“Why did you stay?” my voice vibrates against her skin before I look into her worldly eyes. Her eyebrows dip in confusion and her eyes probe me. “Last night, when I told you about Haley and Emilie, you stayed. Why?”

“Because nothing can make me run from you. We all have a past, some darker than others, but being broken doesn’t mean you can’t be loved. It just means there are more pieces of you for me to love.”

And just like that everything else falls way and becomes meaningless outside of this moment. My life fell apart so that this girl can put it back together.

“I love you,” I whisper against her lips.

Her mouth curves up into a tender smile. “I love you more,” she breathes.

We shower together, caressing each other and touching every piece of flesh with wet fingers. When our bodies are clean and thoroughly stroked, we get dressed and quietly prepare dinner together. Some part of our bodies are always touching and I sense that Huntley needs the contact as much I do. Feeling exhausted, Huntley wraps herself around me and I become addicted to the feel if it.

I have no idea what she sees in me, or if I can be the kind of man she needs me to be.

All I know is that I want to try.

Chapter 23

~ Huntley ~

Walking into the kitchen, I can’t help but feel a surge of excitement coursing in the air. We’re getting ready to watch a football game at the stadium and the thought of seeing Grayson do what he does best sends a thrill through my body. Demi stopped dragging to me to Friday night football games when she realized I wasn’t lying about knowing nothing about football. Shocking right? My uncle is a football coach and my boyfriend is a quarterback, but neither of them have been able to get me to understand the game they both love. But after a rough week, and everything that happened with Grayson, I wanted to go tonight to support him.

Demi, Brody and Grayson are standing around the island in the kitchen talking about the teams ‘game plan’ for tonight when Grayson looks up and sees me. His face lights up with the brightest smile. He saunters over to me with that sexy stride and the look in his eyes makes my insides go loopy.

“That shirt looks good on you,” he grins. “I’m tempted to make you change so that no one except me will see you in it.”

I laugh, looking down at the giant football shirt he asked me to wear. It has the number ‘17’ on it with ‘Carter’ in big white lettering on the back. But my favorite thing about it is that it’s one of his game shirts, not one of the shirts bought from the campus store. “You asked me to wear it, and the only way I’m getting out of it is if you take it off yourself.”

He leans in close, our noses almost touching. I breathe in his warm, familiar scent. “That can be arranged,” he growls.

“Promise?” I tease. He nods and I close the distance between our mouths. I kiss him softly but he deepens it, tasting and licking the soft flesh in my mouth. The deep sound that escapes from his throat causes my skin to break out in goosebumps. I can’t get close enough to him. Skin-on-skin isn’t enough anymore. I want more. I need more.

A throat clears behind us, reminding me that we’re not alone.

“Can you two at least warn us when you’re about to suck face? I would like to save myself from being mentally scarred for life,” Demi scolds.

I pull away from Grayson giggling and my cheeks flush. Lately, I can’t stop myself from getting carried away with him, like my desire for him is stronger. I didn’t think that was possible.

“We’ll warn you when you and Brody start using volume control. There’s only so many times we can listen to ‘oh fuck yes’ and ‘harder, Brody, harder’,” Grayson retorts, mimicking Demi’s voice. She gasps and her cheeks turn crimson. Brody laughs next to her and she smacks his shoulder, causing us to chuckle. “I’m not that loud,” Demi whines, the color in her cheeks turning a brighter shade of red. Brody wraps his arms around her waist and looks at her adoringly. “It’s ok babe,” he says, “I must be doing something right.”

“Ok, ok, enough bedroom talk,” I chime in. “You boys better get going before Coach sends a search party.”

“You’ll be alright going to the stadium on your own? My offer still stands for you to come with me.” Grayson scrunches his eyebrows together and puckers his lips, concern written all over his face. He’s been overprotective ever since I saw Jakes car and I love how much he cares about my safety. I’ve been walking around campus looking over my shoulder every five minutes and the feeling that I was being watched was overwhelming. But I don’t want to be scared anymore. If Jake is here then I will deal with it and until he shows face I refuse to go into hiding. I’m not that girl anymore.

“Demi will be with me the entire time,” I assure him. “Right Dem?” I look to Demi for confirmation and she nods. “I won’t leave her side Gray, don’t worry.”

I smile up at him and see his features relax slightly. He’s still unsure but doesn’t fight me. “Ok,” he acquiesces. “So I’ll just see you at my place afterwards, for the party?”

“Yes, I will meet you there.” I press my lips against his one last time. “Good luck baby,” I breathe. He smiles and grabs his bags. “Huntley?”

“Hmmm?”

“Look for me on the field at half time ok?”

“Ok.” My stomach does flip-flops and I feel giddy.

Brody follows behind him and Demi sighs. Oh man we have it bad.

We still have some time before we have to leave so I make some coffee and sit on one of the bar chairs in the kitchen.

“Things seem to be going well with you two,” Demi states. She takes a seat next to me and watches me from over her cup.

“Yeah, I guess things are good. It’s been a rough week but we got through it.”

“Did he tell you about Haley?” she asks. I hear the caution in her voice and I wonder how much she knows. She grew up with Grayson so I assume she knew his sister too. And what happened to her.

I nod. “Yes, he told me about her. He also told me about Emilie.”

Demi’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “That’s big,” is all she says.

“Why?”

Her inquiring gaze drops to the kitchen counter and she appears to be thinking something over. When she speaks, her voice is serious and her face contemplative. “It’s the first time he’s really spoken about Emilie. When she died, it was like part of him died with her. He became numb,” she pauses, “And then Haley left. He was a mess for months, gettin’ involved with some hussy’s to block out his hurt. We didn’t know if he’d ever be happy again.”

I don’t tell her about how he broke down and told me everything. Not because I don’t trust her, but because I think it’s too private to share. It’s not my place and I don’t want to break Graysons’ trust in me.

“Until he met you,” she continues. “He’s happier. You put that little spark of life back in his eyes and when he looks at you, it’s impossible to miss the love that shines through.”

The weight of her words sink in and the flame inside my soul that burns for Grayson flickers, burning a little bit brighter. It warms me from the inside to know that I do for him what he does for me. Brings me to life.