Chapter 24

Ican't even see two feet in front of me, only red. My mind is swirling and I'm vibrating so much I want to crawl out of my skin. I've never wanted to wring someone's neck, but Bex might find I'm a new person.

Later.

Livvy first.

She winds down the dark hall and back into the same bathroom as earlier. I follow her, shut the door, and turn the lock. I have to unravel my fists to do it, they ache from being clenched so tight, my palms dented with marks from my fingernails.

My vision is still blurred, darkness creeping in on the edges, heart rate elevated, blood pumping full of adrenaline and ready for a fight.

But as soon as I turn around and see Livvy standing there, tears running down her face, it clears. Everything else melts away. She's the only thing that matters right now.

"I'm so sorry," she says, letting out a sob.

"Angel." I wrap my arms around her instantly and she reaches up around my neck without hesitation.

I scoop her up and set her on the counter and hold her tighter, basking in her warmth, the scent of her hair as I bury my face in it. She nuzzles into my chest and I'm never taking this feeling for granted again. This is where I belong. This is where she belongs. With me.

The front of my shirt is wet, but her sobs have subsided to hiccups.

After a few minutes, it's quiet again.

Her face is still smashed against me when she says, muffled, "So, you haven't been sleeping with my sister?"

"No, Liv." I say it softly, still holding her, but the thought makes me want to smash this sink with my fist.

She lifts her head, looking up at me with tear-streaked cheeks, red eyes, and a runny nose.

She's beautiful. She's mine.

"And nothing happened at the lake house?"

"The lake house?" I contort my face trying to figure out what she means.

She wipes her face with her palm. "I saw a text on Bex's phone. She asked you not to tell anyone about what happened at the lake house."

"Oh, that. I caught Bex and Jake together at the lake house. She didn't want anyone knowing about it. I didn't ask why. It wasn't my business."

Livvy starts crying again. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you. I wouldn't have believed it if Bex hadn't said it to my face. I should have?—"

"Shh." I wipe her eyes with my thumbs and kiss her forehead. I kiss her nose and then both damp cheeks as her stuttering breaths start to ease. "You should have talked to me," I whisper against her lips.

"I know," she breathes. "I should have trusted you."

"I wish you had. But I gave you reasons not to."

"No." She shakes her head. "You didn't, I?—"

I take her face in both my hands. "I did. I was getting scared. Scared when I realized how in love with you I am. I started pushing you away because I was afraid if I let you all the way in, I'd just get hurt when I lost you."

But that was a lie. She was already in. Embedded so deep there's no way to disentangle her from my heart. No way to forget her. And I knew the day she walked out my door last week I was fucked.

"You're in love with me?" She sniffles. Her black eyelashes are wet, sticking together in little spikes around her big, green eyes.

"Yes." And for a second, my heart stops, my lungs deflate, and I'm alone and vulnerable, about to crumble to dust.

Until she says, "I love you, too."

I can't help but smile, and she smiles back. Breathtaking.

I crush her to me, kissing her hard. Our teeth clank together because we're still smiling while we kiss like idiots.

"Ow." She breaks out into a giggle.

I pull back, still holding her face, and look into her eyes. "I'm sorry you ever had a reason to doubt—to think that I had eyes for anyone else. I don't. There is only you. You're everything. Promise me you'll come to me next time. Whatever it is, I know we can fix it, but you have to talk to me, angel."

"I promise." She curls her fingers around my hands, a silent tear falling.

"You've got to trust me. Trust in us."

"I do," she whispers, eyes closed.

"And I promise I won't push you away again. Ever. I'll always fight for you. I want you by my side. Forever."

She looks up at me, eyes watery but happy. I've never said forever to anyone. I thought I'd feel vulnerable, scared, weak. But I feel strong and free and happy. Safe and secure in this thing I have with her.

Livvy stretches to kiss me, then pulls me in hard for a deeper kiss. She tastes sweet with the slightest hint of salty tears, and I'm going to do my best to make sure she never cries sad tears again—not over me, at least.

She breaks the kiss, panting, our breaths heated. Her nipples are hard and perky in her little satin dress with the tiniest straps. Knowing she isn't wearing a bra and knowing how perfect she is under this dress has been torturing me all night.

I slide a hand up her leg, pushing her dress up to her hip, squeezing the soft flesh of her thigh, the curve of her hip and around to her perfect ass.

She moans at the touch. It makes my cock jump.

"Do you think you can be a good girl and be quiet for me?"

She nods, starting to pant.

"Or do you want to make noise? Do you want everyone out there to know you're being fucked?" I can tell by the way the pulse in her neck quickens she's as excited as I am about the thought.

I'm hard as a rock and I rub my palm over my slacks to ease the throb.

I yank her dress up to her waist and spread her legs with my hips. With both hands on her hips, I pull her butt to the edge of the counter and kneel, keeping my eyes on her. I kiss the insides of her thighs before burying my face between them. I'm too impatient to go slow. I need her. Now.

I kiss her panties, breathing in the scent of her and listening to her breath quicken before hooking a finger in them and pulling them to the side to reveal her pretty little pussy.

I know what she likes. She likes long, broad strokes of my tongue to start, nice and slow. She likes when I tease her, not quite reaching her clit. And then when I do, I get the satisfaction of moans as I make gentle circles. I go faster, putting a little more pressure there, making it swell. She fists my hair with one hand while the other is white knuckled on the edge of the counter as I suck hard. I switch between sucking and licking, driving her wild. She gets louder, her thighs crushing my face.

She says my name and I know she's there.

Normally I might draw it out, but I need inside her—I need to fuck her—so I let her come for me. And she does, hard and fast with shaky breaths and quivering legs and the sexiest "fuck" I've ever heard.

I stand and she puts both hands on my face, pulls me in and kisses me hard.

"I need you," she says, still panting, our foreheads together.

"I know you do, angel."

I've already retrieved the condom from my pocket and her breath hitches when my belt hits the bathroom counter. I push my pants and boxers down just enough to expose my hard cock, then roll the condom on, grip her hips, and slam inside her.

"Yes," she groans.

She throws her head back, her neck exposed and the line of her body arched back in pleasure as she holds onto me, fingers digging into my biceps and legs tight around my hips. She doesn't need to hold on. I've got her.

I hold her hip down firm and her other knee tight to my side as I fuck into her. Not too fast. She gets louder as I go harder. She wants it a little rough.

"Noah…fuck. More."

I'll give her more. I'll give her everything. Anything. It's hers.

She's incredible. Hot around my cock. Lips parted, red lipstick smeared across her cheek. Breasts bouncing behind the silky fabric of her dress. And all the while she's moaning and gasping and saying my name.

Then she looks at me. Looks me right in the eyes while I'm fucking her and she knows I'm hers, at her mercy. She owns every inch of me.

"Say it," I say, barely restrained.

"I'm yours," she says, panting.

"Mine," I growl.

I'm undone in a second, emptying myself inside of her and holding on to the counter for support as I shake from the force of it. She wraps her limbs around me as I begin to come down.

A high-pitched gasp pulls me from my post-orgasm trance, and I whip my head toward the sound—toward the opened bathroom door where Macy is standing, her hand over her mouth.