Page 87 of All Our Nevers

“Jesus.” I raise my free hand to her breast, teasing her nipple between my fingers, savoring the feeling of her, memorizing every moment. “You’re unreal. Absolutely perfect. I’ve never wanted anyone this badly. I’ve been trying not to come since you took off that dress, because I want to feel you come first. I’m desperate for it. Please, please, yes, fuck, fuck, fuck—”

She moans my name as she comes and I’m right there with her, pumping my release into her and riding out every last wave.

She collapses onto me and I hold her tight, feeling the rise and fall of her chest under smooth, warm skin.

One of my hands wraps all the way around her waist, locking her to me. The other climbs higher, into the back of her hair, as I press a kiss to the top of her head. It might be a bad idea, might blur the lines if casual, but I don’t care. I just had the best sex of my life and my heart is still slowing and she’s everything I’ve ever wanted.

Then, to my surprise, she tilts her head up and offers me a soft kiss of her own, just to the underside of my jaw.

As she tucks her face back into the crook of my neck, I think, I would do anything for this woman.

And isn’t that an absolutely horrifying thought?

21

Lia

That was one of the hottest experiences of my life,” he tells me as I climb back into bed, hair wet from the shower, skin damp and dewy. We’re both still naked and he seems more than happy about it, hands wandering as I lie with my chin on his chest.

“One of?” I ask.

“You’re right. Scratch that. The hottest by far.” He tucks a dripping lock of curls behind my ear. “You are Aphrodite herself.”

And dammit. The way he’s looking at me, after what we just did… I need to keep myself in check. This is just casual. That’s what we both want.

I smirk at him as I say, “I could tell you were having a good time.”

“Oh yeah?”

He rolls me across his body, flopping me down onto the far side of the bed, then trapping me beneath him. My laugh is sharp and bright as he buries his face against my neck, a teasing bite there turning into a lingering kiss, just the way I like it.

God, he’s so good at this. At knowing what I want.

“Owen,” I breathe.

“Mmm,” he replies, mouth never leaving my skin.

“You called me Lia.”

That gets his attention. He lifts his head to meet my brown eyes with his blue ones.

“I did,” he says.

“Why now? You’ve been so stubborn about calling me Amelia this whole time, even after we went on that first date. If it was just a move it was a pretty slick one, but we were already fucking. You really didn’t have to—”

“It wasn’t a move.” He shifts off me, coming to rest by my side, propped on one forearm to watch for every small reaction in my face. I roll onto my side to mirror him. “I just… Did you want me to call you Lia?”

My brows press together, a line of confusion carved between them. “Of course I did. Nobody calls me Amelia. Have you ever heard anyone else call me Amelia?”

“Sophie introduced you as Amelia when we met. I thought ‘Lia’ was just for your friends.”

“And you didn’t think that included you by now?”

“No.”

My head shakes in slow disbelief. “What?”

“I mean, I don’t know. You certainly didn’t think of me as a friend in the beginning, and even when we started spending more time together and going on dates, I couldn’t tell…” He looks like he’s trying to find phrasing that won’t piss me off.