movements turn desperate and I end up ripping some of the buttons off her shirt.
Minutes later, our clothes are in a pile on the floor and I’m back inside her. As I stare into her eyes, I consider begging her to come with me on the road, but the moment is fleeting and I realize I just can’t do that to her.
I wake up in a quiet room with Ella in my arms, and her naked body curled up against me. I wish it was possible to wake up every morning like this, but then someone would have to give up something important.
“God, what the fuck am I going to do?” I whisper aloud to myself.
Morning is peeking through the curtain and cars buzz down the main road in front of the hotel. I watch Ella sleep for a bit, while I run my fingers along her back, until finally her eyelids peek open.
“You’re awake.” She blinks the tiredness away.
I twist a lock of her hair around my finger. “I couldn’t sleep.” She starts to sit up, but I tighten my arms around her and hold her to me. “Just stay put for a few more minutes. I like holding you.”
Her eyes examine me, and she rests her head back on my shoulder. “What’s wrong? You seem upset.”
I smooth away the worry line between her brows with my thumb. “Have you ever thought about what we’re going to do with our lives? With each other?”
She bites at her bottom lip. “Sometimes I think about it.”
“And where do you see us going?” I ask with caution, not wanting to scare her with what I’m thinking about asking her. I need to test the waters first.
Her eyes round and her breathing becomes frantic. “Are you breaking up with me?”
I snort a laugh. “Why the fuck would you ever think that?”
She props up on her elbow and gazes down at me, her hair a curtain around our faces. “Because you have this look on your face like you’re about to tell me some horrible news.”
“It’s not bad news.” I guide her body on top of mine. “But I’m not sure if you’ll be happy about it either.”
She clutches onto my shoulders as she pushes herself up, so she’s straddling me and I can feel her warmth on my cock. The blanket falls from her shoulders and her breasts are just above my face.
“Please hurry up and tell me, then,” she begs. “Because you’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”
“I think…” I stop, remembering my mother and my father, and how things turned out for them. “It’s nothing. Honestly it wasn’t really that important.”
Her face falls. “No, that look on your face isn’t nothing. Since when do you keep things from me?”
“I’m not keeping anything from you.” I’m just holding out for a while until I know we’re both on the same page. “Now come here.”
I sit up and put my mouth over her breast, sucking on her nipple and distracting her. When I move my mouth away, she’s panting and the light reflects in her eyes. Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I steer her lips toward mine and thrust my cock inside her. She breathes fervently against my lips, and moments later we’ve both forgotten about the conversation.
Chapter 3
Ella
It’s been a week since the LA trip and I feel like shit all the time. Micha’s been really busy and I barely get to talk to him. Plus Lila started dating Preston and she’s never around. My muscles ache just from walking, my head hurts all the time, and every task is tiring.
I’m waiting outside the therapist’s office, with my bag on my lap, when I get a text from my brother.
Dean: Call me asap.
Me: Can’t. In a meeting.
Dean: Don’t be a brat. CALL ME.
My therapist walks out of the office and motions me to come in as the phone beeps again. I shut it off and sit down in a chair in front of the desk, decorated with a nameplate, a cup full of pens, and a tall stack of folders.
Her name is Anna and she’s young, maybe in her late twenties, with blonde hair that’s cropped short around her jawline. Every time I see her, she’s in a pantsuit. Today,