Page 116 of What We Don't Say: Part Two

Every time she touches him, his shoulders loosen.

Callie reaches down again, and Dash turns his face enough to kiss the inside of her wrist. The movement is soft, almost absentminded, but her smile changes. It warms and deepens, spreading over her face before she returns her attention to me.

I lift myself onto one elbow and touch the corner of her mouth. “There.”

“There what?”

“You smiled differently.”

Her hazel-green eyes narrow slightly, though the expression has no sharpness in it. She catches my hand and kisses the center of my palm before folding my fingers against her cheek.

“You spend too much time studying everyone,” she says.

I let my thumb brush one of her freckles. “I like knowing when you are happy.”

Her face softens beneath my hand. She leans down and kisses me slowly, her mouth warm from the tea Dash brought upstairs,and the book in her other hand slides unnoticed onto the blankets.

The kiss stays gentle at first. Callie’s fingers move into my hair, scratching lightly over my scalp while I curl closer and press my knee farther between hers. The sweetness under my skin has been building since yesterday, but here, with her mouth against mine and Dash’s quiet presence beside the bed, it feels almost pleasant.

Callie tastes like honey and black tea. Her scent has settled deep into the nest, warm linen, rain, and the soft floral note that belongs only to her. I breathe her in until my chest loosens and the last pieces of Garrett’s voice stop moving through my thoughts.

Dash closes his book. I hear the quiet movement of the cover and glance toward him, but he does not interrupt us. He lifts his coffee, watches Callie’s hand tighten in my hair, and lets the corner of his mouth soften.

Callie catches me looking and presses another kiss to my lips. “Stay with me.”

I turn back immediately. Her thumb moves over my cheek, and when she kisses me again, I open for her without hesitation.

The warmth inside me shifts.

It rolls lower, heavier than it was a few minutes ago, and my body tightens around the sudden ache. Callie feels the change before I make a sound. Her mouth slows against mine, and her hand leaves my hair to rest carefully against the side of my neck.

“Too much?” she asks.

I shake my head and pull her closer. The movement drags my body against her thigh, and relief sparks hard enough to make my breath break.

Callie watches my face. Her eyes move over me with the same attention she gives everything she loves, and the thought of her stopping makes panic rise faster than the heat.

“Do you want me to stay or go?” she asks quietly.

The question hurts even though I understand why she asks it. I can hear the old room inside her voice, the place where everyone decided she should not be near me and convinced her I had agreed.

“Stay,” I say before the fear can close my throat. My fingers tighten in her dress, holding the fabric against her hip. “Please stay.”

Callie’s expression folds around the answer. She bends over me and kisses me with enough feeling that my chest aches for an entirely different reason.

“I’m staying, Star.”

The name settles over me like another blanket. I wrap both arms around her and pull until she is half over me, her soft body fitting against mine while her mouth moves from my lips to my jaw.

Dash shifts beside the bed, though he remains close. His hand comes up to rest against Callie’s back, steadying her where she leans over me, and the contact makes the nest feel fuller instead of crowded.

Callie kisses beneath my ear. Her mouth drifts over the side of my neck, avoiding the temporary bite while her fingers slide beneath the hem of my shirt. I shiver when her palm touches my stomach, and the ache inside me sharpens again.

My hands begin moving without enough thought behind them. I pull at the back of her dress, stroke over her hips, and reach beneath the soft fabric until my fingers find warm skin.

Callie makes a breathless sound against my throat. She lets me touch her for several seconds, her mouth still moving slowly over my skin, before she lifts her head and looks at me.

I try to pull her back down.