26. Sawyer

Chapter 26

Sawyer

I wake with my nose buried in Violet’s silky cherry and almond scented hair. The curtains on her bedroom window are drawn, but the early morning sun fills the room with gray light. My arms are still wrapped around her, her face resting on my shoulder, and I feel the whispers of her breath against my skin.

Images and memories from last night filter through my mind, making heat stir inside me all over again.

I couldn’t bring myself to leave her bed last night after we had sex. I’d already crossed that line with her, broken all the rules that I had clung to for so long. I couldn’t stand the thought of letting the moment end, so I crawled back into bed with her, wrapping my arms around her and molding her body to mine.

I wanted to drag out the night for as long as possible—because in the cold, rational light of morning, I can admit that I shouldn’t have knocked on her door last night.

I shouldn’t have let this happen, and it would be a mistake to let it happen again.

That thought makes me grimace, and I push it away for a little while longer.

The light spilling in from the side of the curtain moves across Violet’s face. It settles on an adorable freckle on her jawline that I’ve never noticed before, and it hits me in a rush that despite how much attention I’ve paid to Violet, barely able to take my eyes off her, there’s still so much that I’ve missed. The gentle arch of her eyebrows, the fullness of her lips, the way her nose tilts up just the tiniest bit at the tip. I store them all away in my head with the rest of the things I’ve already gathered about her.

Jesus. I’m obsessed with this woman.

Last night didn’t make it any easier not to be. I’m a little embarrassed to admit how much space Violet has taken up in my mind lately. I’ve thought about her, fantasized about her, fucking dreamed about her, but there’s not a damn thing my brain could’ve conjured up that could’ve matched how amazing last night was.

It’s not just the sex though, as incredible as it was. The more I learn about her, the more I like Violet. She never stops surprising me, never stops intriguing me—and that’s exactly what makes crossing a hard boundary with her like this so dangerous.

I can’t have her, and I know that. Her time in Denver has a hard end date, and I’m painfully aware of it every damn day that she’s here. But that doesn’t make it any easier to resist her or my attraction to her.

Violet stirs, shifting in my arms. Her back arches a little as she moves sleepily, her ass grinding against my cock, and I groan softly as my shaft throbs, still ravenous for her even after last night.

If I thought fucking her would get her out of my system, I was so damn wrong.

“Mm. Good morning.”

Violet’s voice is a bit raspy from sleep, and she turns her head to look at me over her shoulder, her smile so bright and beautiful that it nearly blinds me.

“Morning,” I murmur.

“Oh my god, I slept so well last night.” She yawns softly, giving a contented smile. “That never happens.”

I know how often she ends up awake in the middle of the night—we often have conversations in the living room at odd hours because of that—and I smile at the thought that I helped her sleep.

“Maybe having multiple orgasms before bed is the trick,” I tell her with a grin.

She smiles back, arousal flashing in her hazel eyes. “Huh. You could be on to something. I might have to recruit your help again.”

My smile drops a bit at that, and her brows draw together. She shifts, turning over onto her other side to face me and propping herself up on one elbow. “What’s up?”

I sigh, running a hand through my messy hair before meeting her gaze. “Last night was amazing, heartbreaker. Incredible. But we can’t do it again.”

The words come slowly, and I can hear the reluctance in my own voice.

Violet frowns. “Why not?”

I huff a laugh, shaking my head. “Because you’re Reese’s sister, for starters.”

She makes a face, pressing her lips into a line and arching a brow at me. “Yes, I am. But that doesn’t have to mean anything. Reese might be my brother, but that doesn’t mean he gets a say in my sex life. We aren’t living in the Colonial era anymore.”

I laugh again, although I still feel guilty as hell for messing around with my teammate’s sister. That’s one of the worst violations of our friendship code that I could commit. I mean, I’m sure there are worse men Reese could envision Violet being with than me—there’s probably no shortage of them that have tried over the years—but that doesn’t really make me feel any better.

“Okay,” I acknowledge. “I see your point.” I drag in a breath, then let it out. “But I meant what I told you before. I let you talk me into trying that dating app, but the truth is, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for love or a serious relationship again. And I damn sure don’t want to play with your feelings or lead you on by making you think this is something that it isn’t.”

She considers my words, scrunching up her face a little. Then she lifts her shoulder in a small shrug, that sexy, irresistible grin breaking out across her face again.

