Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“I’ll take an apology, too, before you go.”
“Sorry.”
“One for Burgess, too.”
“Sorry.”
“Uh-huh.”
Tallulah had to cross her arms to prevent herself from snatching the glasses off his face. If only to celebrate the fact that she could. She wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she’d fully cured herself of the trauma and fear. She’d made a big stride today, though. If Lara could see her, would she be proud? Tallulah desperately hoped so. In that moment, however, there was one person she wanted to share her triumph with, and he was sitting in the rear booth of the coffee shop, probably restraining himself from intervening.
Tallulah kept a cautious eye on Finn as he got up and scrambled out of the coffee shop, just in case, but once he’d vanished out the front door, Tallulah stood up on shaky legs. She left all her things on the table and wove through customers toward the back booth, only to find that Burgess was already standing, too, watching her with tension bracketing his features. She wasn’t sure what compelled her to break into a jog, only that she wanted to be in those strong arms as quickly as possible—and he was already opening them for her.
She ran, jumped, and was enfolded in the warmest, safest hug of all time.
All she had to do was dangle there, surrounded in strength.
People were taking pictures and she didn’t care. Let them.
“Are you okay, Tallulah?” He clutched her to his body like a giant holding a stuffed bear, his rib cage dipping and expanding on heavy breaths. “Did he—”
“Yes. He did. So I called him a motherfucker and threatened to break his glasses.”
Slowly, a rumble started to spread in Burgess’s chest, his arms squeezing her even closer, his lips pressing to her hairline. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter Seventeen
Burgess couldn’t stop staring at Tallulah.
She’d already had a lively sparkle in her eye, but after what happened in the coffee shop, he could see that spark had always been slightly subdued. Until now. They stood on the rooftop of a building that overlooked Fenway, the famous Citgo sign buzzing fifty yards over their heads, and she was brighter than any star in the sky. More brilliant than the nighttime lights illuminating the field. She put the Citgo sign to shame. She fucking glowed.
Remaining seated in that coffee shop booth had nearly killed him. At one point, he’d been positive his hand was going to rip a chunk out of the Formica table. Especially when that slimeball touched the back of her chair and leaned in. Every instinct inside of Burgess screamed for him to go rampaging through the establishment, flipping tables as he went, roaring for the geek to back up off his girl, but thank God, he’d controlled himself. Stayed put, even though his ribs felt as though they were being crushed by a boulder.
Tallulah had overcome something.
And he could see she was better for it. Proud of herself.
Still hopped up on adrenaline, too, which made her very flirtatious—and Burgess wasn’t mad at that. Quite the opposite, actually. He loved how comfortable she’d grown touching him, almost like it came as second nature since hugging him in the coffee shop.
At the moment, she was leaning back against his chest watching the sliver of Fenway they could see from their vantage point on the roof, the crown of her head tucked beneath his chin. She’d tuned in to the live feed of the Red Sox game on her phone, so the sound of the announcer’s voice mingled with the cool night breeze.
Tallulah’s resulting shiver had Burgess wrapping his arms around her, resting them just beneath her collarbone, letting out a breath when she didn’t protest, relaxing against him even more. Enough to rest the back of her head on his chest.
God. He didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
There was a cracking sound, followed by the announcer’s excited voice. The distant roar of the crowd. Tallulah smiled up at him. “I think they’ve got this one in the bag.”
Having this woman smile up at him was almost too much, so his response was preceded by a lot of gruff sounds. “You know, I could have gotten us tickets to the actual game.”
“No way, this is so much better,” she murmured.
Burgess had to agree wholeheartedly. Even if he’d gotten them seats in one of the air-conditioned boxes, there would have been other people around. And honestly, fuck other people right now, he just needed this one.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her, pressing his lips to her hair.
She made a soft sound and snuggled back against him, steeping him in oranges and basil and contentment. “I was thinking about the stir you created in the coffee shop. You’re kind of a big deal around here. In Boston. But you haven’t always been here, right? Where’s home?”