Page 20 of Dark Tangled Truths
I swallow and look up to meet his green eyes. He’s studying me closely. When he slides his hand around the nape of my neck, I gasp in a breath at the rush of tingles sweeping through me.
Every fucking time.
Maybe I could use a little of what he’s offering.
“You look stressed out, baby girl.” He pulls me in tighter to him and strokes the corner of my jaw with his thumb. He tips my chin up so he can search my eyes, like he can see inside me. “What’s wrong?”
I’ve put Abby out of my head for the most part to focus on rehearsal. But now, with Hawk looking at me, I can’t help but wonder if he looked at her this way too. Did he ever care about her? How her day went? Or was it just a physical thing?
“I...” Fuck. I close my eyes.
“What is it, Annie?”
I open my eyes, and his are concerned. I put my hand over his heart and feel the steady beat against my palm, letting that warmth fill my cold veins. “It’s stupid.”
“If it’s bothering you, it isn’t stupid.”
I look to the side. “I can’t stop thinking about you fucking Abby.”
He exhales and turns my chin so our eyes meet again. The green is soft. “You knew we weren’t virgins.”
My cheeks heat. “I didn’t care when I was just using you to explore sex.”
The words slip out, and my heart thumps hard against my breastbone. Now, I love them, and that makes me so much more vulnerable to them. If they leave me, it will cut me so fucking deep. If they cheated on me, I’d be crushed.
His chuckle is a little dark when he backs me up against the wall. His hand covers mine over his heart. He brings his forehead down to rest against mine. For a moment, he’s quiet. His breath and mine are the only sounds in the closet. His heartbeat steady against my palm.
“Do you feel that, baby girl?” His voice is confident and soft. “Do you feel my heartbeat?”
“Yes,” I whisper back, feeling him surround me. That hint of citrus and parchment fills my nose. His heart rate increases, and mine does the same.
“I’ve fucked other girls. The sex didn’t mean anything to me.Theydidn’t mean anything to me.” Hawk cradles my head in his hands and his lips brush against mine. “You are my everything. My heart only beats for you, baby girl. It belongs to you. No one else has had it before. No one else will ever make me feel the way you do.”
My heart warms.
“Hawk, I love you.” Each word brushes my lips against his. I want to sink into him, give in to that need to be claimed by him, to prove that he’s mine and I’m his.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.” He kisses me, gentle, claiming.
I keep my hand on his heart, feeling the way it races against my palm as we explore each other’s mouths like it’s the first time. Like we have forever to be in this moment. Time ceases to exist as we just kiss.
His phone alarm goes off and he pulls back, taking it out of his pocket.
“Time’s up, baby girl.” He smiles and brushes his thumb against my lips. “Did you get what you needed?”
I nod and step into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. My ear rests against his beating heart, and I breathe this moment in. Warmth spreads through me at the thought of his love, knowing I’m theirs and they’re mine.
That’s all that matters now.
Cam
Officially off house arrest, I stay at school after practice. Hawk went into rehearsal while I snuck into the back of the other theater room. Almost all of the cast is on stage. In the audience, Becca Anderson looks up from the magazine she’s flipping through.
She arches a perfectly trimmed and shaded eyebrow at me. “You done with your little freak? Need a real woman to satisfy your urges?”
I sit a few chairs down from her and put my feet up on the seat in front of me. I smirk. “Nah. Checking out my girl’s competition. For the play.”
Becca lets out an undignified snort. “Whatever. Just be quiet or Brandt will yell at me again.”
