Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 86199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Do you have any idea what a wuss that would make me look like?”
A sigh escapes from me. “You realize that it’s perfectly normal to discuss your feelings, right?”
“Maybe for chicks it is, but not for a guy.”
I shake my head, feeling even worse for him. “That’s not true at all. Men have feelings just like women, and it’s okay to express them. In fact, it’s necessary. Healthy. There’s so much strength in being able to do that,” I say lightly.
His lips press together, and I can almost see him turning over my words. “I’ll think about it,” he finally concedes.
“Good.”
As we reach the edge of campus, he throws out the invite. “Come home with me?”
I really shouldn’t.
The more time I spend with Maverick, the more layers I peel back. There’s an unexpected depth buried beneath the surface that continues to draw me in.
“Sunshine?”
For better or worse, the endearment is enough to send the last of my walls crumbling.
“Okay.”
27
Maverick
Hayes flicks a look our way as I walk through the front door of the hockey house with one arm thrown around Willow’s slender shoulders. All I want to do is keep her anchored to my side for safekeeping.
More than that, I want to know she’s mine.
I’ve never wanted to belong to someone else, but with her, I do.
I want her to claim me.
The thought should knock me back a step and have me reevaluating everything. Instead, something inside me settles. It’s like the tumblers of a safe finally falling into place.
I’m still mentally tripping about all the things I’ve shared with her this evening. When we’re together, everything I normally keep tightly contained or try to ignore pours out of me. I have no idea why I’m so comfortable in her presence. She manages to smooth out all my rough edges.
She really is like pure sunshine in a bottle.
And when I’m with her, I feel the warmth of it radiating on my face. I just want to bask in her light.
I give Hayes a quick chin lift in greeting. He returns the gesture before his gaze slices to Willow. His brows pinch as his easy-going expression turns inscrutable.
The tension that fills the atmosphere is almost enough to give me pause.
Willow doesn’t make eye contact with him. Instead, her attention remains focused on the staircase.
A minute or so later we’re in my room and I’m locking the door behind us, shuttering away the rest of the world.
But still…the weird energy downstairs circles through my brain.
“Do you know Hayes?” The question is out of my mouth before I can rein it back in.
She glances away before her gaze resettles on mine again and she straightens her shoulders. “We attended the same high school.”
My brows shoot up at that bit of information. “Huh. I didn’t know that.”
She shrugs. “We were never close.”
A strange silence descends as she unzips her black jacket. I consider asking a few more questions, wanting to lay the matter to rest, but I’m more interested in getting my hands on her.
Within seconds, my arms slip around her body and my lips are descending. There’s something about the feel of her that quiets all the static in my brain, making it impossible to think about anything but her.
Instead of making me work for it, she opens so that my tongue can slip inside her warmth to tangle with her own.
The first taste is dizzying and hits me like a freight train.
The need to touch her bare flesh spirals through me. I can’t stand the layer of clothing that separates us and keeps me from her.
I shove the jacket off her shoulders. That’s all it takes for the heavy material to drop to the floor at our feet. Her sweatshirt is the next item to be removed. We only break away long enough for me to whip the soft fabric over her head. Already, her blue eyes are dazed and lips swollen from my kisses.
Everything inside me swells.
I fucking love that I’m the one who put that expression on her gorgeous face.
It’s one that says she needs a good fucking.
By me.
Only me.
Unable to resist, my hands cup the softness of her breasts through the silky material of her bra. It doesn’t take long for her nipples to stiffen. I tweak the hard little buds until a moan slips free from her lips.
“Do you like that, baby?” I know she does. Every reaction I’m able to tease from her tells me so.
But I want her to acknowledge it.
“Yes.”
When I tweak them again in tandem, her pupils dilate in response.
“Do you enjoy the way I bring your body to life?”
Her tongue darts out to moisten her lips. “You know I do. No one’s ever touched me like this.”
It wouldn’t matter if they had, but it fucking gets me off to hear her admit that I’m the only one who’s figured out the way she likes her body played with. What turns her on and makes her pussy sob uncontrollably. All I want to do is please this woman and give her everything she craves.