Page 8

Bertie and I didn’t speak at all yesterday.

I’ve tried not to read too much into it, though it’s hard, considering I admitted just how much I like her. So it comes as a surprise when I open the door and find her standing on the front porch.

“Hi,” she says softly, the tip of her nose pink. “I hope it’s okay I showed up like this. I saw your truck was in the driveway so…” She peeks over her shoulder, and when she turns back, she’s frowning. “I can go.”

Before she can turn and leave, I grasp her wrist. “Stay.”

God, I sound like I’m begging.

I am begging.

She comes inside, hovering in the doorway and peering down at the snow and mud clinging to the bottom of her shoes. Cringing, she looks up at me. “I should’ve taken my shoes off on the porch. I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.”

“It’s okay,” I insist, way too giddy to be in her proximity. She could dump a truckload of snow in the living room, and it wouldn’t sour my mood.

With a deep breath, I rein myself in. I can’t react this way every time I see her—like an excited puppy jumping at her legs.

“I… uh… I realized I forgot to give you your Christmas present.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small box. “I don’t know how I didn’t think of it. I guess because I was enjoying the day, it slipped my mind.”

I stare at her, mouth open, more than a little surprised. “I… I didn’t get you anything.”

She laughs, the sound light and airy. Completely unbothered. “I didn’t expect you to.”

“B-but…” I stutter, at a loss for words. “You got me something.”

She shrugs. “It’s something you need.”

“Something I need?” I murmur, taking the package from her. As I study it, I rub my fingers over the shiny green paper with multi-colored strands of Christmas lights on it.

“Yeah.” She shrugs again.

It’s cute, how nervous she is. It gives me hope that perhaps her feelings are growing for me.

“I saw them and thought of you.”

My grin is instantaneous. “You were thinking about me?”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course that’s what you took from that.”

“Hey.” My smile gets even bigger, and I swear my heart expands. “You said it. Not me.”

When she purses her lips and bends to remove her boots, I have to fight the urge to pump my fist. She’s staying, and there was no begging involved.

When she straightens, she brushes the hair away from her face. “Just open the present.”

I tear through the paper and stare in disbelief at the box no bigger than my palm.

“Bertie.” Her name is a soft exhale. “This is… too much. These are almost three hundred dollars.”

“It’s not too much. You use earbuds all the time, don’t you? I always see you with the pair that only work with your phone if you have an adapter. These work with Bluetooth and have noise cancellation.”

Unbidden, tears prick at the backs of my eyes.

Dammit. It’s not about the gift.

It’s her thoughtfulness. She noticed my old, ratty earbuds and how often I use them. She doesn’t even know that I have OCD and struggle with racing thoughts. She doesn’t realize that music helps center me, helps calm me down when I start to spiral and things get to be too much. But she sees me.

“It’s okay, right?” She sounds worried now. “You look upset.”

“You have no idea how much a gift like this means to me.” I stuff the small box of Apple AirPods—something I would never spend my own money on, since I help my mom with the bills and food—into my pocket. Then I cup her face and kiss her.

I don’t even think about it. It’s second nature to slant my mouth over hers.

She tastes like peppermint, like maybe she had one of those peppermint mochas she loves on her way over here.

She kisses me back, a small moan leaving her as she stretches up on her toes and winds her arms around my neck, her breasts pressing against my chest through her open coat.

It happens naturally, the way I pick her up and her legs go around my waist.

I don’t even think as I carry her back to my room and carefully strip her of her clothes.

“Are you sure about this?” she asks, naked beneath me as I roll a condom on.

“I’m sure.”

I kiss her, savoring the way her mouth feels against mine. I could kiss this girl forever.

When she’s ready, I push inside. Fuck, being sheathed in her warmth is the best feeling in the world. I close my eyes, and it’s like I’m eighteen again, meeting her for the first time.

This. Her. Me.

It’s inevitable.

She can’t keep denying it. I see it in her eyes. She feels this, too.

“Fuck, Bertie.” I grip her throat lightly with one hand. “You feel so good. This pussy was made for me. You hear me? It’s mine. You’re mine.”

Back arching, she whimpers. “Kiss me. Please.”

Please?

Who am I to deny my girl what she wants?

Our bodies move as one, every moment effortless. Fuck, why have I been so adamant about not having sex with her? If I’d given in sooner, we’d have been doing this for weeks. God, I’m an idiot.

“Luke.” She reaches between us, holding on to the silver chain around my neck.

I want to record the way she says my name and play it over and over again.

“Harder,” she pleads. “Fuck me harder, please.”

I kiss her neck, whispering against her skin. “If I do, this won’t last long.”

“I don’t care,” she cries. “We can do it again.”