“I told you the exact same thing, remember?” she points out. “And I still mean it too. I’m not looking for love or anything long term. Not right now. So you don’t have to worry about leading me on.”

I frown. “What are you getting at?”

A playful, flirtatious look crosses Violet’s face, her inner sunshine beaming out. “I thought that was obvious. I’m shooting down all your reasons why we have to stop.”

I can’t help but laugh at that, and although I do my best to keep my expression serious, a grin tugs at my lips. “I see.”

She sits up, unbothered by her nakedness, and I have to work to keep my mind on the conversation at hand as the sheets pool at her waist. She must catch the way my gaze darts downward before I drag it back up to her face, because she’s smiling when our eyes meet again.

“Last night was…” She shakes her head, seeming at a loss for words for a second. “It was amazing. It was better than amazing. I really, really needed that, and honestly, I think you did too. So why should we have to stop? Because I’m Reese’s sister? Because I’ll be leaving in a couple months? Because I work for you?”

“Yes,” I say dryly, and she rolls her eyes and puts a finger to my lips.

I can’t stop myself. I nip at her finger, trapping it between my teeth before slowly letting it slide out from between them. Her gorgeous hazel eyes darken, and my cock stirs.

Fuck. Focus, Townsend .

“But none of those things matter if this is only temporary,” Violet tells me, and fuck if she isn’t persuasive as hell. “We can have rules about when we can and can’t touch each other—nothing in front of Jake, obviously. He’ll never even know anything is going on. And in public, we’ll act like nothing has changed, like I’m just your nanny and you’re just my boss. Reese doesn’t have to know, especially since it will end when I move away anyway. It doesn’t have to be anything serious. We can just be… I don’t know, friends who have sex.”

I arch a brow at her. “Do you have sex with a lot of your friends?”

She flushes and rolls her eyes, swatting at my shoulder. “ No . But you’re… different.” She huffs a laugh, fixing me with a look. “Do you really want to go back to dancing around each other all the time? To that endless, unbearable tension?”

Dammit. She has a point there .

Sighing, I run a hand through my hair. “No, I don’t.”

“And do you really think we can keep living under the same roof without wanting to do—” She gestures to the bed around us, indicating everything that happened last night. “More of that?”

I sigh again, although I’m smiling now. Maybe she’s right. Maybe this could be something fun and casual between us, if she’s really serious about not wanting anything more than that.

“Just sex?” I ask, studying her face as I search for any evidence that she’s unsure about this. Because if she is, I won’t do it. I won’t risk hurting her. “That’s it.”

“Well…” She grins, looking happy and tousled and so fucking sexy. “And friendship. I’d like to stay friends with you.”

A smile breaks out on my face, and I nod. “And friendship. Of course that. We’ll always be friends, heartbreaker.”

“Good.” She nods decisively, stretching her arms over her head in a way that does utterly tempting things to her body. She traps her bottom lip between her teeth, slowly dragging down the sheet I covered us both with last night, until there’s nothing covering either one of us. “I already got to tick phone sex off my bucket list last night, and I like the idea of being able to check off a few more things.”

She crawls on top of me, her thighs straddling my waist as my cock hardens between us.

“Who knows?” she whispers, leaning down until her lips are almost brushing mine. “Maybe we’ll get through my whole list by the time I leave Denver.”

Jesus fuck .

My cock springs to life at the thought, and my mind starts racing with all the possibilities. I don’t have a clue what else is on that list of hers, but I’d be the worst kind of liar if I said I wasn’t dying to find out—and to help her get through it.

If she’s going to check more items off of it, I want to be the one doing those things to her.

I reach up to wrap one arm around her, gripping her chin with my other hand. My eyes bounce between hers, our faces only inches apart.

“Last chance, heartbreaker,” I murmur. “Are you sure about this? Totally, one hundred percent sure?”

Her breath fans against my lips. “Are you asking me if I’m sure I want a repeat of last night? Oh, hell yeah.”

My body takes over, pulling her close. My lips find hers, and she responds, groaning into my mouth and grinding against me as my hands wander down her naked body. We’ll have to get up soon, but fortunately, we still have a bit of time before Jake will wake up.

“Good,” I growl between kisses, rolling her onto her back. “Now tell me more about this list. I want to check another item off before breakfast.”