The same fight from before barrels into the forefront of my brain. At the end of three rounds and the winner declared, I sat defeated on a stool. My grandfather squatted in front of me, gave me that rare smile and patted my knee. “You did good, kid.”
It almost killed me to meet John’s eyes. “I failed.”
He shook his head. “In my book, you won. You’ve got fight in you, girl. Three rounds of pounding to be exact. More importantly, you’ve got heart. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Who West was before he slammed the brakes of his car inches from me isn’t my concern because the man in front of me...he has heart.
“Matt offered to end all of this,” I say. “He’ll put an end to the fight in a few weeks. He’ll prevent any retaliation on my family that I’ve feared from him or the Black Fire boys...He’ll make everything go away if I broke up with you and returned to him.”
He grinds his teeth. “Over my dead body. If you even think of returning to him—”
“I’m not accepting,” I cut him off. “I’ve chosen you. I’m ready, West. I’m ready to be with you.”
His eyes widen. “Why?”
“Because...” I inhale deeply. “Because you have heart.”
Chapter 48
West
Did she just say...? No, I heard it wrong. It’s not possible.
The scent of wildflowers fills the air as Haley skims her fingers along my biceps. It’s a tickling touch, pleasurable enough to heat my blood and awaken parts that should remain silent.
“I like you,” she says. “When it comes to you, everyone else has it wrong.”
Haley wraps her hand around my wrist and as much as I want to ignore the truth, I can’t. “I’ve made mistakes,” I say. “Big ones.”
“So have I. You’re not the only one who’s messed up. You told me once to let you know when I was ready for us to be a couple...” She trails off and my brows rise.
“Are you sure about this? About me? Us?”
“I’m scared.” She sucks in a breath and her hand trembles. “Matt and I didn’t work out.”
The need to protect her sweeps through me. I cup her face and slide my fingers over her cheeks. “I’m not Matt.”
She moves her head in my hands as if she agrees, but the fear consuming her eyes tells the story engraved on her soul. Someday, she’ll trust me enough to tell me the truth. For now, I’ll be that home she lost—I’ll be that soft, secure place where she can land.
I lean so that our foreheads almost touch. “I mean it. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not him.”
“I know,” she whispers. “But it doesn’t make falling any less frightening.”
My nose drifts along hers and the pull I’ve been fighting strengthens. “Don’t think of it as falling. Think of it as jumping—with me.”
I feel the curve of her smile beneath my lips. “How is jumping better?”
“Falling happens. Jumping you choose.” And you chose to do it with me.
“I still don’t see—”
“Haley,” I cut her off while tunneling my fingers into her hair. The girl way overanalyzes. “Stop thinking and jump.”
My muscles react like I’m stepping into a hot shower as my lips melt against hers. Our bodies transform into liquid, shaping and forming into the other. Her hands roam my back and mine fist her hair. The kiss builds in intensity. Her lips are soft and pliant, and as we angle closer, Haley opens her mouth and I accept the invitation.
Our tongues meet and every cell in my body explodes to life. My hands seek lower—the curve of her waist, the hollow of her back, craving hot skin. Haley caresses my face and the intimacy of her touch weakens my knees and causes me to lose track of reality and time.
I wrap my arms around Haley’s waist and lift her so that her head is above mine and her feet dangle off the floor. Her silky hair brushes against my cheeks and I moan with the sensation. She’s tiny in my arms—a weightless feather tickling my skin.
We never break the kiss as I carry Haley to my bed. Both of her hands explore my jaw, my hair, tease the strands near the base of my neck. All of it sends a ripple of excitement through my bloodstream and the resulting shockwaves cause me to silently beg for more.
I brace her head and back for the soft tumble onto the bed. My leg lands over hers and I keep it there as I taste her neck, caress her midriff. Half of me covers her and it feeds the images of what I long to do—to completely blanket her body with mine. I yearn to touch her skin, to unbutton her shirt, to...
Haley turns her head and gasps. “West.” It’s a desperate sound full of lust and want and a whole lot of slow down.
