The Fall Up (The Fall Up, #1)(41)

In that moment, the perpetual free fall was no match for the way he made me feel.

I was still falling at unstoppable speeds—only, in his arms, as his body claimed me without a single word spoken, I was suddenly falling…up.

A tear slipped from my eye and a smile tilted my lips as I clung to his back while another orgasm washed over me.

Sam continued to chase his own release until finally he came whispering my name. It was more musical to my ears than any note I had ever sung, written, or played.

“Hey.” His gravelly voice caught my attention as he pushed up to catch my gaze. “Good or bad?” he asked, using the pad of his thumb to wipe away the wet trail then pressing it against my lips.

“Good,” I mumbled around it. “Really, really good.”

“Good,” he whispered, replacing his thumb with his lips. He breathed deeply, but kept it chaste. “Let me get rid of the condom. I need a smoke. Then we can take a shower.” He winked, climbing off me and sauntering away.

Sitting upright, I collected my clothes off the floor with a silly smile.

Yeah. We can do this.

“You want something to sleep in?” Sam asked, emerging from the hallway in a new pair of jeans riding low on his hips with a shirt slung over his shoulder, an unlit cigarette already dangling from his lips.

He looked downright edible. My eyes raked over the tattoos covering his chest and down his arms and his sides.

Under my scrutiny, he stood proudly, flexing to define his six-pack. “Fuck, I love when you look at me like that.”

“Perfect, because I love looking at you like that.” I motioned my finger up and down his body.

“It’s official. I’m burning all of my shirts. You want to rescue this one from the fiery pits and sleep in it tonight?” He offered me the one off his shoulder.

“Please.” I laughed as he threw the cotton top in my direction.

As I tugged the oversized rePURPOSEd T-shirt over my naked body and stepped into my panties, he slowly made his way over to me.

Cupping my jaw, he rubbed his thumb back and forth over my cheek. “I’m really f*cking happy you’re here.”

“Me too.” I smiled.

He removed the cigarette from between his lips and was bending over to touch his mouth to mine when a sudden pounding on the door stopped him. Sampson went nuts barking, and Sam’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“What the f*ck?”

Devon’s angry snarl permeated through the wood. “Open the f*cking door.”

Henry’s voice quickly followed. “Would you calm down? She’s probably getting the dick right now.”

“Oh God,” I groaned.

This is not happening.

Devon replied, “Or she’s dead on that dick’s floor.”

“She’s fine.”

“You don’t f*cking know that. You should have heard her on the phone.”

The loud pounding returned, and Sam stared at the door as he said, “I think that’s for you.”

“She is going to kick your ass,” Henry scoffed.

“I’ll survive. Besides, you were the one who gave me the address. She’ll probably kill you first,” Devon continued to argue as I stomped to the door and snatched it open.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I seethed at them.

Their eyes raked over my outfit—or lack thereof—and Henry’s smile spread as he elbowed Devon in the side.

“See? Told you. She was getting the dick.”

“Let’s go,” Devon barked at me.

“Yes, please go,” I snarked, slamming the door in their faces, but Devon snuck a foot inside preventing it from closing completely.

“You called for a ride home. I’m here. Get in the car,” he replied, pushing the door wide and stepping inside.

Sam’s arms suddenly folded around my hips from behind. “Go get dressed. We can have this conversation when you aren’t half naked with my front door wide-ass open.”

I knew the moment Henry saw Sam. His jaw slacked open and cartoon hearts might as well have floated from his eyes. Sam and Devon recognized the moment too, because Devon’s eyes flared wide and Sam instinctively took a step away with me securely tucked into his side.

Henry prowled forward as Sam’s gaze bounced down to me in bewilderment.

“You probably should have been the one to get dressed first,” I told Sam as Henry continued his nonconsensual eye-f*cking of my boyfriend.

Boyfriend?

Maybe that’s a bit much.

Is it?

Sam’s hand flexed at my hips, and I couldn’t help but smile at the idea. I hadn’t been so excited about the idea of calling someone my boyfriend since fifth grade, when Jay Rogers passed me a note asking me to check yes or no.

I was still lost in schoolgirl musings when Sam interrupted my thoughts.

“Hey, so, I’m Sam. You must be Henry.” He extended a hand forward.

I laughed when Henry looked down at his hand then bent to the side, licking his lips as he openly checked out Sam’s package. Then I laughed even louder as Sam shifted me in front of him to block Henry’s assessment.

I should have said something to defuse the insanely awkward situation, but where was the fun in that? I looked up at Sam and very matter-of-factly said, “I told you he was going to try to woo you.”