Page 31 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
“Trust me.”
I immediately shifted to the space between his feet, sitting cross-legged. Besides my brother, I trusted Silas more than anyone else, even Wes. Silas had always been honest with me, and whenever I needed someone to lean on, he was there.
His hands came to my shoulders and gently kneaded the knots away before moving into my hair. His fingertips delivered just the right amount of pressure to my scalp. They circled around, over and over, and with every passing second, the tension left my body.
“Holy hell. That’s amazing.” No one had ever given me a scalp massage before.
“Feel better?”
I hummed. How did he do that? Just an hour ago I thought my world was over, but now strength suffused my very bones. It was like I was drawing it from him.
We sat in silence as he finished with my hair and went back to my shoulders. His touch was relaxing but there was something else there too. My belly was full of butterflies and my skin had goose bumps. Desire and heat throbbed at my core.
Was I turned on?
Definitely.
How had I missed this? How had I blocked out this connection with Silas? Probably because I had been so worried about my relationship with Wes. Maybe because I was scared at what it would mean.
I had been mentally replaying Wes’s comments from earlier. Most of them were garbage except for the one about the way that Silas looked at me. That one was hard to dismiss.
“Silas, who’s your mystery girl?” I whispered. We hadn’t talked about her since that night by the river and he’d never told me her name.
His hands stilled. “You really don’t know?”
My heart started racing. His question was like a light switch. Everything that I had shoved into the dark corners of my mind was now glowing brightly.
Of course I knew.
It had been me for a long time.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Whatever you want.”
I pushed off the floor and stood above him. He sat wide open and vulnerable. The feelings he’d always masked, or I had ignored, were fully exposed. His brown eyes were locked with mine, full of longing. Of hope and love.
Whatever I want.
I wanted to find out if this was real, if my feelings for him were more than just friendship. I wanted him to kiss me.
I climbed onto his lap, my legs straddling his, and threaded my fingers through his hair. He sucked in a short breath right before my lips touched his. I started kissing him, gently and softly, but the moment my mouth fell open and my tongue touched his, the slow exploration became a frantic search for more.
His arms wrapped tightly around my back as he crushed me against his body. I sank further into his lap and his hardness pressed against my core. That friction, that glorious friction, ignited me like striking a match. My fingers clawed down his back, grabbing at the hem of his shirt and pulling it up.
But before I could rip it off, his mouth tore away from mine. “Lis, wait,” he panted. “Are you sure?”
One kiss and I had fallen apart. We had something here. Something more powerful than I’d ever felt before.
My forehead fell against his and I nodded. “I’m sure.”
“I don’t want this just because of what happened with Wes tonight.”
I leaned back so he could see the sincerity on my face. “It’s not. You said whatever I want, and I want this. Maybe I’ve wanted this for a lot longer than I let myself admit.”
His hands came up to smooth away the hair that had fallen into my face. “This will change everything.”
“It’s already changed,” I whispered. “And I don’t want to go back.”
