Page 64 of Crossed

She sighs, her hand rubbing small circles on my back. “Probably. But mistakes are part of life, and I’ll be here for you through every single one of them.”

I pull back, my vision blurring from the relief. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“I’m youronlyfriend.” She smiles.

“Even more reason to feel honored,” I jest.

I ignore the hollow look that flashes through her eyes, focusing instead on the small smile she paints across her face. “Don’t forget about me once you’re loaded.”

“Please,” I scoff. “Quin and I would be lost without you. And you’re staying here anyway. I won’t let you lose your home just because I won’t be in it.”

She waves me off. “You want me around when you tell Quin?” I shake my head, dread dropping in my gut.

Quinten loves routine, and I’m terrified about what he’s going to do when I rip him from what he’s known and toss him into this new reality.

At least we’ll be together.

“No, I’ll do it myself.”

She nods and the air grows quiet.

“I’ve gotta go. Parker’s waiting. I just…I’ll let you know what’s going on, okay?”

“Love you, Amaya. You’re a good mom, you know?”

My eyes burn. “I’m not a mom.”

“You are. In every way that counts.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Now leave before I ruin my makeup from crying.”

Warmth fills my chest as I make my way back to Parker’s car, his driver standing outside in the cold and waiting by my door, offering his hand for me to slip back inside.

Dalia is the true definition of ride or die, and I promise myself to be a better friend to her. I never fully let her in because of my trust issues, but she’s proven time and time again that she isn’t like other people. She won’t leave.

She’ll always be here.

“What now?” I ask Parker after I buckle my seat belt.

Parker glances up from his phone, his eyes sparking and his jaw line set in determination. “Now…we have a wedding to plan.”

Chapter24

Cade

IHAD HOPED THAT AFTER LOSING control with Amaya and then beating myself for the mistake, things would get better. Foolishly, I assumed that small taste would be enough or that the regret over my actions would drown out everything else.

Instead, it’s only gotten worse. Now I imagine her smell invading my senses, her skin molding beneath my touch, her pink cunt gripping my fingers and how it would split apart around my cock.

Before, she was only in my head, a figment of my imagination, one I fantasized about turning into a reality although I knew I never would. But now, she’s tangible, real and raw and so delicious that even days after touching her, I still feel her in my hands.

Seeing her swoon over Parker in his office made my insides quake. I had my entire day planned out: meet with Parker about the Festival of Fools, then head back to the church to offer confession.

Instead, after being rudely dismissed from his office once Amaya arrived, I waited outside Errien Enterprises for two hours until she appeared, slipping into her roommate’s car and driving back to her apartment.

I followed her there of course, my duties to the parish completely forgotten, and I spent the evening in her bushes, watching the way her chest rose and fell with every breath. Wondering if I was part of the nightmares that made her toss and turn all night. Coming to terms with the simple truth that I won’t be able to kill her. I would have done it by now if I could, and every second spent in her presence, the urge mutates into something else. Something no less visceral but…softer somehow.

Then, in the early hours of the morning, I went back home to my small cottage, slipped out of my clothes, frigid from standing in the cold, and whipped myself until I blacked out, hating how weak she makes me.

It took everything in me to stay away the following night. But thoughts still overwhelmed me, until I couldn’t sleep and had to atone for the way my cock leaked with desire from remembering how she felt around my hand and moaned in my ear.