Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“You . . . wait. How do you know my boss was a dickhead?”
A small smile pulls at my lips, and for just a moment, I wonder if I should keep this to myself, but fuck it, she deserves to know. “I may or may not have had dinner with your nana every Monday night for six years straight, and she may or may not have broken every vow of loyalty between the two of you and told me everything that was happening in your life, right down to that loser Marc you were just dating. She wasn’t very fond of him, but she loved talking about you just as much as I loved hearing it. Except for the Marc part. He sounded like a douchebag.”
Her jaw drops, and she gapes at me as though barely able to believe a word I’m saying. “No. Nana wouldn’t do that to me.”
I scoff. “Damn right, she would. She thought it was hilarious, but only because she knew that one day, you were going to find your way back home. If she thought you’d moved on and were truly trying to find something real in New York, she would have respected your wishes, but at the end of the day, all she wanted was to share with the world how proud she was of you.”
Blair’s tears fall faster, and I pull her into my chest, loving the way she snuggles into me, just like she did when we were teenagers who thought they had everything figured out. “Thank you,” she whispers as her fingers knot into my shirt. “I miss her.”
“I know you do.”
She lets out a heavy sigh, and I bring my fingers to her chin again, needing to see her face, needing to make sure that she’s alright. The moment her chin lifts, those lips are suddenly on mine.
Electricity pulses between us, and I lock my arm firmer around her waist, holding her to me as her lips start to move on mine. I kiss her back, unable to resist the temptation, and within seconds, her body melts into mine.
A soft moan slips through her lips, and I hold her tighter, needing her closeness more than I need my next breath.
When she reluctantly pulls back, she drops her forehead to mine, her chest heaving. “Is now a good time to demand that date you owe me?”
A groan rumbles up my chest as my fingers dig into her hips, knowing it’s not really a date she’s asking for. She wants to take this further, she wants to feel the way we used to be when we were together, wants to feel the way I’d love her.
“You might not remember this as clearly as I do, you know, considering the amount of alcohol you consumed the other night,” I say as my fingers fall to her thigh and slowly trail higher, teasing her with exactly what she wants. “But you might recall that I told you that I won’t be touching you like that, not until you’re on your knees, begging me to take you back.”
She sits back on my lap, her hands falling down between us as she meets my heavy stare, and fuck, the way she looks at me with that intense hunger has me ready to take her right here on Oxley’s porch. “I’m on my knees, Nick,” she says, glancing down between us, and I mean, technically she’s not wrong. She’s straddled over me, her knees braced on the seat on either side of my thighs, but it’s not exactly what I had in mind.
Her gaze lifts back to mine, almost knocking the breath right out of my lungs when she reaches up and hooks her hand behind my neck, leaning in close enough that her breath is nothing more than a slight tickle against my skin. “This is me begging,” she whispers as the world fades around us. “I’m done trying to deny that this is right where I was always supposed to be. I want to come home to you. I want every part of me to belong to only you, and I want to build the life we were always supposed to have. Take me back, Nick. I need to belong to you again.”
My heart pounds as I hold her gaze. “You want to come home?” I ask, barely able to believe it.
“I do,” she says, her grip around the back of my neck tightening. “I’ve been in love with you since the day I first met you in high school, and I’m done trying to pretend as though being away from you like this hasn’t been killing me. This right here, in your arms, this is where I want to spend every day of the rest of my life. I want to have a billion children who all share those same blueish-gray eyes of yours, and I want them to drive me insane. I want to build a home with you and fill it with memories. And . . . shit, Nick. Tell me you want this too because otherwise, I don’t think I could—”