I looked away from his intense gaze and closed my eyes, my body begging for him to be inside me. “Fuck me,” I said, returning my eyes to his. I reached around, pressing his backside toward me, but he resisted.

“Do you care about me at all?” he asked. “Do you hate me? Is it lukewarm feelings, or we’re really just friends? Whatever it is, Ellie, fucking say it.”

“Why can’t we just do this?” I said, lifting my hips.

He reacted, pulling away. He grazed my jaw line with his lips. “I’ll make you come all night,” he whispered into my ear. “I just need a little honesty.”

“I love you,” I breathed. Before I could finish my sentence, he was sliding inside me and moaning at the same time. I bit his shoulder, trying to muffle my cry as he rocked into me.

His rhythm slowed as he leaned down to kiss me. “Say it again.”

“I love you,” I said without hesitation.

Tyler lifted my knee until it was propped against his chest, sinking deeper inside me. He licked two fingertips and then reached down between my legs, circling my tender skin while his thrusts accelerated. Something began to build inside me, familiar but somehow different. As my insides relentlessly spasmed, Tyler cupped his hand over my mouth to muffle my cries, at the same time overcome and growling into the crook of my neck.

He shuddered, his breath as labored as mine. My neck was arched back as my chest heaved, trying to pull in as much air as I could. Tyler shifted his weight, setting my sensitive insides on fire, causing me to whimper.

He kissed the corner of my mouth, collapsing next to me.

“You promised me all night,” I breathed.

“You can have it. You can have every night.”

He buried his face in my hair, and I stared at the wooden underbelly of the top bunk, hoping Abby was right. I didn’t want to be too crazy to love.

Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“I feel like we live here,” I said. I hung my legs over Tyler’s lap and wiggled against the uncomfortable armrest digging into my back.

We sat in the terminal with full suitcases in addition to our backpacks, Christmas gifts from Travis and Abby. It was a brilliant gift idea, because neither Tyler nor I had thought about needing extra space for the gifts we would inevitably receive from his brothers.

“Did you call Fin?” Tyler asked. He said the words like second nature, reminding me at least once a week since Thanksgiving to check in with my sister.

“Before we left the house.”

“They still mad that you didn’t come east for Christmas?”

“I did go east for Christmas.”

“Ellie. When are you going to see them?”

“Don’t start,” I said.

“You can’t avoid them forever.”

“I’m just not ready. I will when I’m ready.”