Who Falls Hardest (Clearwater University)

“Look at me, Emma,” I command, and she blinks her tired eyes open, breathing hard as she meets my gaze.

I thrust hard and slow, burying myself to the hilt to punctuate each of my words.

“I. Love. You.”

On the last word, I come hard, filling her with my cum as I rock my hips against hers, grinding against her clit and dragging her into another orgasm with me.

We stay like that for a while, letting our breath return to normal. My cock is softening, cum sliding out from where her pussy still clenches around my dick. And still, I’m not ready to let go. I’ll never be ready.

“As much as I like you getting me dirty,” she finally says, pressing kisses to my neck and shoulder. “We should get clean. He Who Shall Not Be Named will be going to Sun Valley soon, and I want to be there. I want to see.”

I’m amused and satisfied by her new nickname for the detective, but the quiet vulnerability in her voice as she speaks those last words distracts me from our game. I pull back, looking into her eyes as I brush wet strands of hair off her face with one hand.

“We’ll be there with you, Ems. We’ll be right there with you.”

She turns into my touch, nuzzling against my hand like a cat. When her brown eyes tilt back up toward me, I see warmth and truth and love in them.

“I know you will.”

21

Emma

There’s no need for us to be present for Leslie’s arrest. Detective Walton got all the evidence he needed, as well as a full confession from Rory—who clearly has issues of his own if the thing that made him get back together with Leslie was the prospect of breaking the law with her.

But I want to be here.

I need the closure.

I need to see it with my own eyes so I’ll really believe it’s over. And honestly, I think the guys do too. They’ve forgiven me for sneaking off to see her on my own a week ago, but I want them to be here with me for this. For Leslie to see the four of us standing strong and tall, a completely united force.

That’s the image I want her to carry in her mind as she’s carted off to jail to await a trail.

A reminder that she didn’t break any of us.

She made us stronger.

“Ready?” Reese murmurs, his voice tense. “Here we go.”

We’re standing across the street from Sun Valley Rehab Center, and as he speaks, the doors open. Leslie blinks in the bright sunlight, her blue and green eyes squinting against the harsh rays as she looks around. Her hands are behind her back, and Detective Walton leads her with a firm grip on her elbow.

As she follows him grudgingly toward the waiting police car, her gaze lifts, landing immediately on me. I didn’t say a word, and none of us even moved—but she knew we were here anyway.

A dozen different emotions flash across her face as she takes in the sight of us, but there are two I don’t see.

There’s no guilt.

And there’s no triumph.

She’s not sorry, I think. I’m not sure if someone like Leslie can ever be sorry, can ever truly understand the wrongness of what they did. Trent, West, and Reese were horrible to me once upon a time, but all three of them worked to make amends for what they did. They regretted their actions. And that’s why I forgave them.

Leslie probably won’t ever reach that point.

But that’s okay.

I don’t need her apology, and I don’t need her amends. Because she didn’t win.

We did.