A curse slipped out, almost under his breath. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way things are.”
But I could see from the look on Lawson’s face that he was taking my nightmares on the way he took on everything else. As if it were his personal responsibility to fix it.
I shifted my hand, placing it on his chest. His heart beat in a steady rhythm through the muscle. “Don’t take this on.”
Lawson’s jaw clenched. “I hate the idea of you being scared and hurting.”
My breaths came quicker, but not because of anxiety. Because Lawson cared. Because he was so close, it would only take the smallest of movements to close the distance between us. To finally know what he tasted like.
“I’m not scared now,” I whispered.
It was an invitation and a challenge.
Lawson’s gaze dropped to my mouth, his eyes tracing my lips. He moved the slightest bit, coming closer, so close I could practically feel the heat of his mouth and taste the promise of him.
“Daaaaaaad! I can’t find my toothpaste,” Charlie yelled.
Lawson dropped his hold on me as if he’d been burned. He quickly stood, clearing his throat. “Better go find that before we have cavities on our hands.”
Disappointment coursed through me, my body still tingling from his touch. “Go on. I’ll clean this up.”
I got to my feet as soon as Lawson disappeared. I tidied the living room and turned off the TV, but the whole time, I did it imagining what it would be like to kiss Lawson Hartley.
* * *
Laughter camefrom down the hall as I pulled a baggy sweatshirt over my leggings. The sun was streaming through the window, bright and strong. I’d tossed and turned all night, my dreams alternating between ones that had me fighting not to scream and others that left a throbbing pressure pulsing between my legs.
The latter were always of Lawson. His face. His hands. His tongue.
I buried my face in my hands. “Get it together, Hallie.”
Pulling my hair into a topknot, I blew out a breath and headed toward the sound of chaos.
“Daaaaaad, come on,” Charlie whined.
“We’re waiting for Hallie so she can have first pick,” Lawson chastised.
“This is cruel and unusual punishment, bruh. Isn’t that against the law?” Drew asked.
I rounded the corner to find all four Hartleys converged on the kitchen island, hovering over two bakery boxes.
“We can’t have anyone going to prison,” I murmured.
Drew raised his hands to the sky. “Hallelujah! Please come pick a donut so we can eat.”
Luke stifled a chuckle. “Drew might never forgive you for having to smell donuts a full fifteen minutes before he could eat them.”
“It’s brutal,” Drew shot back.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.” I glanced at Lawson and immediately regretted the move as images from my dreams filled my mind.
Lawson moved in closer to me so his heat seeped into my side. “Wanted you to have first pick.”
Charlie opened one box and then the second. “The chocolate sprinkles are my favorite!”
My eyes went wide. There had to be almost two dozen donuts in various shapes, sizes, and flavors. “Who is going to eat all of these?”
