Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
My eyes widen and my smile falls. “What?”
He nods at my phone. “You can tag me if you want.”
“Um… are you trying to get me killed?” I ask lightly, but also not, because what the fuck? “If Anae sees it…”
“She will.” Almost casually, he reaches over and toys with the necklace he bought me. He gives me another small smile, but no explanation.
I frown down at the picture.
I don’t think posting it is a good idea, but I guess if he really wants me to…
I don’t tempt fate by tagging him, though.
I feel uneasy as we walk into the shop. I don’t have a ton of followers, but it seems impossible that the picture won’t get back to Anae. I don’t understand why he wants her to see that.
“Dare, I think I should at least private the picture so no one else can see it,” I say, unable to get it off my mind. “Of course it would be nice to be able to put pictures of us up on social media, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to provoke her.”
“Stop worrying about her,” he tells me, giving my hand a squeeze. “I’ve got all that under control.”
How?
I want to ask, but I don’t. Dare is looking around the shop, so I try to be in the moment and look around with him.
It’s definitely not where I thought he would bring me.
“This is where my parents met,” he tells me.
I look around the simple popcorn place. There’s prepackaged stuff on the shelves, and a popcorn bar in the back where you can order individual paper cones of the different flavors. It’s a cute little popcorn shop, not some extravagant place like I would have imagined. “Oh, yeah?”
He nods, looking around at the flavored packages of popcorn lining the shelves. “She was here on a date with someone else, some dorky guy who made her laugh. My dad took one look at her, saw how beautiful and happy she was, and knew he had to have her.”
I don’t know why, but hearing that makes me feel a little sad. Maybe it’s knowing how it all turned out.
“She used to talk about him a lot.” He glances back at me. “The guy she left to be with my dad. I think she regretted it as soon as the initial thrill wore off. The guy she was seeing was some broke fuck from New York. He had no real skills and could never give her the kind of life my dad could, but he did something my dad didn’t know how to do. He made her smile.”
That feeling of sadness deepens. I haven’t met his mother, but I feel sad for the girl he’s telling me about, the one who got swept up with the wrong guy and left the right one.
Dare turns to look at me. “I always want to make you smile.”
His words take me off guard like a sock to the stomach. I soften, walking over to hug him around the waist. “You do make me smile,” I assure him.
“It doesn’t always occur to me to… express what someone means to me. I think I picked it up from my father. He’s not great at that, either.”
“You do, though.”
He wraps his arms around me, too. “I try to remind myself to, but if I ever forget, I need you to remind me. My mind doesn’t work the way yours does, so I’m sure over the course of our relationship I’ll come up short from time to time.” He looks down at me, one hand coming up to cradle my face. “I may hurt you accidentally, but I’ll never do it on purpose.”
I lean up and give him a little kiss. “I trust you.”
He smiles, a glint of fondness in his eyes. “Good.” Breaking the intensity, he lets me go and grabs my hand. “Now, let’s get some popcorn.”
Chapter thirty-five
Aubrey
I return home with the taste of cinnamon-sugar popcorn on my lips, the imprint of Dare’s fingers on my thighs, and happiness in my heart.
It has been a rollercoaster of a weekend, but it feels nice to finally have a little calm.
Dare walks me to the door and kisses me. I ask if he’ll be back after Mom goes to sleep, but he teases that he should probably give my pussy a break. He grabs my neck and pulls me close, giving me one more lingering kiss. Then he lets go, and walks down the steps. I sigh a little, hanging onto the railing as I watch him walk back to his car.
I shower and spend the rest of the night hanging out with Mom.
When I go to bed alone, even though I completely agree about my pussy needing a break, a small part of me still hopes he’ll show up at my bedroom window. Even if we don’t have sex, he could still cuddle with me. I enjoy sleeping with his strong arms around me.