Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
My brother had cooked my favorite meal — beef and cheese pasties with ketchup — and then peppered me with questions at the dining table full of his teammates. He’d immediately followed me up to my room afterward to talk one on one and make sure I was okay.
It was honestly really sweet, and I loved my brother, but fuck, he was a cockblock.
There was no way Jaxson and I could have even walked into the kitchen alone last night, let alone hopped in a car together. And when he left at the end of the night, I filed that interaction in my room earlier in the cabinet labeled jokes and put it out of my mind.
Even if I was oddly disappointed, I wasn’t surprised. I figured he’d come to his senses.
Seeing his text now had me hoping I was wrong.
Me: Took you long enough to text me.
Jaxson: Yeah, well, I couldn’t exactly text you with your brother sitting right next to me.
Me: What’s your excuse for the other two weeks?
Jaxson: I was a smart man who didn’t want to die at a young age.
Jaxson: Besides — you had a boyfriend, remember?
I snorted at that.
Me: So, now you’re a stupid man with no regard for life?
The little dots bounced for a while, telling me he was typing, and then they disappeared. I frowned when another text didn’t come through, disappointment settling in deeper the longer I went without a response.
I chastised myself.
Fucking really, Grace? Have you not learned your lesson that boys are stupid and you’re better off alone?
This was classic me — running headfirst into the next guy who showed me attention before the stench from the one who came before him was gone.
I was so desperate to be someone’s priority, it made me a simpering fool.
My phone buzzed as soon as I’d set it face-down on my bare thigh, and at first, I told myself not to look at it, to make him wait.
But then I was fumbling the thing like a hot potato and unlocking it hastily.
Jaxson: Now, I’m your friend who hates to see you upset.
Friend.
I slumped a little, but then another text came through.
Jaxson: Get an Uber to this address.
A map location came through next.
Me: So bossy.
Jaxson: For obvious reasons, I can’t pick you up there.
Me: Why not, if we’re just friends?
Jaxson: Get your ass over here before I change my mind.
I stared at the text, biting my lip against a little laugh as I thought about all the reasons this was probably a terrible idea. And still, I scrambled to my feet and dashed inside to pack.
Because if there was one thing about me, it was that I never said no to a new adventure.
• • •
“So, let me get this straight,” I said about an hour later, pointing at the sexiest car I’d ever seen in my entire life.
I didn’t even know what it was, exactly — other than some kind of vintage Porsche. But I did know it was blueberry blue, shiny, and sleek as hell. It gave off every road trip vibe I could ever dream of, like riding windows-down through the desert with your hand waving out the window and Fleetwood Mac playing on the old radio.
But it was tucked away safely inside Jaxson’s garage, not sitting in the driveway ready to go like it should have been.
“This is your car, but we’re taking… that?”
I dragged my finger over to the 2023 G-wagon, wrinkling my nose as if it were a minivan.
Jaxson crossed his arms on a chuckle. He looked sleepy, like he’d just woken up or hadn’t had a cup of coffee yet. He was also wearing glasses — which I hadn’t known he needed, and also hadn’t known would do very specific things to my nether regions.
Those amber crystal frames unlocked his sharp features even more somehow.
They also unlocked a new kink for me, apparently.
“I’ve never seen someone so displeased to be riding in a Benz,” he said.
“Well, given the choice between the two?” I gestured between them again. “I mean, come on. This car was made for road trips.”
“Actually, this car was made by hours and hours of restoring,” he amended, petting the hood like it was a cat instead of a car. “And I’m not putting it on a highway, adding miles with no destination in mind. It wouldn’t be the safest option, anyway. Plus, this one’s a rental,” he added, pointing to the Mercedes. “That way, we don’t have to worry about driving back if we go too far. We can just fly home.”
I pouted, eyes back on the cobalt beauty. “But it’s so pretty.”
Jaxson beamed a little at that. “She is, isn’t she?”
“She? Oh, God. You’re one of those. Next, you’ll tell me she has a name.”
He blinked. “You don’t name your car?”
“I don’t have one,” I said on a laugh, shaking my head and dragging my suitcase over to the Benz. “So, no.”