Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142: AJ POV

The grill hisses in front of me, its smoke curling into the late afternoon air like a promise. It’s the golden hour–that sweet spot between the late afternoon heat and dusk where the sunlight turns everything syrupy warm and makes the lake shimmer like it’s holding onto secrets. I flip a burger with more flair than necessary, while Hunter mutters something about me being insufferable. I take it as a compliment.

Cade is lounging nearby with his sunglasses perched low on his nose, and Xavier is stacking paper plates with the precision of a man who pretends he doesn’t care but absolutely does. Hunter is pretending to supervise us all, but he’s mostly sipping from a water bottle like it’s vodka and he’s

over it.

And then there’s her.

75

Layla. My Layla. Our Layla.

Damp hair still clings to her shoulders, her cheeks are flushed from the sun and all the swimming we’ve done, and that new swimsuit of hers hugs her in ways that should be illegal. She’s radiant. She’s sun–warmed and smiling, and has a little swing in her step as she walks toward me. My chest tightens as I struggle to keep my gaze off her, and not just because I forgot to breathe.

She circles behind me, her arms slowly sliding around my waist like it’s second nature, and her chin lands on my shoulder. “You know,” she murmurs against my neck as she points to the grilling burgers in front of me, “that one’s starting to look a little burnt around the edges, hotshot.”

“So am I,” I mutter, turning my head slightly towards her, “but you don’t seem to mind.”

Her lips twitch against my skin before she says, “Someone’s cocky today.”

“You keep pressing against me like that with that delectable body of yours, and I’ll be more than cocky.”

She laughs, and it’s low, wicked, and filled with fondness. Her arms tighten around me where they are resting across my toned stomach, and my right hand finds hers instinctively, my fingers lacing through hers as I set the spatula down for a moment.

“You’re kind of dangerous like this,” I tell her quietly. “All soft and sweet and wrapped around me like you belong here.”

“That’s because I do,” she replies, not missing a beat.

1/4

10:18 Thu, Sep 18

Chapter 142: AJ POV

༣(75),

Her words do something sharp and warm to my chest. Holding onto her one arm, I slowly swivel around so the grill is at my back and she’s between me and the picnic table. I take a couple of slow steps, effectively guiding her backwards, and then cage her against its edge with a hand on either side of her, my thumbs brushing the curve of her hips. She doesn’t move, and she doesn’t blink. She just looks at me like I’m her everything.

“You know I love you, right?” I ask her softly as I lean in closer.

Her smile softens as she replies, “I know.”

“Then don’t look at me like that if you want the burgers to be edible.”

“Like what?” she asks with feigned innocence, but the glint of mischief in her eyes is intoxicating.

“Like

you want to start a fire we won’t be able to put out until sunrise,” I growl in her ear.

She stands on her tiptoes, and her mouth brushes the shell of my ear when she says, “Maybe I do.”

My groan is theatrical, but the way my hands go to her hips and tighten there? That’s real.

She presses her hands against my still–naked chest, warm and solid, and I can’t stop myself. I lean into her again, my nose brushing hers, and my lips close enough to taste her breath.

“You keep this up,” I whisper, “and we’re gonna give Xavier a whole new reason to yell.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t tempt me,” she whispers back as her eyes search mine.

I glide my left hand to her lower back, and pull her gently against me, just enough to see her grin falter–just enough to feel her breath catch–at what she feels against her lower stomach.

“Oh, sweetheart,” I say, my voice low and gravelly. “I’m not tempting you. I’m promising you.”

She lets out a little sound that’s half sigh, half nervous laugh, and it curls down my spine like heat. When Xavier yells something unintelligible from the water’s edge, I don’t hear it. Not really.

Because all my attention is on her. And I’m a fucking goner.

I lean in slowly, nuzzling the curve of her neck with my nose, and breathe her in. Her skin smells like sunscreen and sunshine and lake water, and something sweeter underneath that’s just Layla. My lips skim along the slope of her neck–light enough to be a whisper–until I reach that spot just beneath her ear that always makes her breath hitch.

2/4

10:18 Thu, Sep 18

Chapter 142: AJ POV

:

As anticipated, she sucks in a soft gasp, and her spine arches ever so slightly against my torso.

“Oh, you like that?” I murmur, dragging my mouth up toward her ear. My voice is low, dipped in gravel and heat. “Tell me, Cupcake… Where else are you sensitive today?”

Her only answer is a shaky exhale.

75

So I keep going, deliberately at a slow pace. My lips trace the shell of her ear, then down the line of her throat. I press a kiss to the crook of her neck, then another closer to her jaw, and another just above it, until my mouth hovers near hers–so close that she could tilt her head up a little and close the distance herself. But I don’t give her that satisfaction. Not yet.

Instead, I slide my left hand underneath the cutout at her waist, my palm flat, and my fingers curling possessively along her naked skin towards her ass. My right hand lifts and cradles the back of her head as I shift my hips closer to her, grinding against the junction of her thighs just enough for her to feel the heat of me–hard and still growing–beneath the fabric of my thin swim trunks.

She lets out a breathy sound that’s somewhere between a sigh and a whimper, and then rocks her hips instinctively, chasing the friction only I can provide her in this moment.

“Fuck,” I breathe against her cheek. “You keep moving like that, and I’m gonna embarrass myself in front of the other guys.”

Her laugh is shaky and breathless. “Maybe you shouldn’t have started this, then.”

I press my lips just below the corner of her mouth, lingering there, my breath ghosting over her skin as I say, “Oh, baby. I start a lot of things. That doesn’t mean I plan to finish them right here.”

She shivers, and her hands glide to my sides, where her fingers clench slightly, her nails lightly digging into my skin.

The air around us feels thick, the scent of grilled food and warm sand barely noticeable compared to the way she smells, the way she feels, and the heat that’s building between us. Cade yells something obscene from off in the distance, and someone else laughs too loudly.

But I don’t move.

Not until she whispers, “AJ…”

And even then, all I do is wickedly smile against her jaw. “You’re perfect,” I murmur, kissing the corner of her mouth again, “You know that?”

3/4

10:18 Thu, Sep 18

…

Chapter 142: AJ POV

She doesn’t answer me, just sinks into my chest, while her one hand goes to rest over my heart like she’s anchoring herself there.

And maybe she is. Because I’m not going anywhere.

I brush a calloused thumb gently down her cheek. “I meant what I said, you know. I love you. I don’t care how public, messy, or loud it gets. I’ll always be all in with you.”

She blinks up at me once, twice, then leans in and kisses me quick and firm. “Same.”

That’s the thing about Layla. She never overdoes it. She just gives you exactly what you need at the exact moment you need it.

We’re interrupted again when Hunter calls out that the burgers are starting to smell like they’re done, so I sigh dramatically and turn back to the grill.

Layla keeps leaning against the table, watching me with her arms loosely folded under her chest and a soft smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth.

“I’m calling dibs on dessert, though,” I tell her over my shoulder.

She raises a brow, then asks, “Dessert, huh?”

“Yup,” I reply, popping the p. “And I’m not talking about roasted marshmallows.”

At that, she walks off, laughing, and I flip the burgers with more concentration this time.

But my heart is thudding, stupidly, happily. Because of this girl, this summer, and these guys.

Our lives might be a bit of a mess right now. But it’s our mess.

And damn if it doesn’t feel like home.

Chapter Comments

4

Write Comments

<SHARE

4/4

10:18 Thu, Sep 18

…