Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Yet, you refuse to date.”
I chuckle at his truth. “It’s not that I don’t want to one day fall in love. It’s just that right now, the only person I have room in my heart for is Ellie. She comes first. Our mom is a drug-addicted prostitute who gives all her money to her pimp. Ellie deserves the world, and I’m going to make sure she gets it, regardless of the odds against us.”
Micah palms my cheek and tilts my face to look at him. “What if you had someone to carry the burden with you? Maybe then you’d have some more room in your heart to find your own love.”
“I don’t want to depend on anyone but myself,” I admit. “My mom depended on my dad, and he eventually left us. Ellie’s dad disappeared. Her pimp boyfriend promised to take care of her, but he preyed on her weakness instead. My mom wanted to be loved, and in the end, it’s what broke her. I would be a fool if I didn’t learn from her mistakes.
“Besides, I have work and school and Ellie. Once I graduate, I can get a job the state will approve of and petition the court for full custody of my sister. I need to get Ellie away from our mom, and I can’t afford to risk falling in love before that happens because if it were to break me the way it broke my mom, who would Ellie have left? I can’t risk it.”
Micah nods in understanding, but I can see it in his face that he doesn’t get it, which is precisely why I never should’ve agreed to go on this date with him. It doesn’t matter how good looking he is, how strong the chemistry is between us. I can’t afford to let him in.
“I appreciate your attempt at getting to know me,” I tell him. “But I’m not in a place to be dating anyone. I think it’s best if we end this date right now.”
I dip under the water and swim away from him toward the steps. I’m out of the pool and grabbing a towel before he even makes it out of the water. By the time he joins me, I’ve gotten my towel wrapped around my body, my flip flops on my feet, and I’m heading inside to grab my clothes so I can leave.
I assume Micah is going to let me go, until I turn around and run right into his hard chest. His hands land on my hips, and he holds me tight, steadying me so I don’t fall back. I glance up at him, ready to tell him I’m good, when his mouth descends on mine.
His strong yet soft lips curl around my own. He waits a beat, probably to see if I’m going to push him away, and when I don’t, he takes that as his cue to deepen the kiss. Gliding his tongue across the seam of my lips, he coaxes them open and then slips his tongue inside while I stand frozen in place, experiencing my first kiss since high school.
Unlike the boy who kissed me back then—awkwardly and sloppily—Micah kisses me with slow, methodical movements. He tastes like the perfect mix of sweet and salty from our snacks earlier, and I find myself wanting to kiss him back. My tongue tangles with his, and he sucks it into his mouth as he encircles his arm around my waist. He tugs me toward him, bringing our bodies flush, my hands landing on his muscular chest. Instinctively, I run the tips of my fingers up his hot, smooth flesh, until my arms are wrapped around his neck.
But it doesn’t feel like enough. Not my arms around his neck, not his mouth fucking my own, not our bodies flush against one another, or his arms holding me tight. I need more.
I blame the next move on the oxytocin fogging my brain.
Parting my legs slightly, I trap Micah’s muscular thigh between my legs and then grind my center against him, using him like my own personal pole. With only a thin layer of material covering my center, his hard leg pushes against my clit, and I let out a breathy moan.
And then he breaks the kiss…leaving me a panting, breathless mess.
“You feel that?” he murmurs against my lips, holding me close so our bodies are still connected. “That chemistry…” He pulls back slightly, his hazel eyes burning with desire. “You can continue to deny how much you want me, but the way your body, your mouth, your fucking cunt is practically begging for my touch proves that you crave me the way I desperately crave you.”
He darts his tongue out and swipes it across my bottom lip before he bites down on it and tugs, causing an electrical current to shoot through me straight to my core.