Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Then do it.” He said it like a challenge and plea all mixed together.
I froze, my muscles contracting for fight or flight, and I had no idea which one my mind would choose until everything snapped into action—and he met me halfway.
My lips crashed to his and our arms wrapped around each other. His hands slid to my ass, and he lifted me up to wrap my legs around his waist as he walked us until my back hit the door.
With my arms around his shoulders, I held him close, holding on tight as tidal wave after tidal wave of emotion crashed over me, almost like I was caught in a riptide. I needed him to cling to, to survive. His fingers dug in, and I knew I’d have bruises on my pale skin, and I relished in them. I wanted them to remember every second.
His tongue pressed into my mouth, and my tongue played with his, remembering his taste like it was yesterday and not years ago.
We ravaged each other like desperate wild animals trying to cram the last five years into one minute—or ten minutes. However long it was. I lost myself in his flavor, in the feel of his flexing muscles that hadn’t been there when we were kids, in the feel of his hard length pressing into me. I hadn’t meant to, but I rocked my hips, unable to help myself, loving his groan of pleasure at the small movement.
His thumbs reached around the front of my ribs, barely brushing the underside of my breasts, and I gasped, thrusting forward hard to ease the shot of electricity to my clit. He took the moment to move his kisses across my jaw and down my neck.
“God, Nova. I missed you,” he whispered for only me to hear. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you. How much I’ve dreamed of this—of you.”
His confession added another tidal wave, and this one hit too hard. Fire burned up the back of my throat, and I tried to blink away the tears but failed. Before I could wipe it away, his lips moved back across my cheek, stalling when he tasted the wet salt.
Slowly, he pulled back, his own eyes cloudy with the same emotions raging through me. One of his hands abandoned my ribs and came up to wipe away my tears. When another slipped free, he kissed it away. He delivered soft, soothing kisses, bringing us both back to shore, where we could finally breathe.
Because I could.
In his arms, finally cracking through the band of tension that squeezed tighter and tighter each day, I could breathe again. Maybe for the first time since I last felt his lips on mine.
“I missed you too,” I admitted.
A loud knock against the door jolted me so hard I almost jumped out of his arms.
“All right, party poopers. We’re heading to bed,” Oren called through the door.
Holding Parker’s stare, the intense moment was broken, but a softness lingered around the edges. With a protesting growl of frustration, he set me down, and we opened the door.
“Sorry, guys. I guess I can’t party like a rock star.”
“We’ve got another month. We’ll train you,” Brogan promised, wrapping his beefy arm around my shoulders in a side hug.
“Can’t wait,” I deadpanned.
By the time we all got ready for bed, I could barely crawl into my bunk. Exhaustion clung to every muscle, making me feel both heavier and lighter from the emotional release. I closed my eyes and didn’t even hear the guys shuffling around in their bunks or their usual jokes before bed. All I heard was the hum of the tires on the blacktop soothing me to sleep.
What felt like two seconds later, my curtain being pushed back woke me up, and I jerked at the shadowy figure hovering on the edge.
“It’s just me,” Parker whispered.
I stared, wide-eyed, watching his shadow climb into my tiny space. My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I was sure he’d hear it in the quiet, but if he did, he didn’t mention it.
He moved slow enough that I’d be able to tell him to get out if I wanted—but I didn’t. Instead, I scooted closer to the wall and made room for him just like I had when we were teens, and he snuck into my room at night.
And just like then, his hand found mine, and the worries from before slipped away.
For the first time in years, on a bus in the middle of nowhere, I knew.
With Parker Callahan, I was home.
Eighteen
Nova
Vera: What is up?
Rae: OMG! It’s been ages since we heard from you. Spill the tea!
Me: We talked three days ago.
Rae: Sooooo long ago.
Vera: Anyone got time for a FaceTime?
Rae: I wish, I have a gala to go to.
Vera: Someone is busy.
Rae: All. The. Time.