Slide (Boosted Hearts Book 3)

by Sherilee Gray

  “Then do it.” God, she needed the closeness from him, needed all the things he’d just said.

  He shook his head. “I have to tell you this first. You need to know what you’re getting into before we take this any further.”

  “Nothing you could tell me could change the way I feel about you.”

  He brushed her hair back. “I know that, Luce, but what’s wrong with me, it’s not going to just vanish because we’re together. I got shit I’ve been dealing with all my life and it will affect ours—together.”

  “Tell me.” He was starting to scare her, but she tried to keep any trace of it out of her voice. She knew she hadn’t succeeded when his gaze softened further.

  “You know my mom died when I was in college.”

  He didn’t need a response because they all knew this, but she nodded anyway.

  “You were still pretty young when it happened and I didn’t want anyone to know the truth. I was ashamed, not of her, never of her, but of myself. Only Hugh and Joe knew, close family. It was kept quiet.” His jaw tightened, lids sweeping down in a slow blink before she had his gaze again. “She suffered from depression, had done her whole life, and when my dad left it got worse. She never recovered from it. He was a lot like me, I guess. Or maybe I’ve tried to be like him. Being like him gave me the excuse I needed to keep everyone at a distance. The man who avoided strong ties, used his looks to get any woman he wanted. My old man was like that. He cheated on my mom…all the time. I knew. She knew. But still, when he finally walked out, she…fractured.”

  Lucy slid her hands up the sides of his neck, over his feather tattoo, and brushed her thumbs along his strong square jaw, encouraging him to continue.

  “She killed herself, Luce. She lived a life of pain and sadness, locking everyone out, stuck in her own head…until she couldn’t take it anymore and ended it.”

  Oh God. “Adam…”

  “She did it the day I came home from school for the holidays. I found her lying in her bed.” His head dropped to her shoulder, and she threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and held him tight. “I left her, just like my old man did. I wasn’t there for her, and she ended it. I’ve blamed myself for a long time. It fucked me up. I don’t sleep when I’m on my own. I’m messed up from it in ways I’m still discovering, and that’s not going to change. I failed her.”

  She started to shake her head.

  “I did, Luce. I knew how bad she was, but I left anyway, left her in the care of other family members, but it was me she needed. I was selfish, desperate to get away, to be free of the constant worry, the fear.” His breathing was choppy. “Then after, I…I became my father. It made it easier, easier to live with the guilt, because he bailed, too, right? He couldn’t deal with my mother, with her illness either. I wasn’t the only one to walk out on her. It made it easier to avoid deep emotional connections, to avoid those kinds of ties.” He gave her a squeeze. “But I wasn’t living the life my mom wanted for me. She told me to make the most of this life. To do what she never could.” His gaze collided with hers, eyes bright. “I wasn’t doing that, Luce. I was running away from it.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “I only started living when I let you in. When I had you.”

  She blinked, more tears streaming down her face. “Adam, God…I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. But it wasn’t your fault. She made that decision all on her own.”

  He shook his head. “No, I—”

  “You don’t have to believe me right this minute, but it’s the truth.” She cupped his face. “I love you, so much, and I plan on being there with you when you finally realize that you are not the reason your mom chose to take her own life, that it had nothing to do with you. I plan on making sure you see it. I don’t care how long it takes, I’ll be there. I’ll always be there.”

  He pressed his forehead against hers. “Shit, Lucy. You’re the best thing in my life. You’re all I need. All I’ll ever need. As long as you love me, I can get through anything.”

  “You have me. You’ll always have me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The door to Adam’s apartment banged open hard as he stumbled through, mouth still attached to Lucy’s. Her arms were around him, small curvy body pressed hard against his. Dropping his hands to her soft round ass, he lifted her off her feet, kicked the door shut behind him, and slammed her against the wall.

  “Need you,” he said against her jaw, grinding into the softness between her thighs.

  Lucy whimpered. “Take me to bed. I want to feel you naked against me.”

  He wanted to, but he didn’t think he could move. No way could he stop pressing his cock into her, fucking dry humping against that delicious heat. “Can’t.” Then he ground into her again.

