Forever Golden: Chapter 40

BLUE

Maybe I sold it too hard.

Maybe I said or did something that crossed the line.

All these thoughts and more fly through my head as I dial West for the third time tonight. It’s nearly midnight now and I haven’t heard a single word from him. It’s enough that I’m on edge, pacing in the darkness from one side of my room to the next.

That is, until the sound of an engine revving out front has me rushing toward the window. At the sight of Ricky’s car inching toward the curb, I can’t help but feel let down, having imagined that it’d be West pulling up. But why would I think a stupid thing like that? Especially after that show we just put on, going through the trouble of staging an ugly breakup.

Scar and Mike are asleep, so I’m not surprised he knows to come to my window instead of the door. A black hoodie casts a shadow over his face while he keeps his eyes trained on the snow, trekking through it. I unlock and lift the window, super confused about why he’d stop by without calling.

“What’re you doing here?” I ask, eyeing him as I hug my arms to shield myself from the cold that rushes in.

But then, when he peers up, my heart skips a beat. Because the eyes I’m staring into aren’t the steel-gray I expected. They’re a deep, otherworldly green that has me rushing to pop the screen out of the window frame. Once it’s off, West’s height and strength make it easy for him to hoist himself onto the sill, and then climb inside.

I’m barely able to get the window closed because I’m shaking with excitement. Then, I squeeze him with a hug that says it all—I need this.

“I know this was stupid, and I know I shouldn’t be here, but… I had to see you,” he pants, crashing his lips down on mine before I even have a chance to speak.

I’m so confused, but too happy to ask questions. He leads me to the bed, then I’m lowered to the mattress. West pulls off the hoodie that once hid his face, and the fabric of a dark tee strains around his biceps. I stare as the muscles flex while freeing himself of the shirt, then his jeans and boxers follow. I only bother removing my pajama bottoms and underwear, not caring about my shirt because I need him closer.

Now.

Maybe sensing my impatience, West quickly grabs a condom, then he’s on top of me the next second.

We’re quieter than usual, breathing against one another’s skin as I grip the back of his neck. His movements are careful so the bed doesn’t creak, but he’s pushing deep. So, so deep.

My other hand trails down the smoothness of his back, feeling how it flexes and eases beneath my palm. Heat and moisture from his mouth covers one side of my neck when he sucks there, drawing a sigh of relief from between my lips.

My knees fall open and he responds with a powerful thrust that makes it hard not to cry out, but I muffle the sound against his shoulder instead. His chilled skin has warmed with mine now, making it hard to tell where one’s begins and the other’s ends. Like we’re one.

“I needed you so bad. You’re all I fucking think about,” he rasps against my ear.

But more than I hear what he’s saying, I feel it—his need for me. Maybe because I feel it too, like I can’t breathe until he’s here, until we touch.

“I love you,” he whispers, making my head spin as I echo those words back to him.

He places a kiss beneath my chin and my fingers slip through his hair, drawing him closer. When I lose my breath, he knows I’m coming and seems to stop caring if we’ll make noise, violently churning his hips harder, faster, driving himself deeper. The friction of his aroused flesh against mine has a throaty groan leaving him a few seconds later. To keep from waking Mike or Scar with whatever sounds of pleasure threaten to leave his mouth, West kisses me hard. He hungrily sucks my lips, breathing deeper with his release. Even when his body’s gone still, the kiss doesn’t end, which is telling.

Sex with him is more than body. It’s heart. It’s soul.

“Okay, not that I’m complaining or anything, but… how the hell are you even here?”

The question draws a light laugh from West, and before answering, he kisses me again, still resting between my legs.

“Long story short, you’d be surprised what a guy’s willing to do to get to his girl,” he begins. “To start, I’m out $500, which is what your fucking friend charged me to borrow his car for the night.”

I laugh a bit louder than I mean to, but… what?

“Hold up, Ricky loaned you his car and you willingly paid him all that money just so you could come see me?”

West nods, holding my gaze. “In a nutshell, yeah.”

I swear the size of my smile just doubled. Not only is that incredibly sweet, but it’s also kind of sexy.

He kisses me again, then shrugs. “I would’ve paid more, but maybe don’t tell him that part.”

Pursing my lips together, I pretend to lock them and throw away the key. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Good.” He peers down and the love in his eyes is so obvious.

I don’t say it out loud, but money or no money, Ricky loaning his car to anyone is extremely out of character. But then, I’m reminded of our conversation on his couch. When asked if I was happy with West, I saw how much it mattered to him that I answered yes. Sure, it might’ve cost West several hundred dollars to convince Ricky to cave, but the Ricky I know is unmovable. This is a sign of West and Ricky—two of the most important men in my life—turning a corner, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

My body cools when West shifts his weight off me and moves to sit at the edge of the bed. I turn onto my side and stare at the impressive definition of his back, at the ink that slinks up and around his forearm and bicep—a true work of art.

The tattoos.

Him.

“So, I get to keep you all night? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“As long as I have the car back before sunrise,” he answers. “Moving in darkness is the only way people won’t spot that I’m not him.”

But all I hear him say is that I get to hold him and get the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. He sneaks to the bathroom for a sec, then locks us inside my room when he comes back. My bed’s small, but it gives us an excuse to stay close. Not that we needed one.

With my head settled on his chest, I’m already dozing. Tonight started out shitty, but this is definitely the best way to end it.

Note to self: Thank Ricky later. He’s pretty awesome.