I inhale deeply as I rest my arm across her stomach and nuzzle my nose into the sensitive part behind her ear. Haley’s delicious. She smells delicious. She tastes delicious. I could spend the rest of my life devouring her. “Yes?”
Her fingers move in my hair and her body inches closer to mine, but it’s not a sign to continue; it’s a sign that she desires more than something physical. I’ve never done more. Whenever a girl breaks away, I’m usually out of bed and out the door. For Haley, there’s more because she is more. She’s slowly becoming my everything.
With a slow kiss to her neck, I kick off my shoes and she squirms as she does the same. I draw Haley with me to the top of the bed, ignoring how her thighs shifting across my legs encourage my fantasies.
Haley’s hair cascades into a light brown halo as she settles her head into the pillow. She looks up at me with those large dark eyes and a shy smile. “This is a soft pillow.”
“I like it. It’s my favorite.”
“Is it?”
“It is now.” I warm at the sight of her in my bed lying next to me. I tuck a stray hair away from her face and the pieces of myself that felt missing suddenly return and fit.
For weeks Haley and I have talked about what home is and what it means: a building, a structure, a memory. It’s none of those things. For me, home is the contentment currently bubbling up inside me. Home is the rush of emotions buzzing in my veins.
“You asked me earlier what it was like to come home,” I say.
Haley nods. I lace our fingers together and raise them into the air. “I couldn’t answer you because I didn’t know, but now I do. This—” I rock our hands “—I finally found home.”
Chapter 49
Haley
West and I have been officially together for a week. I swapped shifts so that I now work on Mondays and have Fridays off. This way, I can train with John in the morning, train West in the afternoon, then spend quality time with my boyfriend.
On the flat screen in West’s room, the movie ends and, to be honest, I have no idea what it was about. West watched his fingers tease and explore my body until my skin vibrated and my blood buzzed. I, for the most part, watched West.
I love the serious set of his jaw and the way he’d occasionally run his hand over his golden hair. The biceps in his arm would flex as he moved and, every now and then, his shirt would ride up, exposing his gloriously defined abs.
I’m flat on his bed and West is propped up on his side next to me. His fingers sweep across the plane of my stomach and his deep blue eyes follow an imaginary line like an artist would a paintbrush along a canvas. “You’re the sexiest damn thing. Jesus, your skin is soft.”
West shuts his eyes and I suck in a breath. This is dangerous. Very dangerous. My lips are still swollen from earlier. Kissing West is addictive. It propels me to want to kiss and touch more and travel with him to unknown and hidden places. And I secretly begin to imagine the type of kissing that involves darkness and covers and whispers.
His fingers slip under the already tucked up fabric of my shirt and he gently skims the trim of my bra. Heat explodes throughout my body and my breathing hitches. It’s frightening how I react to one simple caress.
Not good. Not good at all. Actually, it’s very good and I all but purr with his hands on my bare skin, but I need to think. I need air.
Without warning, I go to roll off the bed, but in lightning-fast movements, West captures my waist and draws me back to him. “Where are you going?”
“You’re going to kiss me again,” I say a little breathlessly.
“Yes, I am. Not sure if you knew, but last week was my birthday so that means I get a two-week grace period of presents. Kisses come with the territory. It’s a state law.”
I giggle. “Now you’re playing the birthday card.”
“Play it. Use it. Own it.” His voice hums over my skin as his fingers begin to roam. Oh Lord in heaven, I’ve never experienced this type of mesmerizing intimacy in my life.
“Anything to kiss you again,” he whispers into my ear and I shiver.
An overpowering urge screams to melt into him, to hold him, to wrap my body around him, but it’s the small voice begging me to listen to reason I cling to. “I need this to go slow.”
“Slow.” He nibbles on my ear and pleasurable goose bumps form on my neck. “I can make this as slow as you need.”
This is killing me because I crave his kisses, but... “Er. At least slower.”
West sighs, then falls back onto the bed, rubbing his face with both his hands. “I can do slower. It’s possible.” With a moan, West shoves off the bed, puts on his shoes and offers me his hand. “Let’s go for a drive. That should be safe.”