Page 35 of Stay (Stay #1)

CASSIDY

N erves prickle at the bottom of my belly as I stand on the front porch and knock on the door. A few seconds tick by before it swings open and Alex stares down at me.

“Hi.” It takes effort to force out the question. “Is Cole here?”

“Hey.” lex jerks his head toward the second floor. “He’s up in his room. Go on up.”

With that, he swings around and leaves me standing on the porch before walking into the living room where a bunch of guys from the hockey team are sitting around playing video games.

Avoiding eye contact, I slip past them before racing up the stairs and taking them two at a time. I need to get this over with before I chicken out.

Or Luke suddenly decides to tell him first.

I suck in a breath, trying to settle everything inside me before wrapping my knuckles against the thick wood.

When his muffled voice greets me from the other side, I push it open and find Cole at his desk, bent over a textbook.

He does a double take before rising to his feet and closing the distance that separates us.

His brows draw together as his gaze searches my face. “Are you feeling better? ”

I almost wince. It’s just another lie for me to untangle. My shoulders collapse at the thought.

Avoiding the question, I say instead, “Do you have a few minutes to talk?” Another round of nerves detonates in my belly as I gesture to the books on his desk. “It won’t take long.”

“I’m never too busy for you.” Expression softening, he reaches out and grabs my hand before towing me to him. Once his arms wrap around me, I squeeze my eyes shut and pray this won’t be the last time we’re together like this. “I’m glad you stopped by.”

I hope he feels that way after I’ve gotten everything out.

Untangling himself from me, Cole walks us to the bed so we can sit down. My hands are still clasped within his. The physical connection is all that’s keeping me going. Unable to hold his searching gaze, mine skitters away as I try to remember what I want to say and how I want to say it.

A long silence stretches between us.

“Cassidy?” He reaches out, touching the side of my face with gentle fingers. “Tell me what’s going on. I can tell that you’re being eaten up with something.”

Now that I’m here, I have no idea how to begin. It feels as if everything in my life led up to that one turning point. One bad mistake spiraling into another and then another until I was all but drowning in them.

“Baby?”

The soft way he says the endearment tears me up inside. I shake my head and stare at my knotted fingers until they blur before my eyes.

“You wanted to know what happened to me…” my voice trails off as I peek at him.

He strokes the side of my face as concern floods his eyes. “I want to know because I want to understand you better.”

My insides feel just as tangled as my fingers.

When I remain silent, he presses his lips to mine.

I shudder, needing to feel his warmth flooding through my veins, filling all the cold dark places inside me. I’d thought it would be a quick kiss, a bit of reassurance to give me the strength I needed to continue. As it unfolds, he deepens the caress. Or maybe I do.

What I know is that I need to feel the intimate connection between us.

I whimper when his tongue slips inside my mouth.

Sparks of desire shoot through my body. His hands slide from my face to my shirt before he quickly tugs it over my head.

Needing to feel his bare skin, I do the same, yanking his shirt up as he unhooks my bra, until we’re both naked from the waist up.

“God, baby, I want you so badly.”

Before I can say anything, his mouth claims mine as he palms my breasts, stroking the pebbled nipples before leaning down to suck one stiff bud between his lips.

With a groan, my fingers tunnel through his messy strands.

He releases the tightened peak before kissing his way down to the waistband of my skirt.

A few heartbeats later, I find myself flat on my back with my skirt being pulled down my hips and thighs. My panties quickly follow suit until I’m completely bared to him.

“I need to be inside you.”

Intensity brims in his whiskey-colored eyes as they linger over every inch of me before locking on mine. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Cassidy.”

The thickness of his murmured words does strange things to my insides.

One hand settles between my legs before he parts them.

His attention drops to my wet heat. Air gets clogged in my throat as he presses a kiss against my core, dragging the velvety softness of his tongue across me.

He widens my thighs before circling my clit and sucking it into his mouth.

My body tightens, arching off the mattress, as every nerve ending throbs and sizzles at the intensity that crashes over me, threatening to suck me under.

“So fucking beautiful,” he whispers against my heated flesh before adding, “and mine.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting that sentiment to be true. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. In a short amount of time, Cole has come to mean everything to me.

He plunges his tongue deep inside my body as he rubs the pad of his thumb against my clit in tiny circles that make me feel as if I’ll burst out of my skin.

A moan escapes as I come undone and splinter apart.

Even after my body settles, he continues to stroke my oversensitive flesh with both his fingers and mouth until I can’t bear another moment of it.

“I need you inside me.” I want him to fill me up until he’s all I can think about. All I can remember.

With one last kiss pressed against my pussy, he rolls away, grabs a condom from the nightstand, and crawls up my body. Once his cock nudges my entrance, he sinks inside me one inch at a time until he’s buried deep, filling me to the brim. Our gazes stay fastened as he begins to move.

“I think I’m falling for you, Cassidy,” he whispers before taking my lips with his own. The way his body rocks against mine makes me feel like we are connected in the most intimate way possible.

When he finally comes, I follow him over the edge. Even though my body is exhausted by our lovemaking, my mind is restless with what still needs to be said.

After returning from the bathroom, I strip off the oversized T-shirt he’d given me and crawl naked into bed with him.

He gathers me up in his arms and presses me against his chest, where my head settles.

The steady beating of his heart fills my ears.

It takes everything I have inside me to gather my courage.

As much as I don’t want to ruin this perfect interlude, I can’t allow everything to linger between us any longer.

“Cole?” I whisper into the darkness.

I still, straining to hear any sound.

“Cole? Are you awake?”

The question is met with silence. Not a moment later, his deep, even breathing fills the void and I realize with a sinking heart that he’s already fallen asleep. For a long time, I stare at the ceiling before finally drifting into a restless slumber .

When I wake the next morning, the sheets beside me are empty and Cole is gone. There’s a piece of paper propped up on his nightstand that lets me know he’s at an early morning practice.

I rub the sleep from my eyes and stare at the note before flopping back onto the pillow.

My intention had been to get everything out into the open so I could finally breathe again.

Instead, we’d tumbled into bed, and I’d allowed myself to get wrapped up in his body and the way he makes me feel.

A shiver dances down my spine even remembering the delicious way he had played with my body.

Irritated with myself for prolonging the inevitable, I throw an arm over my eyes and wonder if I’ll ever find the courage to tell him. The longer I allow my past to linger between us, the more difficult it becomes to force out the truth.