Out of the Ashes (The Game 5)

“I miss your notes too,” he murmured. “Even your hipster lotions and oils all over the bathroom sink.”

I grinned and leaned back a little. “Never thought I’d say this, but I don’t think I’m growing out my beard again. I kinda like this.” I rubbed my jaw.

He hummed and touched the other side of my jaw. “Me too.”

When his hand fell again, we just watched each other for a while. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I was. The size of the mountain we were facing now. How many hurdles we had to get over. But…if we loved each other the way we clearly did, surely we had a chance.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” he said quietly.

I exhaled and gathered his hands in mine, and I lifted them to kiss his knuckles. “Same here.”

He leaned forward and hugged me, and I squeezed him back as hard as I could.

Now that my nose wasn’t stuffy anymore, I could smell his cologne and his natural scent, and I just wanted to roll around in it. I wanted to sleep in it. Fuck, I was so tired.

“I wanna sleep in your arms, Lee.”

“Oh, we can make that happen right now.” As if on cue, he yawned. “I can’t remember the last time I got a full night’s rest.”

Me either.

“One thing, though,” he said. “We’re going to my room. I’m not sleepin’ in this closet.”

A startled chuckle escaped me, and I glanced around the room. Sure, it was modest, with just enough space for a queen bed, nightstands, and a dresser—the window was on the small side too—but what else did I need to crash for the night?

Then it hit me. It wasn’t so much the space as it was the lack of a balcony.

My man was a smoker.

“Are you in our usual room?” I asked.

The private bathroom had its draw too.

“Fuck no, too many memories. I booked the other one.”

That made sense. Two rooms had balconies.

“Well, let’s go so you can have your cigarette.”

CHAPTER SIX

Tate Ridley

The peace that hit me when we slipped under the covers in his room couldn’t be described with words.

Rain spattered against the balcony door and the window, but it had to be local because the moonlight was clear and cast a pale glow over the entire room.

I could look at Lee forever. He’d pushed himself up on one elbow and was gazing down at me with an open expression that let me see everything. The pain we’d gone through, the emotional exhaustion that’d followed, his love for me, his determination. His mind was racing.

Mine would probably race tomorrow too, but right now, everything felt wonderful.

“I missed being close to you.” I reached up and pushed his hair behind his ear.

He smirked faintly and nipped at my hand.

I grinned.

Then his gaze softened, and he slipped a hand onto my stomach. “I miss living with you.”

God, me too.

I swallowed at the onslaught of longing. “I wanna come home.”

“Thank fuck.” The words gusted out of him, and he dipped down and rested his forehead to mine. “I understand we have one hell of an uphill struggle, but I want us in the same place. I don’t wanna start over completely.”

I got what he was saying, and I was with him. We were going to solve our problems as the men we were, and we had been together for six years. We weren’t gonna go back and have a first date.

“Good thing I didn’t unpack my moving boxes, then.” I smiled a little.

“Very.” He inched closer until our noses touched. So close. He had to kiss me. I’d waited forever. He closed his eyes and exhaled. “The place is dark without your heart on the walls.”

I shivered. This side of Lee was something else. He didn’t speak unnecessarily. He chose his words with care. And sometimes, he unleashed an inner poet that made him self-conscious if I pointed it out. So I didn’t. Instead, I closed the last distance between us and brushed my lips to his.

He cupped my jaw and kissed me back right away, and I could only recycle his words. His heart made all the difference too. Without it, I didn’t live. I existed.

I squirmed closer to him, needing to get back under his skin, and tasted him for the first time in almost two months. It was the sweetest reunion, the slowest burn, and the warmest homecoming.

“We should get some sleep, baby,” he whispered.

I nodded and deepened the kiss, and then he rolled on top of me where he belonged. Just a few more seconds. I swept the tip of my tongue into his mouth, and he pushed back sensually, swirling his around mine until we met in the middle.

My hands somehow slipped under the waistband of his boxer briefs, and the hunger grew between us. The urgency charged the air, the kiss became heated, and we weren’t going to sleep just yet.