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37. Cracked

Paige and I stayed up well into the day, only leaving the bedroom to get more coffee or the plates of food that an older woman, I'm assuming the new housekeeper, called us down for.

"What's your biggest fear?" Paige said to me after our third cup of coffee.

"Losing you," I smirked up at her as I brought the steaming mug to my lips.

"Don't go soft on me now, Collins," Paige nudged my knee with hers and looked at me expectantly.

"I'm claustrophobic," I shrugged my shoulders and turned around to set the cup on a nightstand behind me.

"Why?" Paige motioned for me to take her cup and set it beside mine. I grabbed it out of her hand and sat it down before answering, I needed a moment of think.

"When I said that my parents locked me in the bathroom during their," I lifted my hands to do air quotations, "parties, they locked me in the closet in the bathroom and shut the lights off. It terrified me."

Paige's lips dropped into a frown and she scooted further in on the bed.

"Don't pity me," I groaned as she lifted a hand to my face.

"I have never pitied you, Landon." Her expression looked like disgust as she pulled her hands away from my face quickly, "You've grown and learned a lot from your childhood and that is not something to pity," Paige looked at me sternly now and pulled my hands into her lap, drawing careless shapes on the back of them.

"Oh," was all I could manage to croak out.

Even Cynthia pitied me, I could see it in her eyes, her demeanor. It comforted me to know that Paige didn't pity me. I wasn't a sad puppy on those commercials that have you breaking down into hysterics in seconds.

"You're a man," Paige interrupted my thoughts, "you're a strong man at that, and that is something to admire, not pity," she stared into my eyes with a soft expression, but had determination laced her tone.

"Thank you," I sighed and shut my eyes, trying to let her words sink in. I'd always tried to convince myself of what she was telling me, but somehow, it never stuck.

A cool hand lifted to my face once more and I relished in her touch, leaning my head into her palm. Her thumb traced along my cheek and moved downward to my lips where it skidded along my bottom one.

"I love you. You know that, don't you?" Paige hummed out while staring at my mouth. I went to lick my lips as she pulled her thumb away from them.

"Yes," I nodded and placed both of my hands on either side of her face, "but you can tell me again if you want." I smirked at her and bent my head to kiss her neck.

"Sorry, what were you saying? I was watching your lips move but didn't hear anything come out," she whispered into my ear and placed her hands on my upper arms.

"I said that," my mouth trailed down her neck and stopped at her collar bones, "you are the most beautiful woman in the entire world," my lips ran along her shoulder and she lifted her hands to my hair, dragging them along my face as she went.

"You're so full of it," she breathed out and pulled me down to lay on top of her.

I wrapped both arms around her body and pulled her as close to me as possible. You couldn't find the point where she ended and I began if you tried. My mouth lifted from her neck to her plump lips and she lifted her hips to mine.

A moan escaped my mouth and Paige pushed further, moving her hips in a circle. Somehow, I managed to pull her closer and make the kiss deeper.

The moment I pulled back to let Paige pull off her shirt, my phone rang from across the room on Paige's dresser.