Page 70 of Beg Me

“Come here,” he says, pulling me onto his chest. He brushes my hair off my face and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “You’re pretty incredible, Markie. Do you know that?”

I try to smile, but that takes more effort than I can manage.

He holds me, with both arms wrapped around me, for the longest time. I lie still, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, contemplating how I’m memorizing this feeling more than I cataloged anything else that happened between us.

I’m not sure what to make of that or why it’s happening, but I’m pretty sure that if I think about it too much, it’ll scare the shit out of me.

So I don’t.

I simply ride the endorphin high, wrapped in the sweetest, sexiest man I’ve ever known.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

Jory

“Hey, man,” I say, pulling Drake into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah, you, too. How have you been?”

“Not too damn bad.”

We sit across from each other at a table in the corner of Piper’s Pizza. By all accounts, it’s the best food in Sugar Creek. It’s also the only establishment besides Patsy’s, and that’s a bar. So I’m not quite sure how well that bodes for Piper’s.

“What’s going on with you?” I ask, accepting a menu from our server. We order drinks, and I wait for her to walk away before continuing. “How’s life been treating you?”

“I can’t complain. Gianna and I just closed on our house, so that’s exciting.”

I’ve known Drake for several years, and he’s always been a pretty chill guy. But there’s something different about him today. The worry lines on his face are gone, and the way he carries himself isn’t like the man who was always stressed as fuck about work, ratings, and listener counts.

He’s … happy.

“Here are your drinks,” Lisa says, placing them on the table. “Do you guys know what you want or do you need some time?”

“I’ll have a small, loaded pizza,” Drake says, not bothering to look at the menu.

Lisa laughs. “I could’ve guessed that.” She scribbles on her notepad. “What about you?”

I haven’t had time to look, but pizza is pizza. “Small pepperoni will work.”

“You’re Markie St. James’s new man, aren’t you?” Lisa asks, grinning.

Wow. I laugh. “How did you know that?”

“Let’s just say that there aren’t many men who look like you coming through town.” She winks, walking backward toward the counter. “I’ll get these in. Let me know if you need anything else in the meantime.”

I shake my head, turning back to Drake. “Is there some kind of town-wide text thread or something? Because these people know everything as soon as it happens.”

Drake chuckles. “You haven’t seen the half of it. I grew up in what I thought was a small town, but this is its own world.”

“Do you like it here?”

He folds his hands on the table and grins. “Yeah. Gianna’s happy here. This is where she wants to be, with her friends and her pig.”

“She has a pig?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know it yet.” He shrugs as if even he can’t believe the words coming from his mouth. “Mira got a pig.”