Because I had no idea how things would be for us once we got back to the real world and were surrounded by friends and family. Was this the beginning of a relationship, or some fling? I honestly didn’t know. I’d heard what she’d been so close to saying when she came, but I’d been known to spew some crazy shit in the heat of the moment. Whispering sweet nothings during sex could never, ever be taken seriously. You loved just about everyone, including your bio professor, when an orgasm was barreling through you.

And Syd—innocent, lovely Syd—didn’t have a lot of experience when it came to sex. A fact that turned me the hell on, but in reality, it was always hard to decipher feelings once sex was added to the equation.

I knew she cared for me deeply. Obviously, but did she really love me? The kind of love my parents had shared before my dad had passed? The kind of love I felt—

Fuck.

Kneeling down beside her, I closed my eyes. Funny how you think if you don’t finish a sentence in your thoughts, it somehow doesn’t make it true. So fucking stupid because the brain might take a lala-land vacay, but it didn’t change a damn thing.

I was in love with Syd.

Like totally, madly, irrevocably in love with her—had been for years. I thought about the tattoo I’d gotten after high school, the one on my back, and shook my head. Maybe I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it before, and maybe I was a total shitbag for being with those other girls, but I couldn’t ignore how I felt for her any longer.

Reaching over, I brushed a strand of hair off her cheek and my hand lingered as my gaze traveled across her face. Would we’ve gotten to this point if we hadn’t been snowed in together? I didn’t think so. I would’ve kept fucking girls and she would’ve found someone who didn’t parade other chicks in front of her. The guy would have been good to her. He’d have had his shit together. He’d have treated her like she was the most cherished thing in this world. He’d have been one lucky son of a bitch.

I wanted to be that man.

I could be that man, if she’d have me.

It took a hell of a lot for me to stretch out beside her and not wake her up, especially when she turned on her side, thrusting that ass up against me. Fuuuck. But like the night before, I fell asleep pretty damn quickly and woke up before her, strangely refreshed for sleeping on a damn mattress on the floor and rocking a hard-on to end all hard-ons.

I woke her with my mouth between her thighs.