Page 19

Teagan

“He did what?”

Layla’s voice hisses from the other room. When I woke up to an empty bed, I was disappointed. I love waking up next to Layla.

“I can’t believe he did that.” A pause. “No, I haven’t heard from Teagan.”

Fully awake and intrigued, I toss the covers back and amble into the living room where Layla is curled up in the corner of the couch. Her dark chocolate eyes meet mine, and I immediately rush to her side when I see them lined with tears. Winding my arm around her shoulders, I tug her close and give her a questioning look.

“Hang on just a sec, Charlie.” She pulls the phone from her ear, putting it on mute. “Have you heard from Eamon?”

A foreboding sensation sinks into my stomach. “No, at least not that I know of. Let me check my phone. What’s going on?”

“Eamon broke up with Norah in Ireland,” she mutters, those tears now spilling over.

“He what?!” I practically shout. “What the fuck? No, that can’t be right.”

Layla shrugs. “Charlie got a text from Norah just a little bit ago, saying that Eamon dumped her and she’s headed back to Dublin to catch a flight home. She didn’t give any other details.”

Rising to my feet, I stalk to where my phone is plugged in and yank it off the cord to call my roommate

“Norah! Norah, where are you?” Eamon answers immediately, completely frantic.

“It’s Teagan, mate. What the fuck is going on? Layla said that you broke up with Norah and she’s on her way back to the States. Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke.”

He groans. “It’s a long story.”

“You fecking eejit,” I snarl, shocked that it’s true. “What on earth possessed you to make such a dick move? I thought you were in love with her?”

Now I’m right pissed. Eamon doesn’t make brash decisions like this, so something must have happened.

“I was. I am, ” he says. “ It’s complicated, Teag. My Mam and sister need me here. Caity is doing poorly, and Mam shouldn’t have to do this alone. I need to be here for my family.”

What?

“I get that, but how does ending things with Norah factor into this? Surely she’d give up everything to be there with you. Everyone can see she’s head over heels for you.”

“I can’t do that to her.” He sounds so sure of himself. “She has a life in Wilmington. I won’t ask her to give it all up just so I can selfishly keep her by my side. I love her too much to tie her down.”

Laughing humorlessly, I ask, “You’re a thick gobshite, aren’t you, Kennedy? Did you even think to ask her what she wanted? Because it sounds like you made the decision for her.”

“But,” he tries to interrupt .

“But nothing. This isn’t the Middle Ages, mate. Women don’t need men making the decisions for ‘em.”

“Fuck off,” he growls. “That’s not what I was doing. I was trying to save her from a miserable life. She might be willing now, but what happens when the years drag on, and she starts resenting me? Better to end it now after a few months than years.”

For fucks sake.

“You don’t believe that,” I call him on his bullshite.

He spews some other excuses, then has the audacity to sound annoyed with Norah for leaving him high and dry. My eyes roll so far back into my head, I’m afraid they might stay that way.

Layla pads into the bedroom and I stretch my arm out to her. She comes to stand between my legs, but I pull her down to sit on my lap, then scoff at my mate on the line. “You think she really wanted to spend all that time in a car with you after you basically sent her packing? And then to say goodbye at the airport?”

When Eamon asks if he’s bolloxed things, I don’t hold back, telling him that he really has. Pulling Layla a little tighter to me, I ask him, “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know, Teag. I really hurt her.”

“Aye,” I agree. “Does your Mum want you to stay in Ireland to help her take care of Caity?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbles.

“Hold on.” I sit up straighter, pressing a kiss to Layla’s shoulder as I do. “You told Norah to leave so you could take care of yer Mum and sister, but didn’t even have that discussion with yer Mum?”

My accent thickens with each word as I process the mess my mate has gotten himself into.

“It’s a given though, isn’t it?” Eamon asks. “My Da’s not here to do it, I am.”

“Christ’s sake, man. Go talk to your Mum, then figure out how to make things right with your lass.”

He sighs heavily. “Right. Yeah, I will. ”

“Talk soon, mate.” It’s not a question of will or won’t. I’ll be badgering him until the eejit fixes this.

“Yeah. Bye.”

I drop my phone on the bed beside me and press my forehead against Layla’s chest. She stayed quiet while I reamed Eamon, letting me know she was there by wrapping an arm around my neck. She smells so fecking good and looking down, I want nothing more than to bury my face in her tits…or between her gorgeous thick thighs. My cock twitches against her leg and she huffs a little laugh.

“Sorry.” I look up at her apologetically. “Not the time, right?”

“Probably not right now,” she says, placing a quick kiss on my mouth. “What did Eamon say?”

“Basically he made decisions not just for Norah, but his Mum and sister too. He didn’t discuss it with anyone, just decided he’s going to stay on in Ireland to take care of his family. There’s a lot of guilt eating at him for not being there, especially since his Da is no longer alive.”