I bite my lip to keep a laugh from escaping. “Needy, huh?”

She rolls her hips. “I’ve been dreaming of your cock.”

Fuck. This girl and her mouth are going to be the end of me.

“And when you dream of my cock, I’m fucking you hard?”

“I want it to hurt tomorrow,” she cries. “I want to know you’ve been inside me every time I move.”

“ Jesus Christ .”

Challenge accepted.

I let loose everything I’ve been holding back because I wanted to take my time, relish every second. But she’s literally begging, and I can’t deny her what she wants.

When Bertie throws her head back and screams, I’m thankful as fuck my mom is working.

The woman beneath me is fucking gorgeous.

Perfect tits and hips and ass and everything.

Her blond hair splays over my pillow like it belongs there.

I’m lost in her.

She has no idea how thoroughly I’m wrapped around her finger.

As she shatters around me, I vow to make her do it again and again. As many times as she’ll let me.

“Luke.” She grips my biceps. “You feel so good.”

Fuck, it’s probably the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.

“I was fucking made for you.” I roll my hips, keeping my rhythm steady. “You realize that?”

“Yes,” she pants. “Oh, God. Yes.”

She squeezes her eyes shut, and fuck if she doesn’t orgasm again.

When she opens her eyes this time, they’ve gone soft. Vulnerable.

I kiss her. Long, slow, intimate. I can’t get enough of the taste of her. “I’ve got you,” I whisper between kisses. “I’m going to take such good care of you, baby.”

“Mhm.” She scratches her nails against my back, marking me.

Sitting back on my heels, I push her legs up until her knees practically kiss her breasts. “Look at you,” I croon, diving back in to smatter kisses over her chest. “So flexible. So open for me.”

I thrust again and again, and when her eyes roll back, I gently grasp her cheeks. “Open those eyes for me, baby. Let me see you. I want to see you when you come again, got it?”

“I c-can’t,” she pants. “T-Too—it’s too much.”

Hit with a wave of determination, I smirk. I can get her there. With the way she responds to my touch? I have no doubt.

Besides, she did tell me that she wants to be sore tomorrow.

When she shatters around me again, I fall with her this time. As I slow my strokes, I bear more of my weight against her, but not all of it. I need to be closer. Skin to skin. We’re both damp with sweat, but I don’t care. It’s a sign of a job well done.

Smoothing her hair off her forehead, I take her in. Blue eyes and pale skin with just a few tiny freckles on her nose. She’s so fucking beautiful.

She cups my jaw, rubbing her thumb over my bottom lip. I can’t help but wonder if she’s studying me, memorizing me, the way I am her.

I don’t want to let her go, but I need to get rid of the condom.

I allow myself another minute before I slip out from between her legs and get up.

“Stay there.” I put up a firm hand as I back away. “I’ll be right back.”

Since we’re alone in the house, I cross the hall into the bathroom naked and wrap the condom in toilet paper and throw it away. I wash my hands, then wet a washcloth with warm water.

When I return, Bertie is exactly where I left her, but as I drink her in, she covers her breasts with her arm.

I pull it away. “Don’t get shy on me now. Let me see you.”

Her cheeks pinken, but she doesn’t put her arm back. Her eyes instead drop to my dick.

“I thought you came.”

“I did.”

I press the warm cloth gently to her pussy, hating the way she flinches slightly. I should’ve been gentler, but I wanted to give her what she asked for.

“You’re hard again already?” Her tone is high-pitched, like the idea that I could still be turned on is preposterous.

“My dream girl is naked in my bed, and you think I’m not going to be permanently hard?”

She frowns, her body deflating. “I’m not your dream girl.”

I meet her gaze, licking my lips. “You are.”

“But I’m…”

“Perfect,” I finish for her. “To me, you’re perfect.”

I toss the cloth into my hamper and lie beside her, gathering her body close so we’re facing each other. She hooks her leg around me, and it’s a dangerous temptation, having her pussy this close to my dick again.

“I swear I didn’t come here for this.”

I play with a strand of her hair. Wrapping it around my finger. “I know.”

With a hand on my chest, she caresses my skin. “I still don’t… I don’t know if I’m ready for something serious. The whole boyfriend and girlfriend title thing. But I…”

My heart leaps with hope.

“Maybe we could try dating?” she suggests, her brows furrowed. “See where this thing goes?”

I nod eagerly, perhaps too eagerly, with the way her smile grows.

I’d call her my girlfriend now if she’d let me, but I can be patient. Tommy might be a douche, but she obviously had feelings for him for a long time.

I just hope she can have feelings for me, too.

“Yeah, B. Let’s do that.”

She kisses my cheek and snuggles into me.

I can’t say I’ve got the girl yet, but I’m one step closer.