Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I’m good if you are.”
Why am I thinking about Johnny Cash and how he said heaven was having coffee in the morning with June, his wife?
Might be just as dangerous staying outside with Sally as it would be going inside with her. ’Cause all of a sudden, I’m thinking about marriage and shit.
I’m not good. I really am in heaven. Which is a big fucking problem. Wasn’t I just swearing up and down that I was gonna keep my distance? Tell Sally we can’t do this thing, whatever it is?
“I’m great.”
“Okay.” Sally sits, and I hand her a cup of coffee.
“What’d ya get us?” I land in the chair beside her.
The sun slants onto the porch, and I stretch out my legs to feel its warmth. Birds flit through the trees nearby, filling the air with their chatter. The smell of freshly fallen leaves and woodsmoke is everywhere.
“Lattes. Two pumps of hazelnut, extra hot.”
“A shameless appeal to my sweet tooth then.”
She grins at me as she folds over the little drinking tab on her cup, securing it so that steam escapes from the tiny opening. “Yes.”
I sip, and she sips. The latte is hot and sweet with just the right amount of hazelnut flavor.
It tastes like Sally.
Our eyes meet.
She thinking about the kiss too? What is she thinking in general?
She doesn’t look teary or angry, like she regrets what we did. Neither of us drank much. And it was just a little making out. If I did that with anyone else, I wouldn’t think twice about it. We’re not in eighth grade anymore.
With Sally though, making out feels monumental. Probably because it is. We crossed a line I’d thought we’d never cross, and I admitted things to her I’d never thought I’d have the courage to say. Granted, I said them with my lips, my body, my hands. But Sally’s a smart girl. She has to know I was very much into what we did in the front seat of my old Dodge.
An awkward beat of silence stretches between us, and I scramble to think of something to say.
Do I play it safe, make small talk? Pretend like it never happened?
Or do I jump in with both feet and tell my best friend I’ve been in love with her for over a decade? Ask her to stay at my place tonight and every night after that, please and thank you?
“So…about last night.” Sally looks at me as she runs her free hand up and down her thigh.
I chuckle. “I’m glad you wanna talk about it because I do too.”
“I loved it,” she blurts. “Every minute, Wy. I loved every damn minute of it. You—everything—you are so, so good at it. That’s what I came here to tell you. I was able to just be in the moment—I wasn’t in my head at all—and that felt liberating in a way I can’t quite describe.”
Welp, there goes my plan to keep it in my pants. I let out a giant sigh of relief as my heart floats around my chest like a big, dumb, happy balloon.
Sally didn’t like making out with me.
She fucking loved it.
Not only that, she ain’t afraid to tell me she loved it. Makes me wanna be brave too.
Fuck not going for round two. If she’s gonna give me the opportunity, I’ll take it. I’ll deal with the fallout later. This is a chance I have to take.
“You’re one hell of a kisser,” Sally continues. “I don’t know if it was as good for you—I feel like I might have unfairly put you on the spot or pushed you—”
“Did you not feel just how much I loved kissin’ you?” I slowly sip my coffee, like I’m not talking about my best friend turning me on so bad that I came in my pants. “Trust me, I wasn’t pushed. You were better’n good, Sal. You were great.”
Sally’s cheeks flush pink as she smiles again. “Really?”
“Really. And I’d like to do it again. Whatever you want.”
Her eyes go wide. “Are you serious?”
“Long as that’s what you want too.”
“It is, yeah.”
“I have one condition.”
“Name it.”
“No more Beck Wallace. You want me to teach you how to stay out of your head, that’s fine. But you ain’t practicing it with anyone else.”
Once she goes back to New York, she can do what she wants. Out of sight, out of mind. While she’s in Hartsville, however, she’s gonna do me and me only.
Sally looks away, her eyelashes fluttering. “I’m fine with that. That’s…fine.”
“You sure? I don’t want to make you do something you’re not comfortable with—”
“I’m sure, Wyatt.” She looks me in the eye. “I definitely want to do this.”
“Good. One more condition then.” My heart hammers. “You gotta promise me we’ll still be friends when this is over.”
Because it will end. It has to.