Me: I still do.
She swallows hard. “You still do.” Her eyes remain on the screen as she scrolls back up to look through what I’d written again.
My chest is tight, and I feel like I can barely pull in a breath. I hope this clarifies things for her and answers whatever questions she thought she had about who I am and what I want.
“And the voice mails?” She still doesn’t look up when she asks. She is blinking furiously, and I can tell she’s trying to keep herself under control.
“More of the same.” I catch her chin with my fingers and tip her sweet face up toward me. “Look at me.”
Her eyes flicker up to meet mine, but then cast down again. “I’m feeling pretty dumb right now, Sawyer. I’m such an idiot. The other thing I was going to ask you about at the coffee shop was if you were dating Willow, and then you left me to help her, and I thought …”
I wait until her eyes meet mine again before I respond. “Hadleigh, everything I said was true. I’ve thought of no one else since I set eyes on you.”
My head bobs a few times as I hold her gaze. I feel the need to reiterate things to make sure we are crystal clear. “Willow is my roommate. My best friend. She is not my girlfriend and never has been. Did you really think I’d mess around with you if I had a girlfriend I was going home to?”
Her shoulders inch up. “I didn’t want to think that. But—”
“Well, I wouldn’t do that to you or anyone else. That’s not how I’m built.” I pause for a moment, feeling slightly stung by her assumption. “I know we still have a lot to learn about each other, but I’d like to think you thought better of me than that.”
She shakes her head slowly, and then picks up speed when she says, “Sawyer, I don’t have a great track record with relationships of any sort. I’ve never really had many people I could trust. Especially not men.” She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “And I think it’s been like that because I didn’t have a role model to show me what healthy relationships should look like. My mom isn’t good at them. My father wasn’t around.”
I press my lips together, thinking. “Okay. So, how about we begin again? We can work on it together. If you trust me enough, that is.” I stand and hold out my hands to help her off the step.
She blinks as she accepts them and looks up at me. Her voice is breathy and a little unsure when she says, “I think I’d like that.”
In that moment, it strikes me that I would do anything to erase any trace of uncertainty that she feels when it comes to what she means to me. I want to be the man she deserves, unlike whatever fools have come before me. I have to mentally shake off the thought of her with anyone but me because I don’t like it one bit. My head dips down until my forehead meets hers, and I stare into the depths of her eyes. I see sadness there. Insecurity. Fragility. Things I doubt she lets anyone else see. “Hadleigh, if you’ll let me, I’ll show you what it should be like.”
My hands capture her head between them, my thumbs skimming over her cheeks as her hands settle on my hips, hanging on tightly. Her eyelids flutter shut. I wait several seconds, just breathing in her air, savoring this moment with her. With my heart hammering in my chest, I brush my lips over hers, softly at first, and then with more determination. She yields to me, and her head drops back to accept my kisses. They’re slow, sensual, so completely consuming. A noise rumbles in my chest as I slide my tongue over her lips and she opens for me, our tongues rubbing together in a frantic dance. And I’m desperate—so desperate—for more of her. I’ll take anything she gives me. Our chests rise and fall rapidly, our breath coming fast, and my need for her grows until all I can think about is how to be closer to her. My arms wrap around her, and I pull her flush against my chest; the feel of her soft breasts is almost my undoing. A fresh surge of desire races through my blood, and my dick hardens between us. She presses against me, runs her hands in my hair, and moans at each nip of my lips as I slide them down, sucking on the soft skin where her pulse jumps.
My chest tightens, a sure sign of just how badly I want this woman. If she can’t tell I’m into her and her alone, I don’t know how I’ll ever show her—but I’ll keep trying. She reaches between us and runs her fingers over my erection through my jeans. Holy fuck. Okay, maybe she knows. I ache for her touch and growl in response, “Hadleigh, you’re going to kill me.”
Don’t get me wrong, I could go on kissing her like this all night, but voices approaching in the hallway serve to remind me that we’re in public.
But then her lips are on mine again, and all reason flies out the window.
Chapter 20
Hadleigh
I haven’t felt so wanted in quite possibly my whole life. One kiss, one touch from Sawyer and I no longer feel drunk, except maybe on him. He’s completely different than every other man who has come before him. His mouth devours me, conquers me, makes me feel like he couldn’t possibly want anyone but me. His tongue does magical things, sweeping inside my mouth, licking, rubbing, tasting me. Every kiss sends a flood of intense pleasure through my system, dampening my panties and tugging on my heart.
I’d felt his erection against my belly and couldn’t help but reach down and touch him. And now, after feeling his hard length with my hand, I want nothing more than to strip him naked so I can feast on his amazing body with my eyes, my hands, and—most of all—my mouth.
Suddenly, he pulls away from our kiss and steps away from me, breathing hard. My eyes flick up to his and then back down to the bulge behind his zipper. “Did I do something wrong?”
He chuckles softly. “No, not at all. I thought I heard someone call out to you.”
Right on cue, Piper’s voice drifts to me from where I think she must be standing just outside of the ladies’ room. “Hadleigh?”
He winks at me and takes my hand, his voice low. “I think I could use a drink to cool myself off, anyway.”
I squint up at him with a grin. “Oh, yeah?” I whisper. “I won’t argue with that. Meet you at the bar in a minute?”
He nods and lowers his face to mine, brushing a kiss over my lips. “Yep. I need a second to, uh, calm down anyway.” He leans in close to whisper in my ear, “You make me so damn hard.” He steps back and clears his throat, giving himself a minor readjustment.
I give him a tiny smirk in return. “Good to know.” I turn and head around the corner towards Piper. One part of me is thrilled at the progress we’ve just made, and the other is slightly terrified of it, too. Every time you get too excited about someone, it all falls apart. Keep that in mind, Hadleigh. I’d momentarily forgotten about the problems this could create at school if it got out that we’re together, and I cringe a little before shoving it out of my head. I just want to be happy. Sawyer makes me happy.
“There you are.” Piper’s gaze follows the direction I just came from, her brows rising.