Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Cody chuckled as he set the pitchers down. “While I normally would be taking advantage of an opportunity like this…”
He waved a hand at the women in a line on the dance floor, tossing their hips as they spun and kicked to the choreographed dance. Most of them wore cowgirl boots and were in varying states of dress. Cut-offs and jeans and dainty dresses.
Mack’s was never in short supply of the fairer sex, and it’d become the place Ryder and Cody hung out most. Ezra had, too, until he’d fallen hard and gotten married a couple years ago. Brianna was home with their little girl, so Ryder’s cousin was flying solo tonight.
“Tonight is all about my sister,” Cody finished.
Ryder’s stomach tightened in a fist, though he kept grinning like he was completely unaffected. “When did she get back into town?”
“This morning. Graduation and birthday in the same week.” Awe shook Cody’s head as he slipped onto a stool. “She graduated with honors all while managing a bakery off campus the entire time. I figure we have some celebrating to do.”
Of course, she had.
This was Dakota they were talking about. Ryder wouldn’t have expected anything less. She was crazy smart and crazy talented, and he knew she was going to be crazy successful.
Pride filled his chest, all while it got mixed with something unsettled. This shaky anticipation gliding through his nerves that he needed to shuck.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her over the years when she’d come back to visit. But it’d always been quick. In passing. He’d been sure to keep his distance because he’d never fully squashed what she’d triggered in him four years ago.
Gratitude, he guessed it was. The fact Dakota had seen him when he’d been at his lowest. Pulled him out of the dark place he’d thought he’d be a prisoner to forever.
Lit a path.
The girl a beacon he couldn’t help but follow.
Because of her, he was different. Fighting for something better.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still trapped, so he knew he had to maintain that distance. Go on pretending everything was just fine while his soul crawled with the filth of what he’d succumbed to.
A frenzy suddenly broke through the crush.
Paisley, Beth, and Chloe, Dakota’s three best friends, were pure smiles, tossing their arms in the air and squealing with their excitement as they clambered for the table. “We’re here! It’s party time, baby!”
A smirk tugged at Ryder’s mouth. They were all fucking cute. Living this life the way it should be lived. Happy and free and with a zest that traveled out ahead of them.
“Looks like we’re in for a bit of trouble tonight,” Ryder said, standing so he could give them a round of hugs.
“That’s right, Ryder. No one here is going to know what hit them,” Paisley said as she swept in for a massive hug. He picked her up and shook her around. “Good to see you, Paisley-Cakes.”
But it was who cut in behind them that stole his breath and sent his stupid heart pounding, what had him setting Paisley onto her feet because he didn’t think he could physically hold her up any longer.
Dakota looked like she’d aged a decade, and not in a bad way, either. She was all woman now, the angles of her face growing more defined, her waist cinching down, her hips fuller. There was a confidence to her that she hadn’t worn before, and she wore it well in this babydoll dress that was long-sleeved but short as fuck, exposing her thighs.
She was still soft, though, delicate in every way, that sweetness radiating around her as she gave Ezra and Cody hugs. Ryder tried not to tremble as she slowly inched his way, and he wondered if he was the only one who felt the air cloud and grow dense.
She bit down on her plump bottom lip as she approached, and she seemed almost careful as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stalled for only a second before he curled his around her waist and tugged her close, a fool who was breathing out in some kind of twisted relief.
The scent he could never erase from his mind inundated him.
Sugar and vanilla and all things sweet.
“I’m so glad you came.” She whispered it like it was their secret.
He forced himself to untangle himself from her body and sent her a gentle grin. “Like I was going to miss your party? This has been four years in the making. I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Congrats, Dakota.”
Redness splashed her cheeks. It was a bitch resisting the urge to reach out to trace the color with his fingertips.
“It was a great experience,” she said, like she was purposefully taking them back to the night when they’d shared their last real conversation. When their connection had been so powerful that it’d struck a chord inside him, a resonation that had shifted his insides around, made him sure he was going to earn the right for her to be looking at him the way she had then.