Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
He laughed. “Yes, I do. Gonna give you my V-card.”
“Your V-card? Well, at least your booty V-card, but I’ll gladly take it.”
“Yes, you should take it.”
We kissed again. I hadn’t meant for it to last very long, but I took my time, worshipping his mouth. His lips felt so good against mine, and I loved the way his breath hit my face. When he managed to pull away from me, he leaned back and gazed down at me, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I was cocky, knowing all that he’d let me do with him.
“Thank you,” Jace said.
I winced, surprised by the comment. “For?”
“For taking my mind off all that stuff we brought up tonight.”
“I should be thanking you for taking my mind off everything. I’ve been in such a fucking crazy state of mind all day, making probably way too big a deal out of shit from so long ago. It helped to enjoy this with you.” And I was relieved to know I could provide him with a similar sense of ease.
He started to roll off me, and I rolled with him so we lay on our sides, gazing at one another, much longer than we’d done in the past, but it was nice, neither of us talking, just being present, knowing so much more now about one another.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“In this moment?” I was trying to be cheeky.
Apparently Jace wasn’t letting me get away with it, because he said, “I’m being serious, Dax. About everything that’s going on. With what happened with those pics and with everything we talked about.”
“Better. It all just blindsided me. Haven’t had much time to process it.” Although, messing around had lightened my mood a bit. Helped me think straight.
“Just like with my shit, it’s in the past,” Jace said. “We can sit here beating ourselves up over it, or we can move on. Trust me, I know I’m not holding Lil’ Donnie Gibson right now. I’m holding sexy, confident, cocky-as-hell Dax Munro.”
I laughed at his words, but he was right about that…he was right about a lot of things whenever we chatted. Although, that was likely part of what made him fit for his job. He could handle insanity, find a way to focus in some of the most difficult, life-altering situations I could imagine.
“Admittedly,” I began, “it’s been a bit of a struggle to remember I’m not that confused kid anymore. I know who I am these days. It’ll be annoying as fuck to have to hear the name again, but I have a whole life I’ve built for myself that has nothing to do with that.” I inspected Jace’s expression. “What about you? How do you feel about everything we talked about, with your past?”
“I’m never going to be able to look back on any of that and feel good about it.”
“That’s not how I meant it. Are you okay with this endorsement deal and being this image other people have of you…like you have your whole life?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m living a lie. I am who I am, and no, I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve all the time, but I don’t think I’m a bad person because of that.”
“No, you’re not that, Jace. You’re a really awesome person, but it has nothing to do with you being easygoing. It has to do with the way you look at the world and the way you care about others.”
“Eh, I’m alright, I guess.”
“You’re better than that, but I’ll let it slide this time. I have too much other shit to figure out before tomorrow.” And boy, did I ever…
“Don’t make it too complicated, though. If you don’t want to be in the spotlight again, just tell Hacksmore that. He might be annoyed, but it’s not up to him.”
“That’s the easy part,” I said. “I already know I’m not going to use this for publicity. I don’t want us running around, pretending there’s something here that just isn’t.”
“You really think there’s nothing here?” He arched a brow before offering a suspicious glare.
“Not what I meant at all. There definitely is. I’m having a lot of fun, and I really like you, Jace.”
“Enough that you’re blushing as you say that, wow.”
My cheeks were warmer than I ever wanted to admit to myself, and I pushed at his shoulder, saying, “Shut the fuck up!”
“It’s okay that you like me a lot. I like you too, Dax.”
“I shouldn’t enjoy you saying that as much as I do.” I tucked my head against the sheets. “That’s the issue. I’m trying to decide about us.”
“What do you mean decide?”
“I like messing around with you, but I don’t want to complicate either of our lives by keeping something going that maybe we both need to walk away from.” I hadn’t wanted to say those words, but it was the thought that kept playing in my mind.