  Her trembling fingers dropped from his shoulders to her hips and she tugged her dress up and out of the way. Her hand slid into his back pocket and took out his wallet. After grabbing a condom, she threw the wallet aside and got to work on his zipper. He pulled back long enough for her to yank down his boxer briefs. His cock sprang free and he slammed his hips forward again, unable to stop himself, and thrust against the damp cotton covering her pussy. They both groaned.

  “Quick, put it on.” He managed to jerk back again enough for her to roll on the condom. Her arms locked around his neck as he shoved her panties aside and slammed in hard and deep.

  Lucy screamed, one hand dropping to his ass, nails digging into his skin, trying to pull him closer when there was nothing between them.

  “Hold on, baby. Legs nice and tight around me. I can’t go slow. Can’t go easy.”

  “Then don’t,” she moaned. “God, please don’t.”

  Cupping her ass, he growled and started pounding into her hard enough to make the walls shake. Her smaller frame trembled beneath his, her cries of “harder” making him lose his mind.

  “You’re mine now, sweetheart.” Sweat slid down between his shoulder blades as he fought to hold off the freight train of pleasure barreling down on him. “Where you go, I go. Never letting you leave me again.”

  She shuddered under his hands then screamed, teeth biting into the skin of his shoulder as she clamped down on him hard enough to have him seeing stars.

  “Fuck!” His hips jerked forward and he stayed buried deep as he came so hard his fucking knees went weak. He continued to roll against her, wringing out everything he had.

  Finally, he dropped his head to her shoulder, panting hard. They still clung to each other and no one seemed in a hurry to let go. Lifting his head, he brushed her hair away from her flushed face, fucking mesmerized by her puffy, sexy lips. Shit, in awe of her, every inch, inside and out.

  “I love you, Lucy, so damn much.”

  Her lids fluttered rapidly. “I love you, too.”

  “I’m coming with you. You know that, right? When you go back to school. I meant what I said. Wherever you go, that’s where I plan on being. You good with that?”

  She frowned. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “What?”

  She smiled softly. “Even when I wanted to strangle you, when I thought you didn’t want me anymore, I couldn’t bear to leave you. I’m finishing school here.”

  “You are?”

  Her smile was so bright he was momentarily stunned by the beauty of it, and when he finally snapped out of it, he kissed the hell out of her. His chest was so damn tight, his heart so full, he didn’t know how it was still beating.

  When they came up for air, she slid her hands up either side of his neck. Her fingers toyed with the hair at his nape, which she seemed to like doing and he loved a whole fucking lot, and she stared into his eyes.

  “I always knew it was meant to be you,” she whispered, tears sliding down her face. “I knew I couldn’t feel this way, this deeply, and it not mean something. You mean everything to me, do you understand that? Everything. You were made for me, Adam Grady.”

  “Shit, Lucy.” He dropped his forehead to
hers, breathing heavily, close to fucking tears himself. “I don’t know how I was walking and breathing before I had you. You’re my whole goddamn world. I don’t need anything else but you.”

  He kissed her again and carried her to the bedroom.

  It was time to finally start living.

  Epilogue

  Lucy clung to Adam’s hand as they raced down the hospital corridor. “What room did Joe say Shay was in?”

  “Should be just up here.” Adam gave her hand a squeeze, eyes softening when he looked at her. “You good?”

  Lucy was smiling so wide her face ached. She nodded. “Excited to see my niece.” She reached up and flattened the hair sticking up on the side of his head.

  Adam chuckled and tugged on the tag at the back of her shirt. “It’s inside out.”

  “Damn.” They’d been woken a short time ago by a text to say Shay was in labor. No way could she stay at home and wait, so they flew out of bed and raced to the hospital.

  They rounded the corner and found Joe and Darcey already there.

  “Any news?” Adam said when they joined them.

  “Nothing yet.” Joe reached out, slung an arm around her neck and tugged her close. “You okay, squirt?” he said close to her ear.

  “I am, I promise.” And she was. The sharpness of that ache in the pit of her stomach when she lost her baby wasn’t as sharp anymore. She knew she’d always feel a little sad when she looked back, but right now she was just so damn excited to be an aunt, nothing could taint the happiness inside her.

  “Is Noah with you?” The kid was Joe’s mini shadow.

  “At a friends the night.”

  Her brother gave her another squeeze and let her go.

