Edison’s eyes twinkle. “It’s okay, I get it, you’ve been caught up with a girl.”
I stiffen at the implication, my words measured, “How do you know that?”
She arches an eyebrow. She waves her hand in front of me as if that would be enough. “It’s the whole vibe you have going on right now. I can’t explain it, but it’s obvious.”
Before I can respond to her, she looks over my shoulder and her eyebrows pull together even as she maintains the smile on her face. It’s one of those customer service things. When I spin around, I’m a little surprised to see Ariel standing there.
My woman’s light blue eyes, so fucking expressive, are bouncing between Edison and me. When she starts gnawing on her bottom lip, I know I can’t let her get the wrong idea. If she’s already there mentally then I need to show her the truth and not let even a sliver of doubt worm its way into her head.
I owe my brothers not to fuck this up.
I stride toward my woman, her eyes are wide with a hint of wariness in their depths when I’m standing right in front of her. I cup her face in my hands, tilting her head up a little so she will meet my eyes.
I know she wants to shrink away right now but I’m not going to let that happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Fucking never.
I don’t ask her why she’s here. She has every right to be here and if she’s here to see me then it’s my lucky fucking day. I stare into her eyes, the blue seeming to stretch out forever, pulling me in and grabbing hold.
“I missed you.”
It’s the only warning I give her before I crash my lips down on hers and kiss her like we aren’t in public. Anyone watching should be happy I don’t take her to the ground and fuck every single doubt and insecurity out of her.
I kiss her until my lungs burn and I know hers must as well. Only then do I release her lips, but I can’t go far. I rest my forehead against hers, our breaths mingling and becoming one. When she wraps her hands around my wrists, the zap of pleasure which flows through me is almost my undoing.
I haven’t come in my pants since I was a kid who hadn’t grown into knowing who he is or what makes me tick. I’m so damn close with a simple touch and a look. I peck her lips again, unable to give it up completely.
When I hear a throat clearing behind me, I grab my woman’s hand and turn slowly. I tuck Ariel into my side where she melts against me. It makes me feel larger than fucking life.
“Ariel,” my voice comes out raspy and I shake my head trying to dislodge the very sexy thoughts I have of bending her over the circulation desk and pounding away. I won’t. When Ariel’s eyes come up to reach mine, they’re guarded and cautious. “This is Edison. She works here.”
Ariel blinks up at me a few times before she shoots me one of her adorable little smiles. Damn it. My heart thumps inside my chest.
Ariel grins from ear to ear and looks at me as if she wasn’t willing to rip off my balls a moment ago. I don’t even mind the moment of doubt she had in me. It’s clear she’s been burned in the past and I don’t ever want her to doubt me or Cy and Gabe. We’ll just have to keep proving it to her.
“Hi,” Ariel’s sweet voice greets Edison who has a big smile on her face as she looks between us.
Edison jumps a little on the balls of her feet and sighs with hearts in her eyes. “Finally,” she huffs. Without any warning she swoops in and gives Ariel a hug. “I thought I was going to have to try and play matchmaker or something and I don’t know shit about getting online and gaming so I wouldn’t have known how to find you at all.”
Ariel glances up at me with questions in her eyes, but I just shrug. When Edison releases her, my woman laughs and shakes her head. “It did take us a little while to take it offline, I suppose.”
“It really did,” Edison agrees with a solemn look on her face before she breaks out into another wide grin. “Well,” she claps her hands, “I have work to get done. I’ll leave you two to it.”
After giving a little wave, Edison is gone, and I’m left with my woman tucked into me. I take a deep breath and soak it up for a moment. When I kiss her temple, she melts into me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. I open my mouth to cut her off, but she doesn’t let me. “I thought the worst when I saw her with you and that’s not fair of me. I mean, I don’t,” she runs her fingers through her hair and looks down at the ground which would normally make me hard, but not in this situation, “you know, I don’t have any right to be jealous.”
I grip Ariel’s shoulder and turn her toward me before cupping her face in my hands. I stare down into her limitless blue eyes, their light color reminding me of summer days and endless possibilities. I shake my head sharply.
“Ariel,” there’s a growl in my voice, “you do have the right to be jealous, but there’s nothing to be jealous of.”
She shrugs and slides her eyes away from mine. I hate it. Her voice is soft, “I mean there’s three of you and one of me, I expect at some point you’re all going to date other people.”
“What. The. Fuck,” my voice raises with each word, not giving a flying fuck that we’re in the library. People can deal with it, not like there are many people around right now considering summer semester hasn’t started yet and spring is done. She blinks up at me, not even realizing how fucked up what she just said is. “I can see now that we made a mistake with not being clear enough for you to understand and for that I’m sorry.”
She scrunches up her face, “What are you talking about?”
I close the distance between us, pressing my body to hers, my voice low and filled with warning and truth, “There is only you for us. There will never be anyone else. We won’t be dating. We are a unit.”
Her eyebrows furrow together as if she’s taking in my words and mulling them over. I can still see the disbelief written on her face. I don’t know what else to do, I’ve been very fucking clear. I guess we’ll just have to continue to show her.