Latte Darling: Book Two of The Darling Series

Turning off the light, I climb into bed beside Maddie. Her untouched tea sitting on the nightstand.

I don’t know if my body heat will make her too warm, so fighting all my instincts to pull her close, I roll to slide in behind her but keep a few inches of space between us.

I watch her back rise and fall with steady breaths.

She must be asleep. Which is good, she needs her rest. But I wish I could talk to her. Ask her what hurts. See what else I can do.

I don’t like this.

I feel helpless.

Staring at her form in the dark I realize that not touching her is going to be impossible.

With slow movements, I rest my arm over her side. And I have to grit my teeth to keep from pulling her into my body.

The feeling in my chest is sharp and I want to rub it away.

I want to shake Maddie awake and tell her to talk to me.

But now’s not the time to lecture.

My eyes start to close and focus on the feel of Maddie’s curves under my arm.

If she’s still feeling bad in the morning, I’ll let her have the day. But after that, she’s gonna have to learn. There’s no boxing me out.

Hurt stomach – hell, hurt anything – it doesn’t matter. She’s gotta learn to share everything with me.

Everything.