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“Didn’t I make that clear?” She propped her chin on her fists and winked at me. “I’m only in it for the pillowtop.”

I walked over to her, climbed onto the mattress, and laid down half on her, half off. She wiggled beneath me, giggling, but not really trying to knock me off. “I don’t really mind you using me for my bed, as long as you share.”

She twisted her head, gave me a sunny smile. “I think I can handle that.” She rolled onto her back, still smiling up at me. “Tell me your New York apartment has an identical bed.”

“It does. It’s crammed into a tiny ass room, which is pretty much all bed.”

“That’s all I need. I suppose I’ll visit you there too.”

Maeve didn’t live here. She was visiting. It didn’t seem right, but she missed her roommate and her cat and her non-boyfriend. She was going back to New York tomorrow, but I wasn’t letting her go for long. Once I dealt with the things I needed to at home, I’d be driving up there and reclaiming my girl.

A big part of me wanted her living with me, whether that was in New York or Baltimore. But until I got my shit settled with Diego, I couldn’t broach that subject.

She skimmed her fingers over my overgrown beard. “You know what we should do?”

“Yeah.” Dipping my head, I burrowed into her neck, peppering her smooth skin with kisses. “We should shower together, then take a nap in this big comfy bed.”

She tapped my chin. “Yes, shower. No, nap. We’ll mess up our sleep schedule. We have to power through, combat the jet lag.”

Gripping the V of her shirt, I pushed it aside to get to her breast. She sighed when I tugged her nipple into my mouth, sucking and swirling my tongue. I raised my head, and she met my gaze with glazed eyes. “You know I’m going to fuck you in there, right?”

She laughed and threw her leg over my hip, bringing her pelvis against mine. “I was kind of countin’ on it.”

The hot water didn’t last nearly as long in my shower as it had in our London hotel. Didn’t matter. When the water got too cold, we moved to the vanity. Maeve bent over, our eyes locked in the mirror while I drove slowly in and out of her, was not something I’d soon forget.

As much as I’d wanted to take a nap and mess up my circadian rhythm, Maeve forced me to get dressed and leave the house. She had ideas. Baking ideas. She hadn’t baked a single thing in over two months, and she was twitching for it.

We took a stroll to the grocery store holding hands, and it felt fucking great to do something so mundane. She had things to say about each ingredient she tossed in the basket I carried. Sometimes, I had to stop and stare at her and remember she was the same woman who’d been singing with Mo two nights ago at our last show. She had beaten out a rhythm on her drums and rasp-wailed a Hole song. Both sides of her made my heart pound. She wouldn’t be the Maeve I fucking adored if she was only one or the other.

On the way back, I stopped walking and pulled her against a building. Dropping the bags on the ground, I cradled her face in both hands. Her lips were wet raspberry again, and with the sun glinting off her eyes, they were Caribbean green.

“What? Are you okay?”

“I love you.”

She smiled. “I love you too.”

“I like you.”

Her smile grew. “I like you too.”

“That’s all. I just needed you to know that before I took another step.”

“I’m glad you let me know. Please, always pull me against buildings and hold my face so sweet to tell me you love me. I can’t imagine myself ever not being amenable to that.”

Because there was no one around, and because I could, I kissed her for a minute or two, pressed up against that building. Then she slipped her hand in mine, and we were on our way back home.

As we turned the corner onto my street, Maeve telling me a story about Theo the cat, I caught sight of a man sitting on my stoop: Diego.

Shit.

I let Maeve’s hand drop. She startled, and out the corner of my eye, I saw her looking up at me in question. But my gaze was fixed on my brother—who had spotted us.

Increasing my pace and my distance from Maeve, I hurried toward him. He stood, scuffing his boot against the cement steps, face unsure.

“Heard you were back,” he said as I approached.

“Yeah. Whoa. I didn’t expect to see you today.” I held up my hands full of bags. “Let me go set these down so I can decide whether I want to hug you or punch you.”


Tags: Julia Wolf Unrequited Romance