Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five

Songs for this chapter:
• Every Kind Of Way - H.E.R.
• I Love You So - The Walters

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five:

Lexi's POV

"Good morning, birthday girl."

My eyes flutter open and I'm instantly greeted by the warm morning sunlight. It filters in through the cracks in my drawn curtains and illuminates the beautiful face of the boy hovering above me, his nose only a mere few inches away from brushing mine.

"Good morning indeed," I murmur, wrapping my arms around Bryce's slim waist and pulling him down on top of me. Even if he's huge compared to me, his weight is so comforting, so safe, and I crave the simple bliss of having him practically crushing me more than I'd care to admit.

"You sleep okay after I came up to lay with you?" he asks me softly. His forearms are propped beside my head, and so he's able to reach the stray hairs that tumbled into my face during the night and tuck them behind my ears.

"Mhm." I lean my head to the side and press a kiss to his forearm. My lips brush against dark swirls of ink, but I know that there are scars hidden underneath.

"That's good." He trails his nose up the side of my neck and I inhale sharply.

"Very good." I hook my legs around his hips and skim my feet up the back of his bare thighs.

One of his hands finds my chin and he tilts me up so that my eyes meet his. "What do you think you're doing, little Miss Lexi?"

I give him my biggest smile. "You know exactly what I'm doing."

I strain my neck up to try and kiss him, but he pulls back with a snort. "Nope. You've been way too fucking loud lately, and I'm trying really hard to convince your parents that I'm a good, long-term partner for you."

I feel my eyebrows furrow. "Wouldn't a good, long-term partner have sex with his girlfriend on her birthday?"

Bryce grins. "Maybe if he was smart enough to buy her a ball gag as a gift."

I feel my eyes widen. "Do I want to know what a ball gag is?"

Now it's Bryce's turn to gape at me. "You're kidding."

I shake my head.

"You've never . . . Haven't you ever watched porn? Even once?"

I shake my head again.

Bryce frees himself from my death grip on his body and rolls onto his back beside me on the bed. For a moment, he simply just stares up at the ceiling, but then he lets out a hoarse chuckle. "Goddamn, I am fucked compared to you. Completely and utterly fucked."

I roll over onto my side and pout at Bryce. "I could be completely and utterly fucked too if you would just, you know, fuck me."

Bryce opens his mouth, but I sadly never get to here what he says before there's a loud knock on my bedroom door.

I shoot up in bed and scramble to pull the duvet up to my chin to cover my chest. After Bryce brought me back up to bed last night, I was desperate to be as close to him as possible and to have as much of my skin against his as I could, and so we both stripped down to only our underwear.

This now may become a problem if Charlie is on the other side of the door, since he never waits for permission before barging into a room.

Thankfully, it's my mom's voice that comes from the hallway. "Happy birthday, sweetheart. I made breakfast. Dad is already eating but you and Bryce come down whenever you're ready, okay?"