"I’m not going to touch you tonight, Josie."
She huffed and lifted on her hands as if she was going to leave, but I quickly wrapped my arm around her and held her in place. "Stay, please."
Her body was so stiff underneath my touch. "Just let me hold you tonight."
She shook her head slightly before opening her mouth to say something before closing it again.
"Please, Josie." My hands shook slightly, and I was preparing for her to pull away from me again.
But she didn’t. She stared up at me for a moment before she laid her head back down on my chest.
I ran my hand over her hair again and again, and even though I thought she might stop me, she didn’t. She let her tight body go loose against mine, and her arm slid back around my body.
And I held her while she let me. I didn’t let go of her for one second as my eyes drifted back to sleep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JOSIE
Iwas so freaking hot.
That was all I could think about as my eyes blinked open and memories from the night before came flooding back.
I looked down at the half-naked body that I was completely wrapped around and groaned. When I had decided to come to Beck’s room last night, not only had Frankie and Allie given me shit over it, but I also did it with only one thought in mind.
A thought that Beck had shot down quicker than I could ask.
I had been tipsy and sloppy, and he had turned me down.
One of his arms was wrapped around me, his hand resting on my hip, and I was thrown across him like I belonged there. I leaned back, slowly trying to peel myself from his body without waking him up, and I peeked over at his alarm clock.
It was just after ten in the morning.
It was after ten in the morning, and Beck was still in bed with me.
His hand that still rested on my hip tightened, and he quickly pulled me back down against him. "Good morning." His voice was muffled as he nuzzled his face against my neck.
"Beck." I put my hands in between us and attempted to push him away far enough to put a little space between us.
"Hmm?" He wasn’t having it. He pushed his body against mine, and I could feel the length of his hardening cock against my legs.
"It’s after ten. You missed your workout and school."
"I’m aware." He leaned up slightly so he could see my face. "I called and
let my coach know this morning that I wasn’t feeling well. Luckily, you were barely snoring in the background."
"I do not snore."
"Whatever you say." He pushed some hair out of my face before he let his weight fall back to the bed and against me.
I could barely breathe or think with him being so damn close, and the last time I was in this room, he had damn near broken my heart. I hadn’t let myself think about that last night when I had snuck across the hall.
But it was all crashing into me now. What we had done in this bed. My dad’s face when he barged in that door.
If he knew where I was now, he would be furious. He would… well, I wasn’t sure what he would do, but I wasn’t stupid enough to try to challenge my father on his threats.
I knew that he would do exactly what he said if he wanted to. There was nothing that I could do to stop him. Except to give him what he wanted.
To stay away from the boy whose body was currently so damn warm against mine.
"I should go check on Allie and Frankie." I needed to get out of this room. I needed to get away from him before I did something stupid.
"I checked on them about an hour ago. They were both sleeping like the dead."
"You checked on them?" I looked over at him, his face was so close to mine that I wouldn’t even have to lift my head to close the space between us.
"Of course, I did." He tucked one of his arms beneath his head and looked at me. "I took them both some water. I knew Frankie had obviously been drinking last night, but I wasn’t sure about Allie. I’m hoping not if she drove you all home."
"She didn’t." I shook my head. "She was the mama bear last night."
"Good." He searched my eyes for a moment before he nodded to his nightstand behind me. "I brought you some water too and some Tylenol."
"Thank you." I rolled over onto my back before turning away from him. I quickly grabbed the two pills from the stand and the water and swallowed them. I downed the entire glass of water, my mouth feeling impossibly dry, before I fell back onto my back.
Beck was still watching me, his gaze undecipherable, and I didn’t want to spend too much time trying to figure out what he was thinking. I would drive myself mad trying to figure out what was going on inside of his head.
"I’m sorry I made you miss school and baseball this morning."
"You didn’t make me miss anything, but there was no way in hell I was climbing out of this bed while you were still in it."
There was no cockiness in his tone. None of that self-assured Beck who knew that I was putty in his hands.
And I wasn’t sure if that made me happy or not.
Because as much as he pissed me off, he also really turned me on.
But right now he was just being honest, and that made me feel so much more uncomfortable than it should have.
"I shouldn’t be in it." I took a deep breath and looked up at his ceiling.
"Well, I’m glad that you are." He reached out his hand and let his fingers slid over mine. "I was going crazy thinking about you in the next room."
I laid there and let his fingers run over mine. I should have stopped him. I should have gotten up out of his bed the moment my eyes had opened, but I did neither of those things. I just let the touch of his fingers jack up the speed of my heart, and I tried to remind myself of why I didn’t want him.
I needed to remind myself of why he was a bad idea.
"I’m going to go shower." His hand slid from mine, and I watched the muscles of his torso bunch and shift as he pushed onto his feet. "Don’t leave."
He ran his fingers through his hair, and for the first time since I met Beck, he looked so vulnerable.
"Maybe we can all spend the day on the beach today." He nodded out his window. "Frankie will love that."
My answer came much too quickly. "Okay."
"Yeah?"
Say no. "Yeah." I nodded and climbed from his bed that smelled just like him. "I’m going to go wake up the girls." I walked past him, but he stopped me with his arm around my middle before I could leave his room.
His breath rushed out against my neck, and I wondered if he could feel the butterflies that were taking flight in my stomach. I felt like every part of me was being pulled so tightly in a hundred different directions. One wrong move and something inside me would snap.
"I’m so glad you came in here last night. Even if you’re not."
"I didn’t say that I wasn’t," I whispered back to him even though I should have told him that I wasn’t. It didn’t matter that my heart was racing or I felt like I could barely breathe when he was touching me. I had no business being back in this room.
"No." He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of my neck. "But I know you.
You regretted the decision the moment your eyes opened."
He was right. I had or at least I had tried to convince myself that I did.
When I didn’t answer him, he let a harsh breath out against my skin before pushing himself away. "Go get the girls, and I’ll meet you all downstairs."
He walked away from me before I could answer and tried to pretend like every part of me wasn’t begging me to go after him.
"I cannot believe you went in there last night." Allie shoved half a granola bar in her face.
"Well, I’m known not to make the best decisions around Beck." I quickly tied my hair up in a ponytail.
They were awake when I had walked back into Frankie’s room, and both of them were looking at me with expectant eyes as soon as I walked in. I hadn’t spilled any of the details, though. I avoided both of their questions and told them to get ready for the beach.