Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Chapter Forty
Ashton
As birthday celebrations go, it’s a small gathering. Just Bryce and a couple of friends from work. And Brett and the brother.
The date.
I’m in the kitchen with Bryce and the guys, bullshitting about work and women over beer and pizza, but I’m only half interested. I can’t keep my attention from wandering to the living room, where Sadie is trying her damnedest not to look at me. She’s failing miserably.
She and my sister are standing in a small group of friends…and Brett and the brother.
The date.
Fuck, it digs under my skin that this guy is anywhere near my girl. Logically, I have no reason to harbor such jealousy—she told me as much herself the last time we went on one of our “friend dates.” But logic and assurances does jack shit from stopping me from wanting to stalk over there and claim her as mine in front of everyone.
We’ve kept our budding relationship on the down low, and Mandy and Bryce are the only ones who have an inkling of what’s going on. By the end of the night, if my plans play out like I’m hoping, Sadie and I will no longer be a secret.
We’ll no longer be stuck in limbo hell, trapped in the constraints of Sadie’s unbendable rules.
And it’s about time. For weeks now, I’ve barely managed to keep my hands and lips to myself, and it’s been absolute torture.
Laughter filters through the living room, and I find Sadie piercing me with her green eyes from where she stands as she chats with one of Mandy’s friends from the club.
I know the brunette…intimately. I can’t recall her name, but I remember her colorful ink of butterflies and barbed wire that circle her wrists. She says something that makes Sadie laugh.
Beautiful laughter as melodious as the finest symphony.
The brunette happens to catch my gaze, and there’s no mistaking the inviting design of her smile. Sadie picks up on it and falls silent.
Shit.
I’ve fucked half of the female population in Douglas Falls, so keeping Sadie away from my past conquests is an impossibility. She knows my sordid history better than most, but now that things have shifted between us, I’m not sure how she’ll handle the inevitable run-ins with the girls I’ve hooked up with.
Hopefully, after tonight, it won’t matter. There will be no more doubt, no more insecurities. No more running from something that is scary and a huge step but so fucking worth it.
No more waiting.
The brunette’s attention is lured away by Brett, and Sadie takes a sip of her cocktail, meeting my gaze above the rim of her glass. Those jade eyes narrow on me, darkening with a hint of jealousy and a whole lot of awareness. I swear she knows what I’m thinking.
Tonight is the night I’m going to bust through the last of her walls, and she’s going to let me. Everyone around us might as well fade away because Sadie and I fall into intense moments of longing, surrendering to the connection that not even a room full of people can shatter. We’re going to cross the line tonight. It doesn’t even need to be spoken.
“You’re totally going to fuck her.” Bryce takes a swig of his beer.
“Did your crystal ball tell you that?”
“Please,” he scoffs, “I don’t need bullshit mumbo jumbo to spell it out for me. If eyesight had the power to strip, you’d both be naked a dozen times over, man.” He nods toward Sadie. “Why don’t you take her into your bedroom and get it over with?”
“Are you serious right now?” I arch a brow at him, and the other guys laugh before Bryce can reply.
“That’s hilarious,” says Preston, a guy from my crew. “Ash and Sadie? Riiiight.” The guy’s buzzed and doesn’t mean anything by it, but that still doesn’t stop me from socking him in the shoulder. “Don’t be a douche. It’s my birthday.”
“You’re pushing fifty now, right?”
“Dude, take that back. Don’t make me sic my sister on you.”
He throws his hands in the air. “Your sister is scary as fuck.”
I’m about to agree with him when I catch movement out of my peripheral. Sadie saunters toward the kitchen, and she’s got a sexy, come-hither curve to her lips. I’m powerless against her witchery—she never fails to tempt my dick into a standing ovation.
“Have I told you ‘Happy Birthday’ yet?” She stops on the other side of the bar and sets down her empty tumbler.
“You might’ve told me a time or two.” I grab her glass and mix her another drink before sliding it into her waiting hands. “Want another piece of pizza?”
She glances down at her drink. “What I want is a little alcohol with the juice. Did you forget I hit the legal age over a year ago, Ash?”
“Nope.” As I lean over the bar and shoot her a flirty grin, I’m fully aware the guys have gone quiet. “Maybe I don’t want to get you drunk.”