She had been mostly silent on the way back, obviously deep in thought about what she was going to do about her mother. I didn’t interrupt her. I was someone who needed silence when I was thinking about something too, so I made sure to give her space.

But I hadn’t expected her to react like this when we got home.

We had barely made it through the door before she was pushing me against the couch, motive clear in her eyes.

Any other day, I’d take full advantage. I loved it when Addi showed me how much she wanted me, especially after fighting me so hard in the beginning. But it seemed wrong now, given what she had just gone through.

Sex could be used as an escape, but I didn’t want her to regret anything.

She stretched her toned legs across my lap as she straddled me, her hands coming to tangle in my hair and her breasts pushed up against my face.

My cock reacted immediately, but my brain stopped my hands from grabbing her like she was asking for. Instead, I gently placed them on her hips and gave her a light squeeze.

“Addi…”

Her lips started at my neck, working their way up to my jaw and then right over my lips, but when they finally descended, I didn’t kiss her back.

Her kisses were special. Meaningful. This didn’t feel right.

She pulled my hair harder, a silent order for me to comply.

“Addi.” I said it harder this time.

She ground against my hard cock, drawing a groan from my lips. Heat swirled, and fuck, I wanted to take her. I always wanted to take her.

“I don’t want to hear it, Warren,” she said and tried to kiss me again, but this time I held onto her tight and didn’t let go.

“Don’t do this,” I whispered.

When she pulled away, she met me with anger, but there was something underneath it. Something that pulled at my chest.

“So now you won’t fuck me?”

The way her voice broke at the end had my stomach dropping. I lifted my hand and cupped the side of her face.

She didn’t lean into it.

She was so mercilessly beautiful. I had known that from the start, but everything that happened made me stop appreciating the masterpiece the girl in front of me was.

It went way beyond looks. She was resilient, strong, and more determined than any person I’d met in my entire life, including people twice her age.

She was one in a million. Hell, I could search the earth and was sure I’d never find anyone as perfect as the girl in front of me.

I knew it then, and I know it now.