Page 7 of Stick Around
Billy shook his head which still hung heavy and slumped over his shoulders. “No. I wasn’t here to see Noah.”
Grace’s breath caught in her throat.
“I don’t know why I’m here,” he continued. “I couldn’t go home.” He lifted his head and turned to allow his eyes to meet hers for the first time since she’d arrived. They were red rimmed and glassy. “I didn’t want to be alone, but there was no one I wanted to be with either. So I wound up here. Waiting for you.”
Her mouth fell open, but he continued before she could speak.
“I don’t know what I would have done tonight without you there, Gracie.” His voice cracked, and he rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. “This was the worst night of my life. I didn’t even know you were back in town and then I got out of the ambulance and I saw you standing there…” He trailed off and tipped his head to the sky, searching the stars for the words he needed.
Grace’s heart pounded. “It’s no problem. I really didn’t do anything.”
Billy shifted to face her, took her hand in his, and with his other hand, tilted her chin up to catch her eyes. “Yes, you did. You got me inside and cleaned up and everything. And then when Madison and Lauren…” Billy stopped for a moment, steeling his expression. “Looking across that waiting room and seeing you standing there—look, you know I’m not good with words—but, it was like I could almost feel you hanging on to me. Like I could see it in your eyes or something.”
Grace’s body rushed with heat at his words, at odds with the icy shiver sweeping across her skin.
“Anyway,” he let go of her, “I know that sounds stupid, but I wanted to say thank you. I wouldn’t have gotten through the night without you there.” He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair again, returning his gaze to his boots.
Lord knows where it came from, but a rush of courage flooded Grace’s chest and she grabbed Billy’s arm. He turned back to her.
Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
“I wanted so badly to hold you in there tonight. Every cell in my body wanted to run across the room and grab you and hang on to you until everything else went away.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could throw her palm up over her lips to stop herself.
She searched Billy’s face, desperate to read his reaction. He stared at her, blinking slowly. After a second or two, he made a noise that she decided was a half-chuckle. Maybe a quarter. He narrowed his eyes and scraped his bottom lip with his teeth.
She kept her palm planted across her mouth but lifted her fingers to squeak out, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Oh my god. Please say something.
But he didn’t reply. Instead, he reached up and took her wrist, pulling her hand away from her mouth. His other hand slipped around the side of her neck and then up, his fingers twining into her hair at the back of her head. Her heart lurched as she inhaled his familiar scent. Clean, with a hint of earthy forest, and an even slighter hint of motor oil.
Grace sucked a rush of air between her teeth at the surprise of his touch, her lips parting. He leaned into her, pulling her forward until their mouths hovered an inch apart, never breaking their shared gaze. Grace had stared at those eyes for so many years she thought she knew every fleck and twinkle. But she hadn’t seen them like this—dark and glassy, like they knew every fantasy she’d ever dreamt about him.
Her core ignited as he whispered against her lips in a deep growl. “This might be a bad idea, Gracie.”
This is such a bad idea. I have to get up. Go inside.
But no reasoning was stronger than the decade of desire simmering inside Grace. Finally being this close to Billy, touching him, having his lips right there, it was too much, and she found her hands reaching for him. She grabbed a handful of his sweatshirt and yanked him in, her lips crashing against his.
The taste of his mouth was a tidal wave slamming over her, pulling her under until she was immersed. Drowning in his tongue curling around hers, the heat of his skin against hers, the solid ridges of his abdomen beneath her fingers. The throbbing between her legs intensified with each nibble of his teeth against her lips. She arched her back, pressing her breasts into his chest.
He responded by grasping her waist and pulling her over to straddle his lap. Even through his jeans, Grace could feel him pressing against her. She ground herself down onto him and he pulled back from their kiss with a sharp inhale.
His voice broke in a raspy whisper. “Jesus Christ, Grace.”
His hands slid up from her waist, and his fingertips searched for the zipper of her jacket. He jerked it down before walking his fingertips along the bottom hem of her scrub top, peeling it up her body until his fingers found her skin. The rough warmth of his hands against her soft, cool skin sent a shiver racing up her back and down her limbs. They locked eyes as Billy snaked his strong palms around her waist and up the sides of her ribcage. He ran the edge of his ring fingers along the wire at the bottom of Grace’s bra, then across the thin strip of lace along the top. Her lips fell open, and she felt Billy grow harder beneath her.
“Please.” It floated from her mouth.
“Please, what, Grace?” Billy’s voice had grown deeper.
She winced and swirled her hips down against him again.
He grinned and dipped his fingertips a little further into her bra, grazing the tips of her nipples. “Tell me what you want.”
Grace arched into his hands, her eyes pleading.
“You’re such a good girl, Grace.” Billy gently pinched her nipples between his thumbs and middle fingers and grinned when her hips rolled against him in response. He leaned into her neck, his lips grazing her earlobe. “But I think you want to be a bad girl tonight.”
