Her forehead creased. “Okay…”
He paused, trying to vocalize his messed up rationale. “It was something I was doing for me. I mean, I signed up because Monique Pearson pretty much twisted my arm into it, but after the first day with Devon, I realized I wanted to keep seeing him. I felt like I was doing something important, you know? Something meaningful.”
Darcy nodded. “It is important.”
“I never cared about stuff like this before.” Shame trickled down his spine, steadily, like drops of water from a leaky tap. “I was a selfish bastard when I started fighting pro. Once I started winning, I only cared about myself and doing things that benefited me. And yeah, I’ve grown up a lot since then, but like you said, it’s not like I’m Mr. Community Outreach or anything.” He shrugged. “But I had fun working with your kids, and I love being there for Devon. His dad’s in jail, did you know that?”
“Yeah, I did.”
He suddenly felt uncomfortable again. “I know what it’s like not to have a dad—it sucks. I mean, my uncle did his best, but he wasn’t a very good father figure. He drank like a fish, and he was more interested in chasing tail than playing catch with me, or doing any of that other father-son stuff.” Reed swallowed, shifting his gaze downcast. “Boys need that, though. Devon needs it. So I figured…yeah…maybe I could be the one to give it to him.”
When he glanced over at Darcy, he was startled by the approval shining in her eyes.
“What?” he mumbled.
“Nothing,” she said softly.
Reed knew damn well that whatever was on her mind, it was the farthest thing from nothing, but she didn’t give him the chance to question it. Instead, she slid closer and kissed him, her slender arms looping around his shoulders to hold him tight.
His heart melted as she peppered his face with kisses. That sweet mouth skimmed his cheeks, his jaw, his earlobe. Reed’s c**k strained against his zipper, thickening and pulsing when Darcy climbed into his lap and slipped her hot, wet tongue inside his mouth.
As usual, they went from zero to sex. Clothes gone, bodies naked, his dick inside her before he even knew what was happening. Jeez, normally they at least managed to squeeze in some foreplay, but tonight Darcy only spared enough time to cover him with a condom before she sank onto his c**k and clutched it with the tight vise of her body.
Reed groaned, his head falling back against the cushion as she began to ride him. “Jesus, baby, give a man some warning before you decide to kill him.”
The emotion swimming in her gaze sucked the breath right out of his lungs. “I’m seducing you, Reedford. Shut up and enjoy it.”
Enjoy it he did. Impossible not to when the most beautiful woman in the world was grinding on him in a slow, sexy rhythm designed to blow his mind.
But there was something different tonight. Something sweet and tender and…loving. She was peering down at him as if she…loved him.
And Lord, the purity of her expression broke the dam inside him, the one he’d put up to stop himself from thinking too hard about his own feelings.
He wasn’t just falling for her anymore—he’d fallen.
He’d fallen so frickin’ hard, and now he lay flat on his back as the woman he loved—the woman he adored—sent him soaring to a plane of ecstasy where nothing but Darcy and happiness existed.
The orgasm rippled through his body and hummed in his blood, summoning a husky moan from his lips. Darcy’s eyes only burned brighter as she watched him come apart beneath her.
“You…are so sexy…when you come,” she squeezed out. Then those mesmerizing eyes took on a thick sheen of pleasure and she shuddered on top of him, her fingers digging into his abs as she cried out in release.
Afterward, she collapsed on his chest, her soft sigh and even softer hair tickling his pecs. Reed rubbed her back, his throat so tight he could barely draw a breath.
I love you.
The words hovered on the tip of his tongue, desperately trying to escape, but he couldn’t seem to voice them. Christ, this was the Apple Shulman fiasco all over again. The terror of exposing himself and getting rejected was so powerful it had seized his vocal cords.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Kept rubbing her back.
Man up already.
Reed stifled a groan and ordered the mocking voice in his head to shut the hell up.
He was totally going to do it. He was going to tell her. He just needed a few seconds to gather up his courage.
Finally, he opened his mouth again. Drew a deep breath and exhaled in an unsteady rush.
Then he murmured her name—and realized that she’d fallen asleep in his arms.
Chapter Fifteen
“You’re seriously doing this?” Reed sank into the armchair in front of Gage’s desk and eyed the other man warily.
His friend nodded. “Yep.”
“You’re moving in with Skyler.”
“Yep.”
“After three months of dating.”
“Yep.”
Reed shook his head in amazement. If the news had come from anyone else, he’d still be shocked, but coming from Gage? Multiply the shock by a million. Gage had avoided commitment for as long as Reed had known him, and now he was moving in with a woman he’d only recently started dating?
“Isn’t it a little sudden?” he asked carefully. “I mean, living together is a huge step, bro.”
“I know.” Gage looked a tad smug as he perched his hip on the edge of the desk and folded his arms over his broad chest. “But it’s happening.” He shrugged. “Hell, if it were up to me, we’d be walking down the aisle already, but Skyler laughed in my face when I suggested it. She thinks we should try living together before we jump into marriage.”