She smirks. “That’s not what I meant, lover boy. I meant that when your eyes are like this, you’re different.” Her brows furl. “A lot different than this morning.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “There are things about me you don’t understand. Things I can’t exactly tell you.”
“You’re sick.” She taps at my head. “Here.”
You have no fucking idea, honey.
“Yeah. A little, I guess. What can I do to make it better?” I stroke my fingers through her hair, making sure to be gentle and caring. “Let me kiss you.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.”
“You do right now. With me. In this moment. Can I kiss you?”
Her brows scrunch as she studies me with intensity. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“Look at me, honey. Today…that won’t happen again. You can trust me.”
“Trust you?” She barks out a disgusted laugh. “No, Ford, I can’t trust you. You’re hiding so much from me.”
I rest my forehead against hers for a moment, closing my eyes. “I know I’m a complicated man, Landry. I really hope one day you’ll fully understand…my layers. Until then, trust that I care a lot about you and would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I truly am sorry for what happened to you.” I reopen my eyes and pull back so she can see the sincerity in my stare. “Now, please, can I kiss you?”
She makes me wait an eternity, but eventually she nods. I tangle my fingers in her hair, tug until her mouth parts and is primed for a kiss, and then press my lips to hers. At first, she’s tense, but as my tongue teases along hers, she turns to putty in my arms.
I kiss her deeply, but I make sure to infuse my apology into it. Soft swipes. Gentle caresses. Sweetly murmured things to her whenever we pull apart enough to breathe. I could continue kissing her all afternoon. I wonder how much it would take to fix what Scout did to her.
“You hurt me,” she whispers, her fingertips finding the center of my chest and pushing. “I was scared.”
“Where did I hurt you?”
She scowls and turns her head from mine. “You know where.”
Taking a chance, I slide my hand between us, finding the warmth between her legs over her jeans. “Here?”
“Y-Yes.”
“I can make it better.” I tug at the button and then lower the zipper. “I’ll kiss it all better.”
“Ford,” she murmurs. “We…I…You…”
I leave her to her mindless stammering as I kneel. With as much tenderness as I can muster, I ease her jeans and panties down her thighs. Her pussy—waxed smooth—makes my mouth water for a taste. I run my thumb over her slit and then pull aside one lip, exposing her pink bud. With a grin, I lick the small nub, loving the way she whimpers in return.
Her fingers tangle in my hair and she gasps when I suck her clit into my mouth. I want to rip off her jeans completely so I can spread her thighs. I’m starved and want to feast on her sweet-tasting pussy. To get my face all up in her slickness, sucking off all the juices of her pleasure I can find. I ache to tongue her tight hole, licking away the soreness of the hurt Scout inflicted.
A growl rumbles from me, loud and needy. I’m about to start ripping away her clothes completely when she stops me with a smack to the head.
“Oh God. No. Quit. We can’t do this here.” Her voice raises an octave, panic laced in her tone. “My dad.”
Though I’d love nothing more than to keep going, I know she’s right. He’s a bastard who hits his own daughter for fucking nothing. I can’t image what he’d do if he found out we were doing this.
“I really, really want to apologize to your perfect pussy,” I rumble, running my nose along her slit. “But, you’re right. The things I want to do to you will take hours.” Glancing up, I wink at her. “One orgasm just isn’t enough. It’s gotta be all or nothing, honey.”
Her smile, though she tries to hide it, peeks out. Maybe I’ve been forgiven for my brother’s sins. I’ll make it up to her over and over again when we have the time and privacy, that’s for damn sure.
“I have to go check on my father,” she says with a slightly disappointed sigh. “I’ll see you Monday.”
She jerks her clothes back on and slips out of the bathroom, leaving me unsated and with a raging erection. I stand back up, wash off the scent of her pussy, and manage to cool the blood that was making my dick hard.
Maybe I fixed shit with her.
I find Della in the classroom trying to con Heathen to come out from beneath a table. Heathen hisses at her but she doesn’t hear. Walking over to Della, I playfully thump her on the head.