Sitting on the floor of her living room folding laundry, Jane tried not to look at her surroundings. She hated her new one-bedroom apartment. She hated the brown shag carpet. She hated the yellowish painted walls. She hated the outdated avocado-colored appliances.
But it was home.
For now.
Jane snapped her head up at the sound of a knock on her door. She got off the floor and went to it. “Coming.” Before opening the door, she peered through the peephole.
The image was blurry, but there was no mistaking the person on the other side of her door. Her heart simultaneously ached and jumped for joy.
What was Ryder doing here?
She didn’t allow her hopes to get up. Maybe he was there solely to visit Maddox. After all, he knew she would never deny him the right to see his son.
She smoothed her hand over her frizzy hair, then opened the door.
The first thing she noticed was his hair had gotten longer.
She liked it.
A lot.
But he’d also lost weight. His cheekbones were more pronounced and his blue sweater was big on him.
That she didn’t like.
As she took in the rest of him, she almost melted right there on the spot. He was wearing the sweater he’d worn the night they’d met.
Was it a coincidence?
“Hi, Jane.” There was apprehension in his eyes. “Can I come in?”
Oh. Right. How long had she been staring at him? She took a step backward to give him the space to move inside. “Of course.”
There wasn’t much to her apartment. Once he came inside, they were already in her living room. She didn’t watch TV and most of the furniture from the other apartment had been Dreama’s, so her living room was empty. “I’d offer you a seat, but…”
“That’s fine,” he said softly. “I don’t need a chair for what I’m here for.”
She inhaled his scent, taking it deep into her lungs. God, she’d missed it. Missed him.
There had been so many nights she’d dreamed of him and had woken up throbbing and wet. But she hadn’t touched herself or relieved the ache pulsing inside of her. Nothing would satisfy her but Ryder.
He stared at her with such intensity, she had to drop her gaze.
“Oh. Um…” She tugged on the bottom of her sweatshirt as her heart thumped erratically. “Maddox is sleeping.”
“That’s okay.” He stalked toward her, pushing her back against the wall. “Because what, or rather, who I’m here for…is you.”
“Me?” she said breathlessly.
“I’ve given you space and now I’m taking it back. I know being with me comes with a risk, but I’m not going to let you drive me away. My life isn’t complete without you and Maddox. I love you, Jane.”
Her body heated as he pressed against her, and for the first time in a month, she felt alive.
He was here.
Fighting for her.
And it was time for her to fight for him. “I love you too. I’m sorry I pushed you away. Ryd—”
Sealing his lips over hers, he stole the words out of her mouth. Which was fine because the second he’d kissed her, her mind had gone blank. It was as if all the words they’d been holding inside tumbled out through their kiss, making speech unnecessary.
He tugged her sweatshirt over her head and as he removed his sweater, she yanked off both her panties and sweatpants. It only took a moment more before they were both completely naked.
When he lifted her off the ground, she wrapped her legs around him and guided his cock inside of her. “Fuck me, Ryder.”
“God, I’ve missed you,” he said reverently. “And being inside you. You feel so good around me.” He suddenly stilled. “Shit, I forgot the condom.”
“We don’t need one. I’m on the birth control shot now.”
Pinning her to the wall, he stretched her wide with his cock as he drove himself fully inside her. “Thank the fucking stars because it would have been torture to pull out.”
She held on for dear life, digging her fingernails into his shoulder blades. He slammed himself into her over and over until they both groaned as they climaxed together.
He collapsed onto the carpet, bringing her down with him, and pulled her onto his lap. She put her ear over his heart and listened to his racing heart. “I didn’t push you away because of anything you did. I pushed you away because I doubted myself. Loving you is easy and I haven’t had much easy in my life. I was afraid to trust it.”
He tipped up her chin. “You love me?”
How could she not?
“From the minute you propositioned me up on Mackinac,” she admitted.
His brows wrinkled. “That’s not what I remember. I seem to recall you were the one who propositioned me.”
“What?” She sat up straight. “No, I didn’t.”
He smiled. “You specifically said ‘fuck me.’”
She rolled her eyes. “I was talking to myself. You’d just pointed out that my shirt was misbuttoned.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
She giggled. Giggled. “You’re incorrigible.”
His hand curled around the back of her neck. “And you love me.”
“And I love you.”
He nodded once. “Good. Because I love you too.” The smile fell from his face. “But I have to tell you something even more important.”
She steeled herself for bad news. “What is it?”
“This apartment is hideous,” he said, shuddering in revulsion. “I don’t even know how you can stand to look at it. But I have a solution.” He swept his thumb over her bottom lip. “Move in with me. You and Maddox. Don’t move to Florida.”
“Florida?” How had he gotten the impression she was moving to Florida? “What are you talking about?”
“Isabella told me you were moving back there. She said you’d packed your car already.”
“My car was packed,” she explained, “because I was moving to this apartment. Isabella played you.”
That little matchmaker.
Ryder snatched her wrist and tumbled her onto her back. Apparently ready for round two, he slid his cock inside her. “Well, there’s only one person I want to play with…and that’s you.”