I closed my mouth and changed what I’d been about to say. Voice calm, I told him, “You said we needed to carve out time for each other, otherwise none of this mattered. You remember telling me that?”
Kellan sighed. “I know, but that was before things got so messed up.” He ran a finger across my cheek. “And who is to say that anything will change when I do make another statement. They’re so curious about my life, they might still hound you. They might still hate you, call you names. I can’t handle that. I can’t do my job if I’m constantly worrying about you. I just want you safe, even if that means we have to be apart.”
He looked really guilty at playing the job card, but I knew he was frustrated with the situation and was being totally honest with me, and I respected him for that honesty. My answer to him was just as forthright. “And I just want to be with you. I can handle being mobbed. I can handle being photographed. I can handle being ridiculed. And I can even handle being slapped . . . on occasion.” I grabbed both of his cheeks. “What I can’t handle is people forcing us to behave in a certain way. People forcing us to be apart. We’re not playing their game anymore, remember? We’ve fought too hard to be together. It’s us against the world, Kellan, and they don’t dictate our relationship. We do.”
A slow smile curved Kellan’s lips. “This attitude you’ve got right now is very attractive.”
I laced my arms around his neck and brought his lips down to mine. “Then stop trying to send me away, and make love to me.”
Eagerly returning my kiss, he finally helped me take his jeans off.
When I woke up sometime later, I was naked. I felt around for my clothes, but couldn’t find them anywhere. That was alarming, since there weren’t a whole lot of places for clothes to hide in our small cubby. Opening my eyes, I looked around for my pajamas. It was lighter, so I could clearly see everything around me, and I still didn’t see them anywhere. Sitting up on my elbows, I noted that the bus was moving.
Kellan was asleep beside me; if I’d woken up before him, then he really hadn’t slept well the night before when I was away. His clothes were nowhere to be seen either. What the hell? I clearly remembered shoving our clothes in the corners, because I didn’t want them falling in the aisle again.
I nudged Kellan in the ribs. He made a noise that sounded like, “What?” but he didn’t open his eyes.
“Kellan? Are our clothes on the floor?”
Maybe we’d been so caught up in the moment last night that they’d fallen out despite my precautions. Kellan cracked an eye open, then yawned. “What clothes?”
I laughed at him. “The clothes neither one of us are wearing.”
Kellan smiled and rolled over to put his head on my chest. “Those are my favorite kinds of clothes.”
His hands started traveling up my body, and I closed my eyes. Mmmm, his hands felt nice. Feeling playful, Kellan grabbed the blanket with his teeth and exposed my chest. Before I could stop him, his mouth was sucking on my breast. God, what was I missing? Forcing his head away so I could think clearly, I glared at him. “Could you take a peek and see if they’re on the floor?”
Kellan’s eyes were locked on my chest. “You sure you want me to do that?”
Giggling, I pushed his shoulder away. “Yes, please find them.”
Kellan peeked his head out of the curtain, then instantly returned. He was frowning. “There’s nothing out there.”
I sat up, looked at all four corners, and even under the sheet. There were no clothes. “Where’s our stuff then?”
“I don’t—” Kellan stopped talking, then sighed. “I’m gonna kill that fucker, new dad or not.”
My eyes went wide as I tucked the blanket under my armpits, completely covering my chest. “Griffin stole our clothes?”
Kellan cocked an eyebrow in answer. I wanted to be mortified that Griffin had peeked in on me while I was sleeping, and I really hoped I’d been fully covered by the blanket, but Griffin being a jackass was so wonderfully normal that I ended up bursting out laughing. Normal was good. Normal was great. I almost wanted to kiss Griffin. Almost.
The look Kellan gave me made it clear that he thought I’d officially lost my mind. Maybe I had, but Griffin’s mischief was so much better than a complete stranger telling me I was worthless garbage.
Giggling, I pushed Kellan’s butt with my knees. “Go get some new clothes for us.”
Kellan groaned as he stuck his legs out of the curtain. “You want me to go out there naked?”
I held the blanket tighter around me. I may think Griffin’s joke was funny, but I did not want to sit here with no clothes on with only a thin fluttery curtain as cover. “Do you care if you’re naked, Kellan?”