Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
In the meantime…
I’m going to give her the best memories tonight; memories she’ll never want to forget.
I grasp her hand in mine, and she looks down briefly at our entwined fingers before going back to staring at the glowing Ferris wheel. She doesn’t pull away from my touch.
“Wanna ride the Ferris wheel?” I ask, still watching her. I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from her face. She’s just so goddamn beautiful. And cute.
Riley nods excitedly. “Yes! Can we? I’ve never been on a Ferris wheel before.”
She’s like a kid, innocent and eager in her curiosity.
I grin, brushing my thumb over the back of her knuckles. “We’re going to change that tonight.”
It’s a little late and the carnival closes in an hour, so most people have already left. The crowd is dwindling. We make our way to the waiting line of the Ferris wheel. There’s only a couple before us. I pay for our tickets and then nudge Riley to get into the empty seat, before I slide in next to her.
The girl operating the machine closes the metal bar around us and locks it, before the Ferris wheel starts moving again. Our booth sways back and forth. The higher we go, the tighter Riley holds onto the metal bar until she’s got a death grip on it. Her knuckles turn white, and her wide eyes are too big for her face.
“Are you scared of heights?” I ask, pulling her fingers away from the metal bar and holding her cold hands between mine. I bring them up, closer to my mouth, and blow, trying to circulate some heat with my warm breath.
Her chest rattles with a sharp exhale. “I didn’t know until now, but I think I might be.”
Hmm. “I can help you with that, can help you forget about how high up we are.”
Her hands are too cold, so I take out the leather gloves from my pocket and help her wear them. She lets a happy sigh the moment her hands are covered and wrapped up in warmth.
“Help me?” She tilts her head, regarding me with a soft look in her eyes. “How so?”
I bring my hand up, my fingers curling around the back of her neck and I tug her toward me. My thumb strokes the pulse in her throat, my breath feathering over her lips. “I can kiss you. Would you like that, Riley? Do you want my lips on yours? I’ve missed the taste of you on my tongue.”
We haven’t kissed again since that day, against the wall, in Maddox’s apartment. But we’ve had phone sex three more times since that night.
The burn between us is slow and intense. Building with palpable tension.
Riley scrunches her nose and it’s so cute, my heart does a flip. “I thought we agreed to no sex.”
“Kissing is not sex.” I’m grinning now.
She scowls at me, but there’s no hostility in her expression. “Kissing is an act of foreplay. And kissing with you, will definitely lead to sex.”
“Because I’m so irresistible?” I tease, chuckling before I relinquish my hold on her. “Because you’re horny and want me as much as I want you?”
Riley simply stares at me, eyebrows raised in defiance.
I lean back, raking my fingers through my hair, and give her a sheepish look. “Patience has never been one of my virtues, but fuck, it’s hard trying to be the good guy.”
“I think you’re doing pretty good,” Riley admits softly, with a timid smile on her lips.
My heart ricochets against my ribs. I swallow, before speaking again. “Yeah, you’re the only woman I’ll allow to friendzone me.”
“We’re not friends.” Her words are both a confused statement and a question of uncertainty.
“We are not?” I frown. “What are we then?”
The cart sways back and forth and then comes to a halt, once we’ve reached the highest point of the Ferris wheel. Riley curiously looks down and then sucks in a deep, fearful breath. Her gaze slides up, staring at the starry night sky instead.
She swallows. “I think we’re something in between.”
“Between what?”
“Something in between careless attraction and reckless affection.”
“My feelings for you are not reckless,” I tell her roughly.
Her cheeks flush with a deeper pink. “Mine are.”
My heart lurches into my throat. “Why is it reckless?”
“Because it gives you the power to break me.” Her smile is almost bittersweet, almost like she already knows I will break her heart. As if it’s inevitable.
“I would never—”
She shakes her head. “You keep saying that, Colton.”
“You’ve trusted me tonight, to take you away.” I grasp her gloved hands in mine, squeezing. I need her to see how good we can be together. I used to think that Riley and I were fire and water, that we would never be able to mix. But I’ve realized now that we’re both burning in the same flames. “Why can’t you just give me a chance to prove myself?”