a few minutes, but it had never been enough.

Before the last tendrils of pleasure finished tearing through him, all the bullshit in his life would slam back into him, reminding Bryce that there would never be anything more than an unsatisfying moment spent between the legs of a woman that would never be what he’d needed and he’d hated himself for it. He’d hated that he couldn’t make himself want them or need them the way that he should, but with Cayley…

He didn’t think that he was going to be able to let her go and that fucking terrified him, which was why he was spending the night at Thomas House gutting the upstairs instead of spending the night with her at another Christmas bizarre. He couldn’t stop thinking about her and it was fucking killing him.

For years, he’d imagined what it would be like to be with her, just how fucking good it could be, only to have his thoughts shift to just how fucking much it would hurt when it was over. The problem was that after only a few weeks with her, he knew that losing her wouldn’t just hurt, it would fucking destroy him.

If he was smart, he’d put a stop to this and walk away before it was too late, but there was just one problem with that, there was no way in hell that he could walk away from her. Not now. Not after he’d spent the last two weeks holding her in his arms and not when he realized just how much it would hurt her if he walked away. He just needed to be sure that this was really what she wanted.

He-

Needed to figure out why some asshole was breaking into his house. Really hoping that it was just a few kids looking for a place to make out and not the annoying asshole that had been texting him random fucking bullshit all day, he headed for the stairs. He was going to have to shove the little bastard down the trash chute again, Bryce thought as he made his way downstairs only to find the woman that he couldn’t stop thinking about setting up a picnic in the living room.

“I was hoping to surprise you,” Cayley said with a warm smile as he took in all the bags of food from The Firehouse.

“I’m definitely surprised,” Bryce said, tossing his gloves off as he sat down on the large blanket and nearly fucking groaned when she took that as an invitation to lean in and kiss him.

“Good surprise or bad surprise?” Cayley whispered against his lips.

“Depends on what you have in the bags,” Bryce said, earning a mock glare that had him chuckling as she pulled back with a grumble before she focused her attention on unloading the bags of food while he sat there taking in her Bradford Construction tee-shirt that she must have stolen from Sean, her jeans, and then, finally, her pink work boots that had his lips twitching before his focus shifted to the safety goggles on the floor next to her.

“I believe that I managed to get all your favorites,” Cayley said with a satisfied sigh as she opened the last box, revealing chicken alfredo with a thick slice of Italian bread.

“Yes, you did,” Bryce murmured as he took in all the food, noting that she knew exactly what he liked, from the bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon to the fried chicken with creamy mashed potatoes, and his absolute favorite, baked macaroni and cheese with ham.

Grabbing a fork, he scooped up some of that macaroni and cheese that had him realizing just how hungry he was and couldn’t help but groan. God, her cousin could cook, Bryce thought even as he threw her a questioning look as he said, “Lucky guess?” admittedly curious how she knew exactly what he liked and-

“I’ve been stalking you for years,” Cayley said in a deadpan voice, making him choke.

Deciding that she was evil, Bryce grabbed one of the small bottles of Coke she had lined up near the blanket and took a sip, all while glaring at the beautiful woman that enjoyed tormenting him. Throwing him a wink, Cayley chuckled as she stole the Coke from him.

“I don’t know why you keep forgetting that I grew up with you,” Cayley said with a sad shake of her head as she took a sip before focusing her attention on the burger.

“Meaning?” Bryce asked, stealing one of her fries.

“It wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out what your favorite food was,” Cayley said, pausing to take a bite of the burger that he fully planned on stealing.

“And how did you figure it out?” Bryce asked, leaning in to steal a bite.

“I figured out what your favorite food was based on your willingness to beat the crap out of your brothers,” Cayley said, making him chuckle.

“I was very selective,” Bryce said, chuckling as he leaned in for another bite, only to decide that he’d rather kiss the incredibly beautiful woman that he couldn’t live without instead.

“What happened to the Christmas bizarre?” Bryce asked, brushing his lips against hers one last time before he took another bite and sat back, shifting his focus back to that incredible macaroni and cheese that he was going to have to order for lunch tomorrow.

Grumbling, Cayley took another bite of her burger before setting it down and focused on her fries as she said, “He showed up again,” making him frown.

“Sean?” Bryce asked, even though he already had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about his brother.

“Kevin,” Cayley admitted as she grabbed a fork and went to steal a bite of his macaroni and cheese, only to mutter something and focus on the mashed potatoes when his eyes narrowed in warning on her.

“What happened?” Bryce asked even though he already had a pretty good idea.

For the past two weeks, the asshole had been everywhere, her cousin’s diner and all the events that Cayley was determined to go to so that she could check more items off her list. He should have known the asshole was going to show up tonight, Bryce thought, biting back a sigh as he resigned himself to go with her to whatever deeply disturbing Christmas event that she had planned for tomorrow night.

“Glared until your father decided to take a personal interest in him and then he decided that his night would be better spent elsewhere,” Cayley said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal while he sat there, frowning.

“My father was there?” Bryce asked, wondering what the hell his father was doing at a Christmas bizarre.

“Mmmhmmm,” Cayley murmured as she reached for the slice of Italian bread, only to sigh heavily when he beat her to it.

“Was my sister and the kids there?” he asked, thinking it over as he dipped the bread in the alfredo sauce before taking a bite.

“No,” she murmured, looking lost in thought while Bryce sat there trying to figure out what his father was doing at a Christmas bizarre by himself. He-

“So,” Cayley said, popping one last fry in her mouth before shifting her focus to him with a warm smile, “where should we start?”