“What?” She blinks up at me in surprise.

“Since you, there’s been—”

“Don’t,” she cuts me off, trying to push me away, almost succeeding since the move was sudden.

“Calm down.”

“Get off me!” she yells, pushing harder while using her knees to try to shove me off.

“Listen to me,” I bark close to her face, and she stills for a moment as her chest heaves against mine.

“There’s been no one since you.”

“I’m sure,” she cries, pushing against my chest once more.

Taking her hands, I hold them above her head and press them down into the couch, waiting until she stops struggling to continue. “Since the moment we met, I wanted you. And when I walked away from you, I knew. As pissed as I was for what I thought you did to me, I still wanted you and knew no piece of random pussy would change that.”

“You….” She shakes her head, and I release her hands and frame her face.

“It was you. You ruined me for anyone else. You didn’t even know you were doing it, but did it all the same.”

“But—”

“No buts,” I interrupt, taking her mouth in a soft kiss before pulling away. “I have no reason to lie to you. Even when I thought you and Chris were together, I still held out hope you’d realize I was waiting for you,” I say, watching tears fill her eyes. Then she leans up, shoving her face into my chest.

Letting out a breath, I pull her up with me and hold her against my chest, hoping my confession has brought us a little closer to my end goal.

Chapter 8

Kim

GETTING MYSELF UNDER control, I pull my face from Sage’s chest and lean back. I knew Sage wasn’t the kind of guy you could easily forget, but I had no idea he felt that same thing for me. It didn’t seem possible that he could, but I heard the truth in his words when he told me that he hasn’t been with anyone since we were together.

“You okay?” he questions, running his fingers along my jaw, and I nod. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I just feel like an idiot,” I confess, and his eyes soften.

“You’re not an idiot.”

“Tell that to the woman who’s had a pretend boyfriend for months because she was too afraid to face the fact she had fallen for a guy she barely knew,” I grumble, and he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

“You were protecting yourself. I get it.”

“You weren’t mad?”

“Mad about what?” he asks, and I stare at him in disbelief.

“That I pretended to have a boyfriend,” I supply, and his eyes change in a way that makes my skin tingle.

“You pretending to have a boyfriend didn’t only protect you. It protected me. You were off the market. Anytime anyone asked you out, you told them the same thing—you had a man—so they would back off. I’m not mad, because in the end, your lie also helped me out.”

“You’re serious?” I breathe, studying him, and his hand moves to wrap around my jaw.

“You could have taken a chance on someone else, fallen in love, and moved on. So yeah, I’m serious.”

Swallowing at the sudden intensity in his eyes, I look over his shoulder. That could have happened, but he also could have met someone else and fallen in love. I would’ve had to witness the whole thing while knowing I messed up my shot with him because I was too afraid to face my fears. Feeling his thumb move over my bottom lip draws my attention back to him.

“None of that matters now. Right now, we just focus on getting to know each other.”

I don’t agree with him verbally or by nodding. Instead, I lean up and touch my mouth to his—because I can, because I want to, and because as much as this whole thing scares me, I know I want it more than my next breath. If I end up heartbroken, I will have the memories of my time with Sage to look back on. And if this by some chance works out, I will have something amazing for the rest of my life.

“I’m hungry,” I say when the kiss starts to go from a soft touch of my lips on his to him rocking his hard length into me, with me moaning against his mouth.

“Me, too,” he agrees, and I can’t help but to laugh. Resting my forehead against his, I move my fingers along his strong jaw.

“Please feed me.”

His eyes close and his chest presses against mine as he pulls in a breath. Standing us both up, he kisses my forehead before leaving me standing in the living room. Watching him go, I wonder what I should do, and then he’s back a minute later with my bag in his hand. I follow him down the hall to his room, where he flips on the light and carries my bag to his bed, dropping it there.

“We’ll go out to get something to eat, since I don’t have anything here and need to do some shopping.”

“Sounds good,” I agree.

“I’ll stay in the guest room tonight, so you can get ready in here.”

“No,” I deny, shaking my head and trying to move around him to grab my bag.

“Yes.”

“No.” I plant my hands on my hips. “You should be sleeping in your bed,” I say, and he mutters something before walking toward the closet. Knowing he’s doing his whole ignore me thing to get his way, I start to get annoyed. “I’m not staying in here, Sage Mayson,” I state, picking up my bag and heading for the door, only to let out a squeal when I’m picked up off the floor before I make it there. Dropping the bag to the floor halfway across the room, I let out a whoosh of air a second later as my back hits the bed and Sage comes down on top of me.

“You’re sleeping in here.”

“I’m not,” I huff out, trying to push him away, only managing to somehow flip him to his back. Looking down at him, I don’t know what comes over me. One second, I’m getting ready to hop off the bed and make a run for the door, and the next, my mouth is colliding with his. Our teeth gnash together and I pull back a second before going back for more, thrusting my tongue into his mouth.

A whimper slides up my throat as he pulls his mouth from mine long enough to rip my shirt over my head. It’s then I lose what little self-control I have. I remember what it felt like the first time we were together. I remember how it felt when his mouth was on my breast against my skin and between my legs. I remember it like it was yesterday, and I want that again. I want to feel his mouth and hands on me, and I definitely want to put my mouth and hands on him.

Pulling at his shirt, he does a half ab crunch and we yank his shirt off and toss it to the bed. Then his hands slide up my back, and I feel his fingers as they work the clasp of my bra. When that’s gone, he drops it on top of his shirt. Pressing my chest into his, my nipples scrape against the light smattering of hair on his chest, and my tongue flicks against his, earning me a growl of approval that I feel tingle between my thighs.

He rolls me to my back, his mouth leaving mine, and his head dips so he can lick over one of my nipples while his fingers tweak and pull the neglected one. Back arching, I wrap my legs around his hips, seeking the friction I so desperately need between my legs. My body is buzzing. I never knew it was possible to have an orgasm from just my nipples being sucked and a little bit of clit stimulation, but I feel the pull of arousal in my lower belly, the telltale sign that if I move my hips just right, I might come.

“Sage,” I pant, and his hand and mouth leave my breast.

Leaning back, he looks down at me. I think he’s going to stop again, so I do the only thing I can think of. I lean up and press my mouth to his while rubbing my palm over his huge erection through his jeans. Groaning, he pushes my hand away. I want to pout, but before I can, his fingers move to the button of my jeans, and in one flick of his fingers, he has them undone and his fingers are sliding over my pubic bone. Down they go, zeroing in on my clit with an accuracy that has me thrusting my hips up into his fingers.

“So goddamn wet. How did I forget how wet you get for me?” he asks against my lips, and I moan, digging my nails into his back. I’m close, so close. Thrusting my hips up, my breath catches when his fingers thrust into me, first one then two, both curving up and hitting that spot deep inside of me that has me seeing stars. “Jesus, your pussy is squeezing the fuck out of my fingers,” he rumbles, taking my bottom lip into his mouth and pulling it between his teeth.