Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
“It’s not just the car.” He pauses, his gaze drifting to my eyes. “It’s being with you.”
My heart stirs with excitement and anxiety. “Okay…. are we talking a good nervous… or a bad nervous?”
His lips press together while he thinks that over. “Both.”
I lean my chin on my hand and give him my most reassuring smile. “Tell me the good and bad.”
Shifting on the bench, he meets my smile with his own sexy, crooked one.
Touché.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this,” he says with a shake of his head.
“Fox. Don’t do that. Don’t be a turtle.”
“Turtle?” He scoffs. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means don’t hide in your shell. You know you can tell me anything, the good and the bad. I’m not going anywhere.”
The waitress arrives at that moment, plopping in front of us two enormous bowls of ice cream under a mountain of whipped cream.
“Holy moly,” I exclaim when she walks away. “You didn’t tell me it was going to be huge.”
He smirks. “I like the size to be a surprise.”
Kicking him under the table, I pick up my spoon. “Not funny. Now tell me exactly what this is before I put it in my mouth.”
Cracking up, he says, “I’m not gonna fall into your innuendo trap.”
“Ha ha. Come on. Tell me what’s in this favorite sundae of yours.”
“It’s vanilla soft serve with malted milk powder and drizzles of hot fudge. That’s why they call it Dusty Road; the fudge is like a little road in the malt powder.”
Eyes bugging out, mouthwatering, I say, “Ooh, it sounds really good.”
He shoves a heaping spoonful into his mouth and nods, making a euphoric face that nearly stops my heart. “Damn,” he lets out a sinful moan. “It’s so fucking good.”
He’s not kidding. The first spoonful is like heaven in my mouth. The sweet flavors mingling together are indescribable.
“Wow,” I say, licking whipped cream off my lip. “This is seriously one of the yummiest things I’ve ever had.”
“Told ya.”
“Now I see why this is the first thing you wanted to do. I don’t know how you stayed away from this for so long.”
“Second thing,” he corrects, grinning at me from behind his spoon.
His boyish smile sends my heartbeats into a racing gallop.
Blushing, I say, “Back to that. You were about to tell me why you’re nervous.”
“Was I?”
“Yes. No turtling.” He watches my tongue as it swirls around the spoon. The fiery glint in his eye makes my thighs tingle and burn.
“You better stop calling me out on that.”
“I will when you stop doing it.”
“I like when you call me out on my bullshit, little darlin’.”
“Good, because I don’t plan on stopping. Especially when it results in fancy cars, muscle shirts, and ice cream.”
He casts a glance down at his bicep. “You like the shirt?”
“I like what’s under the shirt.”
He smiles from ear to ear. “You’re not making this easy on me. You know that, right?”
“I don’t want it to be hard for you, Alex. For me, everything with you comes easy.”
He’s always felt like home to me. He’s always felt like my person. Everything with him has always come completely natural—trust, spending time with him, and now, two new things—intimacy and flirting.
My honesty sobers him. He takes one more spoonful of ice cream, then pushes the empty dish to the side. I can’t believe he ate the entire thing. I’m only a quarter of the way through mine and I’m stuffed.
“I remember the very first day you showed up in my barn. You acted like we’d known each other forever. You even introduced me to your mom as your Alex. I thought she was going to call the cops on me.”
I let out a little laugh, remembering that day. “I’m pretty sure nothing that came out of my mouth surprised my mother. She knew when I set my mind on something, that was it. And for some reason, even at six years old, my mind was set on you.”
He inhales my words, lets them sit in his lungs.
“I’m glad, because you turned into a very unlikely, very unexpected friend.”
There’s that friend word again. Cringe.
“Why is that?” I ask. “Just because I’m younger than you?”
“Well, yeah. It’s not exactly normal.”
I shrug. “Does that really matter? I think what’s accepted as normal in the world nowadays is being completely redefined.”
He nods slowly. “I’m not sure. Like you said, being together comes easy. I’ve always loved our talks and working on projects together. You’ve been a bright light in a very dark place, and that means everything to me. But lately…” His attention drifts away from me, taken hostage by things he clearly doesn’t want to say.
I reach across the table and touch my fingertips to his. “Lately, things are a little different between us,” I finish softly.
He visibly swallows. “Yeah. Now, it’s like other things are coming too easily. All of a sudden, it feels completely fucking natural to touch you and kiss you. When you’re not around, I can’t stop thinking about you. I try to find ways to bump into you in the house just so I can see your smile and hear about your day.”