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“Yeah. Well, anyway. I know us, and we’ll figure it out. She just needs some time to sort through her own feelings.”
“I sure hope so,” I state. “You two make sense—in a fucked-up way. Your grumpy ass needs her sunshine.”
“Yeah, you’re not saying anything I don’t already know, Little J. She’s stuck with me, and she’ll figure that out soon enough. That’s enough about me, though. How about you? And that cheesy ass goddamn smile you were wearing when you walked through the door. Things went well with Little D, I take it?”
“Yeah,” I respond through an unwitting smile. “Things went well.”
Better than I could have imagined. And all I did was go down on her. Though, I did have her coming on my tongue twice, and I unloaded a solid year of pent-up need on her sheets with the taste of her sweet pussy on my mouth.
So, yeah, damn straight things went well.
Really,reallyfucking well.
But I still need more. More of fucking everything with her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Declan
“Addy, what the hell are you doing here?” My words come out in nervous pants of laughter, my heart still beating a mile a minute.She wasn’t supposed to be back for another two weeks.
She steps farther into our shared room, clicks the door shut behind her, and her shoulders slump down low as her features grow completely somber.
My concern peaks well past my embarrassment. I pull my blanket up over the fresh set of sheets I just laid down and pat the open space beside me to beckon her over. “What’s going on, Addy?” The thick sheen of tears welling in her eyes is freaking me out—on top of the fact that she’shere, with no heads-up when she wasn’t due back yet.
The more seconds that pass, the more devastated she seems. The skin beneath her eyes is swollen and puffy, like she’s been wiping away her tears for hours. Concern weeds its way through me, a dozen terrified thoughts taking root in my mind.
“Cal and Stacy—they’re okay, right?” I practically blurt, that one worry in particular taking precedence over the many others running in a panicked loop.
Another tear slips free and dives down her cheek, but she nods, her eyes widening. “Oh my gosh, yes. Of course, they’re okay. I’m sorry, I just… I… I…” she trails off, and relief floods through me, easing my worry for a brief moment.
But Addy still looks completely devastated. “Addy,” I nudge her softly, and she finally moves her feet, sitting down on the bed beside me. I pull her hands into mine and sandwich hersbetween them. “Talk to me. Please. You’re freaking me the hell out. What is going on?”
“I messed up. Like,reallymessed up,” she says, but the words are drowned out by a sob that bursts out of her, the reservoir of tears that have been building behind her eyes spilling free.
“Whoa, Addy. Hey, hey.” I pull her into my arms and wrap her in my embrace. “What do you mean you messed up? What happened?”
“I slept with Boss,” she says, quiet, tearful, and full of regret. And… Oh.Oh.
“Shit,” I breathe. It’s probably not the best reply, but it’s the most honest one I have at the moment. It’s no wonder she looked so shell-shocked when she walked in here. Confused, torn. And now—with endless rivers of tears streaming down her cheeks—a little bit broken, too. I’m not sure what to say, or how to respond at all.
“I can’t even do cheating right!” she cries out as she pulls away from me, her fingertips digging through the roots of her curly black hair before pulling tightly. “You’re supposed to cheat on the boyfriend back home when you go to college, not cheatwithhim, on the boyfriendfromcollege. And now I can never be with Boss again because I’ll always feel guilty. And God—this is going tokillJonah.” Her tear-filled eyes widen, emphasizing that statement as all her words spill free.
She’s not wrong. Jonahwillbe devastated.
“How am I supposed to tell him?” she continues. “He doesn’t even know I flew back to New York yet.”
“I don’t really know, Addy.” I shake my head, at a loss. “But you will, and it will be okay.” Eventually, at least.
“But what do I do?”she whines.
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” Her head falls into her hands as she pulls the other one free from her hair, burying her face in them.“Obviously, I can’t be with either of them, right?” She peeks up at me through her fingers.
I shrug, and then I let my shoulders fall, my expression thoughtful. “Is it that black and white? That cut and dry? Because Jonah might forgive you. He’s in love with you; obsessed, even.” The guilty expression she’s been wearing returns tenfold, pinching at her features. Her tears well up and spill free again, too. “Did Boss know you have a boyfriend?” I ask.
“He did.” She nods.