Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Jake didn’t comment when I finished, except to stare at me like I was nuts. But Logan did. His face clouded over with some unknown emotion, and he pushed off of Jake’s back without a second thought to whether he would retaliate, then marched toward me with intent glistening in his crystalline eyes.
I raised my hands to ward him off. We didn’t need another scene in front of half the town. “You’re going to kiss me in front of everyone, aren’t you?”
His square jaw, covered in a week’s worth of bristle, nodded slowly as his hand whipped up and grabbed me by the back of the neck, jerking me into his body.
“Get used to it,” he ordered softly, covering my mouth with his.
Hoots sounded around us like they had at the bar. I was stiff at first, then gave in to my feelings for this man and melted into his warm body. When Logan pulled back and rested his brow against mine, I closed my eyes and drank in the sense of belonging. I could have stood like that forever, but Josh wasn’t one to keep his mouth shut for long.
“You can thank me later for spilling the beans, so you didn’t have to.”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped back and looked over to where Jake had been lying in the snow. The imprint of his body was there but he was nowhere to be seen.
Josh pointed to the right as I scanned the crowd for my brother. I turned and caught sight of Jake climbing inside one of his friends’ trucks.
“Jake!”
He stopped when I called out and turned his head to look back at me. Even through the falling snow, I read the anger still bubbling under the surface. He looked to my left when Logan wrapped an arm around my waist, shook his head, then disappeared inside the cab of the truck.
“He needs time to calm down before you push the issue.”
I glanced up at Logan. “I know, but it doesn’t help. I hate fighting with him.”
“Maybe pizza and beer will help if you’ve got a pizza joint in this town.”
“We do. Make it the works and I’m game,” Josh easily agreed.
Max bumped my leg and I reached down to pet him, running my cold fingers through his wet hair. He was still on his leash, which seemed odd to me after he’d had free rein since I’d met him, so I unclipped it from his collar and patted my leg so he would follow me.
“Last one to the truck buys,” I called out.
Josh dashed past me and Max followed him, but Logan came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist to stop me in my tracks. His mouth found one of my cold ears as he pulled my back against his front. “You okay?”
Was I okay that my brother was so pissed off that he couldn’t be around me?
“Not really. He’s trying to protect me, I get that. He has a right to his feelings, even if he’s wrong, but I hate it when we fight. It’s been the three of us since my father died, so when we fight, it hits home a little harder. We know better than anyone, last words can haunt a person if they’re said in anger and you don’t have a chance to make amends.”
“I’ve got no experience with family dynamics,” Logan admitted, “but I know one thing, he’ll be back by morning. Give him tonight with his friends, then we’ll deal with his concerns when he’s calmer.”
I relaxed into his body. “Did they teach you diplomacy in the army?”
“It’s classified.” He moved to my side and started walking toward my truck.
“Did you ever get into fights with your friends in the army?”
His arm tightened slightly around my shoulders. It was the only sign I could see that I’d hit on a sore subject. “Sometimes. But I always won the arguments.”
I glanced up to see if he was kidding. “Did you now?”
His eyes twinkled back at me and his mouth twitched briefly. “I was a minimum of four inches taller than the rest of my unit.”
We’d reached my truck, so I spun around, facing him fully. “So you strong-armed them is what you’re telling me.”
His mouth pulled into a full grin and answered, “Yep,” popping the P again like Jamie had done earlier.
“And you got away with it?”
He nodded. “Coop—” he swallowed before continuing “— would try, Buster knew better, and Loverboy was too busy with his books to pay attention.”
“Coop. Buster. Loverboy?”
“Nicknames. Coop is short for Cooper. Buster for Buster Douglas since he was a boxer, and Loverboy because he had shit skills with the ladies.”
I considered asking if these friends were the reason for his nightmares but stopped myself. He would tell me when he was ready.
“What was your nickname?”