Childstar 2

Maybe it was because I wanted her to stay.

Either way, the words poured out of me, and once they were out, I couldn’t take them back. But funny enough, I didn’t want to. For the first time in ten years, I felt like I could breathe again, like life wasn’t an endless black hole. But seeing her break down was so heart-wrenching I almost wished I hadn’t said anything…almost.

“Noah,” she whispered in her sleep, pressing herself even closer to me as we lay on my bed. She had fallen asleep sometime after 1:00 a.m., but every once in awhile, she would wake up just slightly to call out my name, like she was checking to see if I was still here.

That was my fault. I had run from her so often that even in her sleep, she didn’t completely trust me to stay.

“Shh…I’m here,” I replied, running my hand through her hair. “I’ll always be right here.”

There was now no reason not be—all because she never gave up on me.

Loyalty. It was both her strong point and her worst fault. When Amelia accepted you, it was hard to for her to let you get away. She’d go to the ends of the earth for the people she cared about. You would think that was good thing, but it was because of that same loyalty that she often got hurt. It’s also why I had to pretend to cheat on her when I was told to break up with her when we were teenagers. She wouldn’t have accepted it any other way.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

“Make it stop,” she groaned, rolling over.

Smirking, I reached for the phone beside me, sitting up slowly.

“What time is it?”

“Five a.m.,” I replied. “Stay in bed. I’ll go—”

“No, it’s fine. If I stay in bed any longer, I won’t be able to get up.” She ran her hands through her hair as she sat up. “Besides, I’d rather be there early to apologize to the director. Yesterday must have been atrocious.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell Oliver to bring over some clothes for you. Go shower,” I replied, and she glanced back at me over her shoulder.

I couldn’t get over how beautiful she looked, even with puffy eyes and a snarled nest of hair on her head. She was still the most stunning woman I had even seen. Turning back completely, I never took my eyes off her as she crawled over the cream silk sheet to me. Cupping my cheek, she kissed me once, softly on the lips, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Don’t tempt me this morning, Amelia, I can’t—”

Her lips covered mine instantly, her tongue slipping into my mouth, rolling over mine, allowing me to explore every corner of her mouth. Reaching up, I grabbed both of her wrists, pushing her away from me and onto her back, pinning her under me. The white shirt she had borrowed from me opened in the middle, allowing me to see her breasts perfectly.

“Well, what are you going to do now?” She bit her lip, and I leaned down until our lips were centimeters apart and grinned.

“Nothing now. But later, on set, I will make you ache for me again. So be patient, sweetheart, and go get ready.”

As I released her wrist, she lay still for a second before sitting up. I could see the lust clear as day in her eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to take her now. But we had too much to do. Without another word, almost dazed, she headed to the bathroom.

“Fuck,” I hissed, glancing down at the hard-on I was sporting through my boxers, which only became worse when I heard the shower start. She was there, only a few feet from me, naked…

Get yourself together!

Rising from the bed, I pulled on a pair of jeans, heading into the living room of our suite—our? I hadn’t even been with her for twenty-four hours yet, and I was saying shit like our now. Dear God, I was hopeless.

“Noah?” The door opened, and in came not only Austin—who was dressed in a bow tie, sweater vest, and white pants—but also Amelia’s manager, Oliver. He was broad-shouldered, with a scruffy black-and-gray beard and an earring in his left ear. His brown eyes glared into me as if I had stolen something from him.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“If you mean Amelia, she’s taking a shower. She’ll need her things brought over…all of them.”

“I’m bringing her clothes for the day. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“And you’re telling me this as her what exactly? I understand you’ve never liked me, nor have I given you much to like. However, we are together, and that isn’t changing for anyone. I hope we can put our differences aside.”