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)
I batted that thought away like a baseball pitched right down the middle, reading the flurry of texts and emojis that came in with a goofy smile on my face. Maven and Livia felt like the kind of girls I could be best friends with, the kind who would keep even a secret as big as this one.
The next day, when we crossed over the Colorado border into Wyoming, we saw a sign for a car show in Cheyenne, and Jaxson parked us with a giddiness I’d never seen flowing out of him.
He wore his hat and sunglasses, even though I didn’t see a single person so much as giving him a second look like they might know him. The opposite had been true in Colorado. He’d been recognized when we were getting gas, and for that reason, we’d had every meal either in our car or hotel room while we were traveling through.
But at the car show, he seemed not to care — at least for the moment. He dragged me by the hand through an aisle between two rows of cars, pointing at each one and rattling off things about them that might as well have been him speaking in a foreign language.
I had zero idea what a cabriolet or brougham was, but I knew Jaxson lit up when he told me about them, and that was enough for me.
I mostly marveled at the beautiful paint jobs and gorgeous leather interiors. And when some of the owners let us sit in the cars, revving up the engines, I swore Jaxson got a hard-on when he saw me gripping the steering wheel and pretending to drive.
Back on the road, we originally planned to drive straight up through the state. But we didn’t get far before signs for Yellowstone National Park were begging us to take a detour.
I pulled up my phone and began researching, tapping my bare feet on the dash to the mellow beat of “Rose Colored Lenses” by Miley Cyrus. Halfway through the song, Jaxson reached over and slid his large palm along the inside of my thigh, hooking his hand there and holding tight. I glanced up to find him smirking at me.
“What?”
“I like this song,” he said.
I paused, listening to the lyrics, and then my cheeks warmed.
“Don’t worry — I won’t tell any of your teammates you like a Miley song,” I said.
“If you don’t, I will. We need this banger on the warm-up playlist.”
I laughed, then leaned over the console and angled my phone screen toward him. “Okay, so. Here’s the sitch for tomorrow. Most of the camping sites are booked, but,” I added, wiggling in my seat with excitement. “There are some backcountry options available. And I already applied for a permit.”
“And what exactly does a backcountry camping site entail?”
I bit my lip. “Just a little hiking.”
“How much is a little?”
“Like… fifteen miles or so?”
Jaxson coughed. “Fifteen miles? We haven’t trained for that, Nova.”
“Oh, please,” I said, pinching the skin over his abdomen — because there was no fat there. “Says the man who probably skates fifteen miles a day. You’re fit as hell, and I hike all the time. We’ll be fine. We can take it slow.”
He shook his head, cocking a brow at me, but when he saw the excitement in my eyes, his resolve wavered.
“It’ll be an adventure,” I promised. “Think of everything we’ll see. The stars! Can you imagine the stars?!”
“I imagine they’d be just as bright from the parking lot of a hotel.”
I clapped my hands together and held them under my chin, batting my lashes up at him. “Please, please, please.”
He sighed, glancing at me and then back at the road as a smirk painted his lips. “We better find a store. We’ll need more than the few supplies you picked up in Tennessee.”
I threw my hands up at him giving in, doing a little dance before I leaned across the console and kissed him.
It was just a peck to his cheek at first, but then I kissed along his jaw, his neck, and back up to claim his mouth with a moan vibrating between us. I slid my hand into his hair, tugging on the strands, heat flooding to where his hand still held my thigh.
A dream. It was an absolute dream. How could I just touch this man, kiss him, any time I wanted to? How were we existing in this world where no one and nothing else mattered?
My stomach tightened a bit when I remembered it would end.
Eventually, it had to.
But I swallowed that truth down. That was future Grace’s problem.
“Woman,” Jaxson said, kissing me back but breaking contact to look at the road. “I’m driving.”
“What’s wrong? Can’t drive when you’re… distracted?” I teased, and I slid my hand down between his legs, rubbing the length of him through his athletic shorts.