  Two hours later, they were still waiting for news. Darcey was sitting up asleep on one of the couches. Joe was lying down, his head in her lap, giant feet hanging over the edge, completely out to it. Adam had drifted off sitting up a little while ago, arms folded, ankles crossed, chin resting on his chest. He looked kind of adorable, especially with the way his lips were sticking out, though she’d never tell him that. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture, grinning to herself. They were in a small waiting room down from the delivery room, and at the moment, it was only the four of them.

  A throat cleared.

  Lucy spun around and hers got so tight she didn’t know if she could speak. Tears instantly sprang to her eyes. “Oh, Hugh,” she rasped.

  Her big burly brother stood at the door, hair sticking up everywhere, tears running down his face, and wearing the widest smile she’d ever seen. In his massive arms he cradled a tiny bundle in a pink blanket.

  “She’s beautiful, Luce.” His lip trembled. “Shay did amazing. She’s Superwoman. I married Superwoman.”

  Lucy walked over, pulled back the fuzzy blanket, and bit her lip. “Oh my God. She’s just perfect.”

  Everyone else woke up and stumbled to their feet, coming over to meet the newest member of the Colton family.

  A little while later, Joe, Darcey, Lucy, and Adam walked out of the hospital. They said their goodbyes after agreeing to meet at the hospital to visit with Shay and baby Milly later that afternoon, then Lucy followed Adam to his truck.

  The sun was starting to rise, casting a warm orange glow over everything.

  “I don’t want to go home yet,” she said. “You want to find somewhere nice to sit and watch the sun come up?”

  “Yeah.” He tugged her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Then we should go get breakfast. Pancakes?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Then we’ll go ring shopping.”

  “What?”

  “You want to get married tomorrow?”

  Lucy stumbled to a stop. “What, now?”

  Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “Forget I said that. Crazy, right?” His brows lifted. “You’ll want the whole church thing, family and friends there, that kind of thing?”

  Lucy’s mouth was hanging open and she didn’t even care. She shook her head. “I don’t want a big wedding.”

  “No?” Adam’s voice was suddenly super low, rough.

  She could see the pulse at the side of his neck pounding like crazy. “Nope.”

  He moved in close, backing her up to his truck. “You saying you want to become Mrs. Grady tomorrow?”

  “That’s what I’m saying, yes.” She rested her hands over his pounding heart. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”

  “Your brothers will be pissed they weren’t there.”

  “They’ll get over it.”

  His head tilted back briefly, like he was looking to the heavens, and when he looked down again she sucked in a sharp breath at the strength of emotion on his handsome face. “I’ll make you happy, Lucy. I promise you that.”

  She went up on her tiptoes and pulled him down close. “I already am. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Then she kissed him, and kept on kissing him until the sun was up.

  And hospital security told them to leave.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  First, I want to thank everyone who helped me get Slide off my hard drive and into your hands. Thank you, Andrea, for the excellent copy edit, Keyanna for the proofread and final polish, and Heather Boyd for the beautiful formatting. And once again, to Letitia Hasser from RBA Designs for creating such a gorgeous cover. Big love to Nicola Davidson, my friend, sounding board, and cheerleader. This journey wouldn’t be the same without you. Tracey Alvarez for the constant support, daily chats, and encouragement! You rock, lady. Mel for the beta read. You were one of my first readers, and I love that you’re still excited to read my stuff. To Vaughan, Bella, and Max! I couldn’t do this without you. I love you to the moon and back! A huge thank you to the bloggers and reviewers out there who have taken the time to read, review, and share my books, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you do! And last, but by no means least, to my readers, thanks you so much for taking a chance on this series! I hope you love Adam and Lucy’s story as much as I loved writing it!

  About Sherilee Gray

  Sherilee Gray writes sexy, edgy, contemporary romance. Stories full of heat and high emotion, following stubborn characters as they fight against the odds…and getting their happily ever after. She’s a Kiwi girl who lives in beautiful New Zealand with her husband and their two children. When not writing or fueling her voracious book addiction, she can be found dreaming of far-off places with a mug of tea in one hand and a bar of Cadbury Rocky Road chocolate in the other.

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  Books by Sherilee

  Breaking Him

  Boosted Hearts:

  Swerve

  Spin

  Axle Alley Vipers:

  Crashed

  Revved

  Wrecked

  Black Hills Pack:

  Lone Wolf’s Captive

  A Wolf’s Deception

  Don’t forget to drop by Sherilee’s website for news of her next book release!