"She did."
"I play to win. That's different."
I put the pie on the counter. "I believe EJ."
She points at me. "Don't take his side, you don't know what happened."
"I wasn't here and I still believe EJ."
EJ looks triumphant. Sav looks at me with the look that means I'll be hearing about this later, which is fine by me. I hand out the pie, and I pull up a chair next to Sav. I put my arm around her and EJ sits across from us eating his pie and everything is so exactly what I've wanted for years that it takes me a second to remember how to breathe normally.
I text Prez with what Ruby told me, and he sends back a thumbs up. The information goes into the plan we're building. HighStakes retreated after the motel hit. They'll be back. We'll be ready.
Tonight, that's enough.
Before I takeEJ to bed he asks if we'll both read the bedtime story and the look on Sav's face when he asks tells me she wasn't expecting to be included. The three of us go upstairs, and when we are in his room, I grab a book from his shelf, and we sit on either side of him. We take turns reading, doing the character voices, arguing with each other about whose voice is better. EJ is beside himself. He falls asleep mid-laugh, which is the best way to fall asleep, and we put the book down and sit there for a second in the quiet of his room.
Sav looks at him for a long time.
Then she stands and walks out. I follow and she turns to me in the hallway. I push her gently back against EJ's closed door and kiss her. She kisses me back with both hands in my hair.
When we pull apart, she's breathing hard.
"I know which room is yours," she says.
"Do you?"
"Let's go to bed early."
CHAPTER 15
Savannah
Iknow what this means. He told me this morning.Once I've been inside you there's no going back. You're mine.
I walk into his room with both eyes open.
He lifts me as soon as the door closes, my legs around his waist, his hands on my hips, and he kisses me as if he's been holding back all day. I feel the same way, like the whole day has been building up to exactly this. He carries me to the bed and drops me on it and stands there looking at me like he can't believe I'm real. I feel it too, this surreal quality to the moment, like we've been trying to find our way back to this room for ten years.
"God," he says. "Sav, baby, if you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to explode before I even get inside you. Fuck, you make me feel like a horny teenager."
"That's because that's who you are right now. I feel the same way."
He takes my clothes off, then his own and there's nothing complicated about it, it's just urgency and ten years of waiting. Then his mouth is on me again and my fingers are in his hair. Iforget everything except what his tongue is doing and how much I've needed this without knowing how much I needed this.
"You're so wet for me, Sav." He pushes two fingers inside and works me while his mouth stays on my clit. I grab the sheets and bite down on my lip. EJ is only across the hall and the effort to stay quiet is considerable.
He reads me perfectly. He has always read me perfectly. The more he works the more I lose my grip on the quiet and when I come, I clutch at his hair, his name escaping louder than I meant it to. Austin comes up and covers my mouth with his kiss, catching the sound, and I’m shaking.
When I come back to myself, he's smiling against my mouth.
"You taste so good, Sav." He pulls back and looks at me with dark eyes. He's sucking his fingers and I watch him do it, this tasting of me. Every coherent thought I had leaves the building completely.
He stands and takes himself in his hand. He's bigger than I remember, harder and looking at me like I'm the only thing in the room. I scoot back against the pillow, and he follows me like he knows exactly where he's going.
"This is your last chance, Sav. Once I'm inside you, you're mine. Fully. I'm claiming you and the whole club is going to know it. So, this is your last chance to say no."
I look up at him. "Austin, I swear to god, stop talking and just…."