Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“What?” she asks.
I pull the blindfold up from her eyes, holding her gaze as I lift my thumb and wipe the sauce away from her lip. I lift the thumb to my mouth and suck it clean, nodding without breaking eye contact. “Tastes pretty good,” I say. “You were right.”
“Thanks,” she breathes.
“Now, if you want more, you’re going to have to beg. On your knees.”
She opens her mouth, laughs a little, but then her face goes serious again a moment later. “More sauce?”
“I’m not talking about sauce, Mia. We both know that.”
She swallows. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m serious.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not going to beg you.”
“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to what we were about to do.”
Her tongue flicks out across her lips. “I could meet you halfway. What if I ask nicely?”
I hook my index finger and use it to lift her chin. “You won’t know unless you try, will you?’
“Okay,” she says. Her eyes close and her chest rises with each rapid breath. “Can we please do the thing you were talking about?”
I click my tongue. “That’s not meeting halfway, Mia. You’re still in the damn parking lot.”
“Can we please… hook up?”
“Closer… but, I’m not very good at picking up hints. You’re going to have to make it really, really clear for me. Tell me exactly what you want, and you just might get it.”
“Stop teasing and just kiss me, Nolan.”
I slip my fingers up the back of her neck and into her hair. It’s pulled tightly up into her braid, so I snake my fingers around the braid and give it a tug, tilting her face up towards mine. Her lips part and she gasps, but her focus is all on my mouth.
“There’s still a little sauce,” I say, noticing I didn’t fully wipe the spot from the corner of her mouth.
I bring my face in close, pause, and then run my tongue softly across her lower lip.
I pull back slightly, nodding. “You’re right. Needs a little more acid.”
And then, because I’m an asshole, I step back from her and dust my hands. “We should get this all cleaned up.
“What?” she breathes.
“I told you what it would take. If you’re not going to get on your knees and beg, we’re not–”
I’m cut off because she comes up from behind me and actually shoves me. I spin, staring down at her in disbelief.
“I hate you,” she says through her teeth.
“Good. That’s smart.”
“I wish you never came back to Frosty Harbor.”
“Alright,” I say.
I’m surprised and confused when her eyes fill with tears. She grips the front of my apron and hangs her head. “Nobody I care about ever stays. Everybody leaves.”
“You ended things with me, Mia,” I say. My head is spinning, though. I didn’t expect tears, but maybe I should have.
“You were about to get on a plane and leave for your season. Do you really think I imagined we’d last after that? With girls throwing themselves at you? With me busy all the time starting culinary school?”
I throw my hands up. “What did you want? Did you want me to quit hockey for you? Fuck that.”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t want you to quit anything. I was being realistic. It wasn’t going to work, and there was no point pretending. You weren’t going to quit hockey and I wasn’t going to give up my dreams. I didn’t want to be an anchor around your neck–some burden you’d end up resenting. An obligation.”
Her implication stings, but I don’t let it show. “But you went from me to trying long distance with this Marten asshole, right? Make sense of that for me, Mia.”
She’s breathing hard through her nose, eyes blazing. “I missed you.”
All I can do is laugh. “That’s rich. You break things off with me and then you date somebody else because you miss me? I thought I was the asshole, here.”
“Maybe we’re both assholes,” she says. One of the tears forming in her eyes falls. “I kept doubting my choice after you left. I thought dating someone else would distract me so I could stop tormenting myself. I regretted it, okay? I didn’t know what I should’ve done instead, but I regretted the way it ended.” More tears spill down her cheeks and she wipes at them, sniffing.
The sight of her tears dulls my anger almost instantly. I lift my thumb and wipe at her eye. She leans into my hand, letting me cup her face.
“Maybe we both screwed up,” she whispers.
“Then why stop screwing up now?” I ask.
Our eyes lock, and the unspoken spark of energy I feel between us is all the invitation I need. I grin, then pull the blindfold back down over her eyes.
Our lips collide in a rush of wild movement and heavy breaths. It’s frenetic and messy and absolutely fucking perfect.