He draws away enough for his gaze to lock on mine. Humor sparkles in his gray depths, but there's an underlying seriousness there as well. One that pulls at every fiber of my being.I draw in a breath, finally giving myself permission to say what is already in my heart. "Yeah, I'm your girl."As the quietly spoken admission tumbles from my lips, relief fills me, leaving me to feel lighter. I'm tired of denying what I feel for Liam.I want this man.I want to belong to him.And I want him to belong to me.Before I can blink, he drags me closer so that his mouth can crash onto mine. I don't think twice about opening to him. It doesn't matter if we're in the middle of a crowded bar. There's just Liam.The man I've been trying so damn hard not to fall for.The man I've been fighting my attraction for.The man I've been fighting my feelings for.It's been a losing battle since I first laid eyes on him.I realize there are issues standing in our way, but if they don't matter to Liam,
Shit.In hindsight, it probably would have been a good idea to have mentioned that I'm only twenty years old. At the very least, she should have heard it from me. Except, I knew it would cause problems. It's the reason I kept the information tightly under wraps. Like I have to give this girl another reason to break things off with me?I don't think so. She's always had one foot out the door.When Gia is wrapped up in my arms, everything is great. The difference in our ages is the last thing she's thinking about. But when we're apart?That's when uncertainty bubbles up inside her like a geyser, and she allows all those outside forces to dictate our future.It sucks.As wrong as it might have seemed, I was trying to give her more time to come to grips with our ages before casually revealing that I wasn't twenty-two. She's broached the subject before, mentioning the seven-year age gap between us.Yeah...it's not seven. More like eight and a half.With my birthday right around the
I shouldn't be sitting here, wrapped up in Liam's arms as if I belong buried in their comforting strength. When we're together like this, I forget all the reasons why this is wrong. My head is so messed up. Untangling myself from him is the last thing I want to do.Part of me thinks I should pull the plug on this relationship and walk away before I get entrenched any deeper. Before I get hurt. But the other half wants to stay burrowed in his arms forever and forget about everything that eats at me during the cold light of day.Somehow, we go from simply embracing to his mouth cruising over the bared column of my neck. The feel of his lips on my flesh makes my breath catch. I must be out of my mind.For goodness' sake, I told him that I needed time to think about our relationship. I should definitely not be letting him lick and kiss my body. When his lips are on me, I find it impossible to hold a coherent thought in my head. His mouth is lethal. He understands the effect it h
This is the last place I should be.Gia asked for space and yet, here I am, forcing myself on her. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop thinking about the woman. She never mentioned coming to see her brother's band play, but I'm taking a chance that she might show up. Then I can pretend that running into one another is a coincidence.Fuck. That sounds lame.Seriously, I'm not that guy. I have never been that dude. The one who can't take no for an answer. The one who chases after a chick because she's no longer giving him the time of day.I have no idea what it is about Gia that has me so bent around the axel. After nearly two months, I still can't figure it out. All I know is that she's unlike any other woman I've met before and I don't want to lose her. "What band is playing again?"Roan nudges my shoulder as my gaze sifts through the mob of people in the darkened club. Who knew these guys were so popular? Unfortunately, the thick crowd makes it more difficult to locate G
It's been five days since I ran into Gia and Coach at the club. Even though I've been tempted to reach out, to understand what the hell all this means, I have a pretty good idea. No one has ever accused me of being dense.With measured movements, I force the weights above my chest before bringing them down again, counting the reps in my head. I try to focus on my lift instead of Gia, but it doesn't work.Nothing I do evicts her from my brain.I don't understand what happened. I was under the impression that she was taking a few days to think about our relationship. Guess I didn't realize that meant dating other people in the interim."Hey, Garrison," Coach B says as he walks into the weight room. "You keeping up with your regiment?" He doesn't wait for a response. "Hard to believe the draft is right around the corner."His chipper voice has me swearing a blue streak under my breath.I've never had a problem with Coach Bauer. The dude is our offensive coordinator. He's damn go
"Hi, Dad," I greet. The front door slams behind me as I step into the living room. Even though it's the beginning of April, the weather is still frigid. My father doesn't keep the thermostat set any higher than sixty-four degrees to keep the energy bill down.Every little bit helps.The corners of his mouth curl up as his gaze settles on me. "Hey, I didn't know you were dropping by today.""I had some time and thought I'd see how everyone's doing." I settle on the couch and run a hand over my hair. The top has grown out, but I still have it shaved close on the sides.Concern flickers in his eyes. "Anything going on that I need to know about?" My dad is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Can't say that I don't feel the same way most of the time. I don't think I've ever sat back and taken a breath.I open my mouth to put him at ease when my brother stalks out of the kitchen. As soon as he sees me, he halts in his tracks. His lips flatten into a thin line as he pulls o
I jerk to my feet, popping off the worn couch. I can't wrap my mind around his bottled-up anger. "What the fuck is your problem?"Laughter bubbles up from his throat. There's an ugly twist to his lips that I find unnerving. I shake my head as my eyes narrow. I'm at a complete loss as to who my brother has morphed into.Is this the same happy-go-lucky kid who followed me around the playground? I can barely remember back that far. He's a different person than the one he used to be five years ago. If I could find my bitch of a mother, I would wring her neck for putting us through this."What the fuck is my problem? That's rich!" He shakes his head like I'm the butt of a joke.I clench my hands."Seriously dude? You have absolutely no fucking clue what's been going on around here." His eyes widen at the confused expression on my face. "What? You think because you pop in every once in a while that everything is under control?" His gaze cuts to my father. "Why don't you tell
"Ms. Monroe! Guess who I saw at the grocery store last night?"I smile down at Aiden Gibson. He's practically vibrating with all his pent-up excitement. Kind of like an overeager puppy.He's ridiculously adorable.Then again, they all are.With only two more months left of school, I'm amazed at how much my second graders have grown. Baby teeth have been lost with new adult teeth poking through in their place. They've shot up a handful of inches. Reading levels have been exceeded. Triple digit addition is no longer an impossible concept to grasp. And they've all learned how to treat one another respectfully. My little second graders aren't so little anymore.I can't help but look around and feel lucky to have been given such a great group of kids this year. As proud as I am, it's always bittersweet to hug them goodbye on the last day of school.Nostalgia swirls through me as I refocus my attention on Aiden. With a grin, I tap my finger against my chin. "Let's see," I muse,