Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“What we had was real. It is real,” I corrected. I took a step away from her to give her the space she deserved. “And I’m sorry. I fucked up. It’s just…I do want you. I do miss you.”
“But we can’t be together?”
“It’s a bad idea,” I said, drawing every word out of myself like removing a barbed knife from my stomach.
“Right.” Her voice was clipped and disinterested. “Sure. A fine idea to kiss me whenever you feel like it, but not to be more.”
I brushed a hand back through my hair and released a puff of frosted air. “You’re right. That’s fucked up.”
“It is.”
“I won’t do it again.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, feeling the life leaving my body at the thought. But I had to be resolute. No more Wright events. No more chances to see her. No more wanting just one more kiss. This was it. This was the end. I’d thought it ended that day when I discovered her age, but this was the real end.
“I’m sure. I’ll stay away. I can’t imagine why I’d be invited to another Wright event.”
“You weren’t invited to this one,” she reminded me.
“True. Then, I guess it’s moot. I’ll steer clear. Make it easier for both of us.”
Her bottom lip came out into a little pout that made my heart ache. I wanted to suck it into my mouth and make it all better. But, Christ, she was ten years younger than me. She needed her own life. And if I kept showing up to places where she was, I was only going to drive us both insane.
“Easier,” she whispered. “All right. We should shake on it.”
I would’ve laughed if she hadn’t looked so shaken up. But still, I held my hand out. For a second, she stared at it and then slowly withdrew her hand from inside the warmth of my wool suit coat.
Our hands brushed together, and she squeezed tight, powerful. The way my old man had trained me to close business deals.
It didn’t change the fact that the mere contact sparked between us. An ember to light a bonfire. I wanted nothing more to go back on the deal we’d just struck and pull her into me. This was the end. I needed to stop wanting her. I had to let go.
She slowly removed her fingers from mine. “I guess I should give you your jacket back.”
“I’ll walk you back inside,” I offered. “You can give it to me once you’re in the warmth.”
“And you?”
“I’ll leave,” I told her.
She nodded, swallowing. The anger that had rushed through her dissolved into melancholy I understood all too well.
“It’s really over,” she whispered.
I didn’t want to agree. I wanted to hang on to her forever. I’d stupidly asked her to wait for me. To wait until she graduated and she could make an informed decision about what she wanted. It wasn’t fair to expect her to know now. And being around each other only muddied the waters.
So, I nodded because the words were stuck to the roof of my mouth like peanut butter.
“And we won’t see each other again?”
“That’s what’s best.”
She glanced away, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “Then…then, can I make one more request before I never see you again?”
“What request?” I asked in confusion.
Her eyes found mine again, and in them was a speck of mischief. The girl I’d fallen for so hard and fast that it was like I’d been pushed out of a plane and was plummeting toward the ground without a parachute.
“Just one small thing.”
“Anything,” I offered her. I’d give her the world if I could.
“Kiss me.”
I blinked at her request. That could not have been the words that came out of her mouth.
“Come again?”
“I want you to kiss me.”
“Didn’t this all start because I did kiss you?” I asked.
I wanted to say yes. Fuck, I’d wanted it enough upstairs that I didn’t even mind the slap I’d earned when I stole the kiss from her sweet lips. But I had to be wrong here.
“I didn’t give you permission for that one. And if I’m never going to get to do it again, I want to remember it the way it was the first time.” She took a hesitant step toward me. “Because before, I had that perfect weekend of memories. Your mouth on my thigh in the vineyard, and my body a puddle on your living room floor and your bedroom and…”
My body heated at those words. The memories flooding through me. I remembered them all, too. My mouth on her clit as she had bent over my couch. My cock buried in her pussy as she’d clenched the comforter for dear life. Her face as she had come undone. And every little thing in between—her excitement for the music, her dancing to ABBA, the love for Bowie, the endless conversations, the way she’d looked when she walked in, ready to kayak. Every moment was etched into my mind like a movie reel I could play on repeat.