Page 101 of More Than Friends

His arms reach behind my back, and he coaxes my body off the mattress and onto his lap instead. Now I’m on top, my thighs on either side of his as I ride him and take him even deeper.

“I love you because it feels like you see the real me and the man I want to be,” he mutters against my skin, thrusting his hips slowly.

My head falls back. There’s something about the slow, deep way he pushes in and out of me, mixed with his words, that doesn’t feel like he’s fucking me.

It feels like he’s makingloveto me.

“I love you because you’re the most selfless person I know.”

Another rock in and out, and I find myself getting even closer to an orgasm.

“I love that you leave a little trail around the house of where you’ve been. It’s a reminder that you’re here, with me, and I love the proof of you sharing the same space as me.”

I begin to trail kisses along his neck as he continues to rock in and out of me at a pace that has me edging closer to the brink of an orgasm.

“And I fucking love the way you smell. While you were gone, I kept going into your shower and smelling your fucking shampoo because I missed you so much.”

I let out a laugh that quickly turns into a moan when his fingertips find my clit.

“I missed you too,” I hurriedly get out as his fingers begin to work even faster against me.

Jude lets out a low growl. “Good. Now, prove it.”

He slams into me, and it’s the final thing to send me over the edge. I come at the same time as he does, both of us chantingI love youover and over as we ride out the highs of our orgasms.

FIFTY-FIVE

JUDE

“I still can’t believethis is happening,” Charlotte whispers with her cheek pressed to my chest.

My fingers run through the long, blonde strands of her hair as we lie in bed together. “What can’t you believe?”

“That you love me. That I got the nerve to tell you I loveyou.” She turns so her chin rests against my chest, and her big eyes focus on me. “Just…all of it. It feels too perfect to be real.”

I smile because she’s saying exactly what I’ve been thinking. It’s been an hour since we got cleaned up after having sex. It’s been nice to not be in a hurry after; to just lie in bed, saying everything out loud that we’ve been too afraid to say until now. “It is perfect, but it’s also real.”

Charlotte gives me a wide smile as she shakes her head in disbelief. “My family is going to lose it when I tell them about us. My sister Hailey has been telling me to hook up with you for months.”

I can’t help but laugh at her comment. For some reason, it feels good that she’s been talking to her family about me. Pride blooms in my chest that I was important enough to Charlotte for her to tell them about me. “Has she? I can’t wait to meet her, then. I can’t wait to meet all of them.”

“You’d want that?” she asks, her eyes lighting up. She watches me closely, almost as if she can’t believe I’d want to meet her family.

I continue to run my fingers through her hair as I look into her eyes. “Of course. I’d love to see where you come from. I can’t wait to tell them about how amazing a daughter and a sister they have, and to let them know how wildly in love with you I am.”

She playfully rolls her eyes. “My mom’s going to be obsessed with you.” Her nose scrunches as her lips turn into a smile. “Actually, she might already be.”

I can’t help but return her smile. “Moms always love me.”

Charlotte lets out a dramatic groan. “Well, I can’t say the same about your mom. I’m scared she might hate me. What’s she going to think when we tell her we’re together?”

I shrug. “I love my mom, but she doesn’t get a say in my life.” I make sure to keep my voice calm and composed, wanting her to know that I mean every word that leaves my mouth.

Charlotte watches me closely. Her blue gaze rakes over my face as if she’s trying to find any indication that I’m just telling her what she wants to hear. “But she’s your mom; I know you care about what she thinks. What if she thinks we’re rushing into things or that this isn’t real?”

I shake my head and use the hand not in her hair to hold the side of her face. “Do you feel like this isn’t real or that we’re rushing into things?”

She doesn’t answer at first, but eventually, she shakes her head. “No.”