Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
She did.
He slid a hand in between them, his thumb moving in deeper.
She moaned against his mouth.
He urged her to ride harder.
She did.
Tom didn’t want to lose her, their intimacy, their closeness, and thus he caught her head just before it would fly back with her orgasm.
He then shoved his face in her neck and couldn’t stop himself from sinking his teeth into the flesh there when she gave him his own.
They didn’t move an inch through their recovery, Mika in his lap, both of them breathing in each other’s skin.
Eventually, she slid off, and they rolled out of bed to go to her bathroom.
This was another room in her house Tom loved. The walls were coated with a collage of colorful pictures, the cabinets were lavender, and the counters and fixtures were ostentatiously opulent.
It was vibrant. It was interesting. And it was entirely unique.
Again, it was Mika.
They cleaned up.
Tom went to the door to let Moon in as Mika went back to bed.
He and Moon joined her there.
Front to front, Tom pulled her in his arms and tangled their legs under the covers while Moon walked over their bodies to find his spot.
“I can’t decide which room of your house I like the best,” he told her.
She let out a surprised laugh and asked, “Seriously?”
“You’re everywhere, Mika,” he replied. “You’re in every inch.”
He felt her still at his words.
Then he felt her melt into him.
He drew her even closer.
“Cadence had a good time tonight,” she murmured.
“The more people around she has to love, the brighter she seems to shine,” he noted.
“Like Rollo.”
Tom took pains not to react to that.
She didn’t bring up Rollo often, but whenever she did, melancholy limned her words.
This had the effect of making him want to comfort her and giving him absurd feelings of jealousy.
“I’m not an introvert, I’m not an extrovert either,” she went on. “I like to be around people, but it’s mostly to observe. I don’t like giving too much of myself. I think, in the beginning, people were so harsh about what I did and who they thought I was, I built a shell around me. The thing is, I found I was comfortable in it. I liked it. So I kept it. My circle, my found family, is very tight.”
“I’ve been noticing that,” he replied. “Mine is too.”
“I’ve been noticing that,” she repeated.
They grinned at each other through the shadows.
And then Mika dropped her head forward, her forehead hitting his chin, and she whispered, “She’s musical, like him. She’s an incredibly good drummer. She lights up a room like he did. Everyone wants to know her, like him. She just has that energy. She’s just…electric.”
“Chloe is just like her grandmother, and if she wasn’t, I don’t know to this day if Genny would be able to cope with her mother’s death. Matt is like Genny in many ways. He’s bright. He’s talented. But he gets stuck in his head. I liked to think Sasha is like me. She used to be athletic, competitive, driven. Part of my concern about her is that she’s so different than she used to be. Though, I’ll admit that there is definitely a nuance of me missing my buddy. We shared a lot of the same interests. They’re all my legacy, but there was a part of her that made me feel like I was going to live on in her. That was special to me. It’s selfish, but it’s true.”
She tipped her head back.
And he continued, “What I’m saying is, Cadence is his legacy. Not just that he’s part of her, he helped make her. I’m saying that he lives on in her.”
“It’s gutting,” she said.
Tom tightened his arms as he felt that with her and for her.
“It’s also wonderful,” she continued. “But I worry that it’ll be…I mean, you and me, we seem to be working.”
He wanted to laugh.
Her tone was serious, so he did not laugh.
Though he felt it necessary to respond with an understatement, “Yes, honey, we’re working.”
“Okay, then what I’m saying without coming right out and saying it is that I don’t want that to be too much for you.”
He was confused. “That Cadence has so much of her dad in her?”
“Is that…do you think that’s going to be an issue?”
“Fuck no,” he replied firmly.
“You seem…you sometimes get…”
She was stammering, and that was not her style.
He pulled her on top of him and sifted his fingers into one side of her hair to hold it back.
“We’re working,” he said.
He saw and felt her nod.
“Can I tell you there’s not a twinge of jealousy?” he asked. “No. You loved him, and my feelings are growing for you. It’s irrational, but I can’t deny that it’s there. I’m hoping it’s a reflex action and not toxic masculinity pumping through my veins.”
Her body softened on his and she said, “It’s not. I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but after it all happened, and once I had a second to think about it, Imogen walking in on us and then throwing a drama, I mean, part of me gets it. Part of me thinks she’s married to another guy, he’s supposedly her long lost love reunited, it’s a huge deal and everyone’s in fits of happiness for them, including her, and so…what the fuck?”