When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

16. Ellie - 2005

Twelve Years Ago

I open one eye with a groan, and the matching popcorn awards from the MTV event last night are on the dresser. Last night wasn't a dream. The memory washes over me, and I close my eyes, letting contentment linger.

Wyatt's arm snakes out of nowhere in the king-size bed to circle my waist, yanking me back against his chest. "You're awake?" he mumbles.

"Last night..." I grin. Of course, I knew his plan, but I still can't believe we pulled off the elaborate scenario on stage without a hitch.

"Sometimes being famous is fun." Wyatt's voice is muffled by my shoulder, his lips so close to my skin their movement sends a shiver through me. "How you feeling this morning?"

"Hungover." I shift closer to him, pressing my ass into his morning erection. Even with a pounding headache and a dry mouth, I'd let him ease into me from behind, let an orgasm brush the cobwebs away.

"You want something to take the edge off?" He runs his hand down my leg and back up. My skin prickles at his touch.

"What have you got in mind?" My voice is breathy with desire. How will I ever get enough of him?

"Shower, together. Then, there's a place I want to take you."

"Somewhere you haven't taken me before?"

"You don't know all my secrets yet." There's a smile in his voice.

I turn around in his arms and run my hands along his toned chest. His muscles twitch as I trace them. He likes to tease me with his ability to isolate the movements. He has another tell that let's me know I'm not the only one thinking about what we'll be doing in the shower. His breath hitches every time I hit a sensitive place. "I have to go home at some point this morning. I don't have any clothes left here." I bury my face in his neck.

He tugs me flush against him. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I want you to move in here."

I frown and draw back to search his face. "You want me to move in here? Into the house you share with Isaac?"

"Technically Isaac doesn't live here. Just feels like he does. But, yeah. I hate being gone anywhere and knowing you're in that shitty apartment so far away from my house."

"That shitty apartment was a stroke of luck for me. I'm not sure about giving it up." Living with Wyatt wouldn't be a hardship—I spend enough time here as it is. But I have to remember to keep my long-term options in mind.

Wyatt frowns. "Why not?"

"We've only been doing whatever we're doing for a year."

"So?" The frown still mars his face. "What are you getting at?"

"I don't want to give up my sweet-ass shitty apartment if there's a chance you're going to get tired of me." I've thought it a million times. At some point this will end. I've never had a reason to say the truth out loud.

Wyatt laughs, deep and full. "Tired of you?" Disbelief is evident in his voice.

"I'm not naïve. You've dated lots of people." Now it's my turn to frown. He's been fodder for the gossip mags since he was a teenager. Everyone knows Wyatt's ex-girlfriends.

He gives me an amused look. "Oh yeah? Name some of them."

I shift away from him to start counting on my hand. "Rebecca Jakes, Sadie Croft, Kristin Bristow, Jennifer Banks." I take a breath to continue, and his hand closes over mine.

"Okay, so, a couple of those might be legitimate," Wyatt concedes. He cups the side of my face, and his thumb rubs my cheek. "I should have said this to you last night. After the night we had, saying the words then would have been a hell of a lot more romantic. If you think I'm not serious about you, you're dead wrong."