Inferno - Chelle Bliss by Chelle Bliss

“Think whatever you want.”

He gives a slow nod, and I think he’s finally dropped the topic until we step into his grandparents’ house and he hauls me down a hallway.

I don’t even have time to notice if anyone has seen us as we passed by in a blur. “What are you doing?” I ask him.

He’s not rough. There’s a gentleness but also an urgency to his movements. “We’re going to talk…alone.”

“Oh boy,” I mumble, following him through an open door. I glance around, realizing we’re in a bedroom that looks like it hasn’t been used in years. “About what?”

He closes the door but doesn’t lock it and doesn’t block my way out. “What happened out there?”

I stare at him, blinking a few times to stall. “Nothing happened.”

“You were sad, happy, and then sad again.”

I shrug with a sigh. “It’s my own bullshit.”

He marches up to me and places a hand on each shoulder. “It’s our bullshit now.”

I gawk at him, a little stunned. “Since when?”

“Since I made you my girl.”

“Since you made me your girl?” I repeat, but I turn the last word up into a question.

He nods as he brushes his thumbs back and forth against my shoulders. “Yep. So, whatever’s bothering you now bothers me.”

“Stone.”

“I’m serious, Opal.”

“I don’t want to be in a relationship with you because your sister put you on the spot. That’s not how it should be.”

He hangs his head for a moment. “I’m an asshole.”

I lift my arms until my hands are on his abdomen. A very nice, tight, and muscular abdomen. “No, you’re not.”

He glances up, giving me his entire attention. “I should’ve made shit clearer before we got here. I didn’t say that because my sister wanted me to. I said that because I wanted to. I was too scared to say something before, thinking you’d tell me to kick rocks.”

“Kick rocks? What’s that even mean?”

Stone smiles. “It’s like get lost.”

I’m horrified he’d think that. “Why in the world would I tell you to kick rocks?”

“I know Jeff left a bad taste in your mouth, and I thought maybe you wanted more time to…”

I know where he’s going with this, and a few weeks ago, I would’ve agreed. But I’ve had enough time, and there’s no perfect time anyway. “I don’t want more time. I’ve spent most of my life alone, and I’m over Jeff. If I’m honest, I was over him before we ended. I know what I want. Who I want. And that’s you.”

“I want you too, Opal. I’ve never done this before, so just know I will fuck up, but I’ll do my best to be the best for you. You deserve more than a shithead like me.”

I lean into him, smashing myself against him as his arms crumple before sliding around my shoulders. “You don’t have to be the very best.” I hug him tightly, pressing my cheek into his pecs. “I just want you.”

He sets his chin on top of my head. “I was scared, and that’s not easy for me to admit. I haven’t stopped thinking about you. I can’t get you out of my damn mind sometimes. It’s scary as hell for me.”

“It’s not easy for me either.” Opening up my life to someone surrounded by so much love is frightening.

What if I not only fall in love with him, but his entire family too, and then we end? Shit. It would destroy me.

“What just ran through your mind?”

“Nothing.”

“Babe, you went from a pile of goo to stiff as a board in a split second.”

I sag into him, willing myself to relax. “It’s stupid.”

“I’m the king of stupid. Give me a try.”

“I don’t want to make you feel bad.”

“I’m a rock.”

I turn my head, pressing the front of my face into his soft T-shirt. “It’s a lot. It’s heavy.”

“Have you seen my muscles?” he teases. “I can take it.”

I peer up, soaking in the hard edges of his jaw. “I like your family as much as I like you.”

I’m being partially truthful, but not entirely. The last thing I’d want is for him to stay with me out of pity. And if I voice the thought I had in that second, it’ll happen.

I know it will, and that’s the last thing I want.

“I love that,” he breathes into my hair. “Because I’m around them a lot. A stupid amount of time. And if you hated them, that would make shit hard and uncomfortable for everyone involved.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He smiles down at me, making my belly do a few backflips. “And now you’re going to be around them a lot too. Probably so much you’ll get sick of them after a while.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“You’ll see. They’ll make you a little bit off your rocker.”

“Who said I was on it already?” I ask him, wrapping my arms around his thick middle until my fingers barely slide together.

The man is big, probably bigger than anyone else I’ve ever been with. He’s the first person who’s made me feel small in his arms, and that offers me a sliver of safety I’ve never felt before.