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26 year old, Connor Deluca, is a professional Hockey player in the NHL; who just moved into the expensive Citrus Grove Community.
23 year old, Serena Jade, is the recluse famous author known to the public only under her pen name Skylyn Voss, and...
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______________ The sun was a circular tangerine high in the sky, casting its orange rays through Serena's airy curtains. The night seemed to last so long yesterday that she forgot the sun could rise at all. They seemed lost under a blanket of darkness and stars, becoming settled under its security, that the beaming light on them now almost burned.
The night caught up to them though, lulling Serena to a deep sleep where she lay drawing circles on Connor's chest. They had gone to bed with their voices trailing off to hushed whispers, fatigue making them unable to move their lips any longer.
Serena's eyes fluttered open against the blazing light. A lazy groan sounded as she leaned into the warmth she laid on, her cheek rubbing across tanned skin while her hand slid along hard abs.
That's when her eyes shot open. Dawning on her that the comforting warmth she was basking in wasn't from the sun but from Connor.
They'd fallen asleep tangled up in each other, Connor flat on his back with his arm propped up behind his head and the other dangling loosely around her waist. And she was there sprawled across his chest nestled between his legs.
Serena's eyes widened the longer she stared into his peaceful features. Every hard edge was erased, softened by his vulnerable sleep. That permanent smirk and intimidating stare subdued, leaving behind something sweeter and sugar-coated.
Her body went rigid above him, not quite sure what to do next from here.
He wasn't supposed to stay the night, but he also wasn't supposed to melt her the way he did. His words flooded back to Serena, the way he touched and handled her like she was always his. His fingers felt like stitches over the open gashes on her body, warm kisses on her skin.
She shivered and shifted on him, fear bubbling up with the memories. What she said, what she admitted to him. All of it made her feel slightly sick in the daylight. Serena never talked about that, she did her time in and out of Therapy, resolved it, and left it where it belonged in the past.
Except for last night. Now he knew a little piece of her that she thought was ugly, he knew now and he made her feel beautiful.
How fucking terrifying.
Connor groaned from her rigid movements, lifting his head slightly and wincing away his sleepy face as he looked down at her.
"Morning, Shortcake." A smile hinted at the corner of his lips, making her heart beat faster in her chest.
Serena shot up and awkwardly shifted off him to the other side of the bed, no doubt looking like a deer in headlights.
"You okay?" Connor mumbled, his voice scratchy and deeper having just woken up. It tickled her ears and made something warm fill her.
"We didn't do a good job forgetting." Serena fidgeted, nervous, like a kindergartener confessing to their playground crush. She felt tender and naked under his gaze like he saw into her, and it made Serena squirm.
