Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Instead I let the unspoken words hang between us.
I didn’t need to say them. We both felt them daily. The fact that we were in the grocery store arguing, teasing, wondering how the hell we were going to make cupcakes. That wasn’t supposed to be our future. But it was our reality now, not theirs, and if doing something silly and immature helped Rip get out of the rut he was in and helped us bury the hatchet and live the way Monica and Brooks couldn’t, then I was all for it. I just needed my partner in crime.
I’d almost given up hope that he was going to say yes when he held out his hand and said, “If I win, you have to do bedtime prep.”
I grinned and took his hand in mine.
An electrical current passed between our palms, one so strong that I let out a little gasp as he squeezed, only to drop my hand seconds later like it was on fire.
He cleared his throat. “So how do we do this?”
I gave him a sly smile. “Ready. Set—”
“Wait, so I just grab stuff? What are the rules? We need rules.”
“No.” I grinned. “Sometimes you don’t need any rules. Meet up front in ten minutes.” I leaned in toward him and whispered, “Go.”
He took off with his cart like a car was chasing him.
I took off with mine with a burst of laughter followed by laser-like focus. Monica had been competitive, but I’d never really seen that side of Rip before. I suddenly needed to win at all costs as I sped down the dairy aisle, grabbing what I needed and double-checking the recipe on my phone before going toward the medicine section.
What would be awkward?
I mean, I had soy-free chocolate chips in my cart, a few random ingredients including this weird gluten-free, grain-free flour that probably tasted like death.
Our cupcakes better kick ass, since the stupid flour cost triple what normal flour cost. And was this even a thing? Could there be that many allergies in one class?
I moved my cart into the medicine section and found exactly what I was looking for.
K-Y.
The warming kind.
It was awkward enough that I knew Rip would probably blush, which made me bite my lip and think dirty thoughts that had no business being in my brain since he was more attracted to cleaning products and math than he was to me.
Not true, a voice whispered. He almost kissed me.
I wanted to believe it.
But I couldn’t, at least not yet. Maybe I just didn’t want to give myself hope after everything he’d said a few minutes ago.
Yes, we’d had a few “moments,” but that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. My heart was trying to protect me while my brain was trying to be logical, saying I had a better shot with Banks. I didn’t want Banks, though. I wanted the guy who scowled more than he smiled, the one who’d just decided to do a grocery cart race in honor of his sister—and the one who was going to beat my ass if I didn’t move faster!
I dropped the K-Y into my cart and then moved to the next aisle, where I grabbed some adult diapers and a plunger.
I mean… I wanted to win.
I grinned to myself. What if we upped the stakes? What if we had to purchase each other’s things? He was all about rules, after all, and throwing this one at him might just send him over the edge, plus it would be hilarious.
I was still laughing when I cruised to the front of the store where Rip was waiting, his smile casual, his stance tense.
“Hey,” I said, out of breath. “You ready for this?”
“Yup.” He grinned.
“Cool.” I started to grab his cart, but he pulled it back.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“Improvising.” I smirked. “I buy your items, you buy mine. Bet I win and—” I stopped talking as I took in his cart.
Yes, he had the milk…
But he also had…
Baby oil.
A lot of baby oil.
And then…
Wart remover.
And hemorrhoid cream.
“Hey, you grabbed more than three,” I pointed out.
“It’s a bonus.” He grinned. “The condoms just felt right.” He slowly pushed the cart toward me. “Enjoy.”
I wanted to immediately go back and add more items to my cart as he pulled it over and laughed. “Aw, adult diapers. Hey, these are actually useful if you jump on a trampoline, or so I’ve been told. I’m not a woman, so maybe you try them out, yeah?”
I was murdering him.
“Oh, cute, you got lubricant. Which of course every sexually active person needs,” he said. He wasn’t blushing. He was actually having… fun?
Backfire! Backfire! my brain yelled as I actually started to blush.
I was going to get in a fight in the grocery store parking lot, wasn’t I? Over oil? My cheeks burned with embarrassment as he just kept casually talking.