Until Talon (Until Him 4)

Fighting back tears, I shake my head. “How can I be mad at you but still want to go down on you to show my gratitude?”

“I’m not sure I’m down with having your mouth around my junk when you’re mad, baby.” He grins as his fingers drift along my cheek.

Laughing, I close my eyes and tuck my forehead under his chin while wrapping my arm around his waist. “Then I guess I’ll just settle on saying thank you for right now. I will add that I don’t know how I got so lucky.” I kiss the center of his chest with the words I love you on the tip of my tongue. I swallow them back down, wishing I wasn’t so afraid of what his response might be, because it’s one thing to admit to myself and my mom how I feel about him, but it’s another for him to know, and to find out he doesn’t feel the same.

“I—” He starts to say something, but a knock on the bedroom door cuts him off.

“Hold on,” I call out then roll out of bed and go to the door. When I open it, Cece is standing on the other side. “Hey, is everything okay?”

“Do you care if I make something to eat?”

“I’ll cook breakfast,” Talon says, and I turn to watch him get out of bed wearing his boxers and nothing else, and then his eyes lock with mine. “While I get dressed, you wanna fill her in on what’s gonna happen today?”

“Yeah, honey,” I say, and his eyes soften right before he turns and walks toward the bathroom, and because he’s a sight to see, I don’t pull my eyes off his back and ass until the door closes.

“I hate you,” Cece mutters.

“What?” I turn to look at her, frowning.

“I hate you. Not only is he the nicest guy ever, but you get to sleep with him, and he looks like that in the morning.”

I smile and shrug. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d hate me too if I were you.”

“It doesn’t, thank you,” she grumbles then turns away. “I need coffee, so you can talk to me while I make it.”

I look at the bathroom door where Talon just disappeared and sigh as I step out of the room and close the door to follow my sister to the kitchen. While she pours herself a cup of coffee, I grab my mug off the counter and take it to the microwave to warm it up, since it’s gone cold.

“So today,” I tell Cece as I press the buttons on the microwave, “Talon is meeting his family at your house to start cleaning up, and next week, the crew that has been working on the house that he and his brother are building are going to move to your place to get everything repaired.” I turn to face her, finding her standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding her mug in her hands, and staring at me unblinking. “Did you hear me?” I ask when she doesn’t move.

“I heard you.” She walks two steps to the side and leans against the counter. “I just… I just don’t know what to say.” Tears fill her eyes. “He can’t do that, Mia.”

“Well, good luck telling him that,” I say, and she laughs as the backdoor opens and quickly wipes at her cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” Mom frowns, looking at her, then turns her head my way, narrowing her eyes like it’s my fault.

“Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t make her cry. Talon did.”

“What did I do?” Talon asks, coming into the kitchen and stopping at my side.

“You made Cece cry.” I tip my head back to look at him, and his brows draw together before he looks at Cece.

“You can’t have your family clean up my house or your crew fix it,” she states firmly. “Mia mentioned you’ve been trying to finish your build, so I know you need to focus on that. And besides, I can’t afford to do anything right now, not until I get the insurance money—”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” he tells her, gently but firmly cutting her off before she can say more. “Money isn’t an issue. My family wants to help, and like I told Mia, the house I’m building will be built and will sell, but right now, something more important has come up, so we’re going to transfer our energy to it.”

“Why…?” She shakes her head. “Why would you do that? We don’t even really know each other.”

“Because I love your sister,” he tells her easily while grabbing my hand like he’s afraid I might run off. “Family takes care of family.”

Tears fill her eyes once more and spill down her cheeks faster than she can wipe them away. “Now you really did make me cry.” She sniffles as she walks toward him, and I release his hand and stand back as they embrace, still too stunned to move or say anything after he just dropped that bomb. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back when I get the insurance money.”