Page 110 of All for Love

MERCEDES

Lying in bed later that night, my head was all over the place. Kody, Kaden, Brooke, and I had stayed up to have a few drinks together and talk while Mr. Wagner had gone after my mom.

We hadn’t seen either of them again and my nerves were frayed. I kept trying to close my eyes, but as soon as I did, I saw her pale face right before she’d fled to their bedroom.

The house was deathly quiet and the lights in the guest room were off, yet my mind refused to settle. Groaning out loud, I covered my face with my palms and pressed the heels of my hands against my burning eyes.

I was so damn tired, but I was also so wired that lying still seemed almost impossible. Focus on your breathing, Mercedes. Just—

A soft squeak sounded from the door and I flipped over on my side, blinking against the sudden ray of light that came in when the door opened just a crack. The silhouette that appeared in it didn’t belong to my mother, but as his golden hair glowed in that ray of light, I still felt a sense of relief rushing through me.

“Hey,” he whispered as he shut the door behind him. “You’re awake.”

“So are you.” I sat up, watching his dark form approach the bed. I flipped back the covers. “How are you holding up?”

He grabbed a fistful of long-sleeved T-shirt and pulled it smoothly over his head. I couldn’t see much detail since the drapes were closed and it was so damn dark in here, but even just his silhouette was unbearably sexy. Too bad I can’t enjoy the view of those cut lines.

“That’s what I came in here to ask you.” The mattress dipped when he sat down and scooted closer to me, both of his strong arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

The effect of his proximity was instant. My nerves eased, my heart stopped flip-flopping, and the rocks in my stomach evaporated. I sighed, burrowing into him. He moved the heavy covers over us and lay down next to me.

Breathing in his scent, I found my comfort in the fresh playful hint of citrus and warm spice. It was as familiar to me now as my own perfume, and I closed my eyes, more grateful than I’d ever been to be wrapped up in his arms.

He pressed a gentle kiss to my temple and shifted so that my head was resting on his bicep and our faces were only inches apart. “So? How are you holding up? I really thought we’d see your mother again before we came to sleep, but I guess she’s still more upset than I realized.”

I brought my head forward until the tip of my nose was touching his. “I’m sad and I’m worried about her, but I don’t regret our decision. They needed to know and we needed to choose us. No one can go through life making all their choices based on other people, I suppose. It just sucks that we hurt her.”

“Are you sure you don’t regret it?” he murmured, bringing a hand up to brush my hair back and stroke his thumb across my cheek. “I’m not sure if it’s possible to walk it back, but we could try.”

“We’re not walking it back.” I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. “We did what we had to do. Maybe it’s selfish, but everything you said down there was the truth. We have nothing to be ashamed of and we deserve to be happy just as much as the next people.”

“True.” His full lips came up to graze my forehead. “I just don’t ever want you looking back on tonight and feeling like I forced you into doing something you regret.”

“You didn’t force me to do anything. You asked me to come down there with you and take one last shot. I said yes, and I won’t regret it. Not if the alternative would’ve been lying here alone and miserable, crying my eyes out and missing you with every fiber of my being.”

“I’ve missed you too,” he murmured, draping an arm around my waist and pulling me close until our fronts were fused together. “We’re going to get through this, Mercedes. I promise.”

“I know. As long as we stick together.”

“I have no intention of being anywhere else.” Those lips came down and touched mine. “I’m right here, even if it meant I had to sneak into your bedroom like a naughty teenager.”

I chuckled. “What else would you have done if you were a naughty teenager?”

He groaned, but I felt his lips curving into a smirk against my own. “I didn’t come here for that. I came here to check on you. That’s what guys in relationships do, right?”

“Yeah, it is, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do anything else?”

“Really? I kind of thought that once you were in a relationship, the sex just goes…” He mimicked the sound of a plane going down and crashing.

I laughed. “You did not think that.”

“Well, I mean, I hoped it wouldn’t happen so soon, but yeah. I kind of do think that.”

I smacked the back of his head playfully. “No, you don’t, but if you do, then I’m even more surprised that you fought for a relationship at all.”

“At least you can never say that I only want you for the sex.” He dragged his fingers down my spine and pressed a hand to my lower back, rolling his hips against mine. “Are you sure you’re up to this? You were really upset earlier.”

“I’m sure. I meant what I said down there, Kody. I love you and we’re together now. I appreciate you checking in, but I’m okay. It’s going to be a rocky road for us. It already has been, but right now, it’s just you and me.”