Layla winces. “It sounds like his mind isn’t in the right place. The stress from his sister, mixed with being back home after so long, has to be weighing heavy. That doesn’t excuse what he did to Norah though.” She shakes her head slightly. “Not at all.”

“No, she’s a good lass. She’s good for him.”

“And he’s good for her ,” Layla adds.

We sit there quietly, both of us lost in our thoughts for a minute before she says, “I think we need to head back to Wilmington. I’m going to go to the airport with Charlie to pick up Norah.”

Nodding, I heave a sigh. As much as I’d love to stay here, and horde Layla to myself, she’s right. Her friend will need her more than I do right now.

“Aye, Lovely. I’ll start packing.”

There’s a beat of silence before Layla says that we shouldn’t tell anyone about us.

My head jerks in her direction, causing me to drop the armful of clothes I just collected onto the bed. My first reaction is to become indignant. “Sorry, lass, but are you ashamed of me? ”

“No, of course not! Why would you think that?”

“Why else wouldn’t you want people to know that we’re together?”

Layla closes her eyes, inhaling deeply like I’m some petulant child, as she mutters something in Spanish under her breath.

“Well?” I’m anxious now.

“Teagan,” she sighs, stepping up to me, looping her arms around my neck. My hands instinctively go to her hips. “Let’s imagine that you just had your heart broken and one of your friends comes bouncing in, all smiles and boasting about a new relationship. Tell me, how would you feel?”

“Oh. Right.” She’s got a good point. Wasn’t I jealous of Eamon and Norah not that long ago? “I don’t love keeping us a secret, Layla. So Eam better pull his head out of his arse and fix this.”

“Not arguing with you there. Let’s just wait and see what state they’re in, and go from there.”

Nodding, I lean in to kiss her. When she presses herself into me, slipping her tongue into my mouth, I know we aren’t packing up just quite yet. We’re both feeling the impending separation and, even though we know it’s not permanent, there’s no telling when we’ll have a moment alone again. It’s not like she can come over to my flat since I live with Eamon; since she lives next door to Norah, there’s no hiding when I’m over there.

Layla’s fingers knot into my hair as a whine escapes her. The sound detonates something in me, and the next thing I know, I’m spinning her so that her back is to my chest. I band an arm under her breasts, sliding a hand around her throat to angle her face as I murmur against her neck. “If this is the last time we have for a while, I’m damn well making sure it’s memorable.”

She gasps but her body rolls against mine, and I know she wants this as bad as I do. The hand under her breasts snakes across her belly, under the band of the little shorts she’s wearing, and slips into her knickers. When my fingers creep into her folds, she’s soaked. I groan and circle her clit with the pad of my middle finger, before yanking it out, ripping her shorts off and falling to my knees behind her. I palm the globes of her luscious arse with both hands, leaning in to bite one of the cheeks, making Layla squeak in surprise. Standing, I press my hand to the small of her back, pushing her forward until her hands hit the mattress.

“Get on the bed and stay on all fours,” I command, my voice rough with desire.

She obeys instantly. Seeing her on her hands and knees has me on the brink of combustion. My hands roam up her back, shoving that tank top up and over her head. When it falls down her arms, I lean over, pressing her down until those heavy tits are flat against the bed. Gripping her wrists in one hand, I extend her arms, wrapping the tank top around them.

“Leave them there.”

Layla nods vigorously in response.

“That’s a good lass,” I croon, trailing kisses down her spine. I bite the other arse cheek when I reach it. Her lust-filled groan makes my cock jerk. Tired of not being inside her, I line myself up with her entrance and slowly sink into her, hands latching around her waist. Once I’m fully seated, I don’t move.

“ Coge me ,” she exhales. Those inner walls flex around me, tempting me to lose control.

Releasing her side, I scoop up her long hair and twist it around my hand. Gently pulling, I watch in fascination as her back arches. Holding her in this position, she starts to squirm.

“Am I hurting you, Lovely?”

“No. I need you to fuck me, Teagan. Please.”

A feral groan leaps from my throat and I pull out to the tip before slamming back into her, grinding my hips against her arse before retreating to do it all over again. With every punch of my hips, she cries out in pleasure and begs for more.

“Aye, that’s it, Lovely. Let me hear you,” I grunt.

“?Si, Papí!”

Fuck, do I love it when she calls me that.

“You’re doing so good, Cailín.”

“Más duro,” Layla pleads. “Harder, Teagan!”

Her wish is my command. I release her hair to latch onto those wide hips so I can fuck her the way she needs me to. The sound of our bodies slapping together is pushing me closer, but my lass will always come first if I have anything to say about it.

“Come for me, Layla,” I command through gritted teeth. “Now.”

She screams when she shatters, and it’s a symphony to my ears, demanding that I go with her. So I do, with her name on my lips.