Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Anyone else, I would have blown off, but not her. “It’s a cognitive dissonance thing,” I said slowly.
She waited for me to continue, so I did.
“I know I’m here. I’m not delusional or anything. But buying a place means I actually have to admit that I’m staying.”
“I thought you already decided to stay,” she replied, her tone quieting until the last word was a whisper. Her expression changed, apprehension filling her eyes.
“It’s one thing to set up the operation.” I took a few steps just to put some distance between us. I wasn’t always the good guy, there had been plenty of women I hadn’t called the next morning, but I couldn’t just be the good guy here—I had to be impeccable. “Relocating Theo and his family, Maria and her husband, gambling everything was a monumental move. I get that. I did it, and I’m lucky they chose to take the leap with me. But buying a house, owning a piece of Penny Ridge or Madigan, means I have to acknowledge on every level that I’m not going anywhere, that the move is permanent, that at some point, I’m going to have to make my peace with Reed when I can barely handle speaking to him.”
She swallowed. “You can always sell property. It’s not a lifelong commitment.”
“I know that too.” A wry smile tugged at my mouth. “Like I said. Cognitive dissonance.” I needed to change the subject. Fast. “So, if you could pick out a dream house, what would it be? One of those big multi-million things up above Penny Ridge?”
“Nope.” She smiled, and her entire face lit up. “I’m in love with all the classic architecture downtown. You know that little Victorian place on the corner of Hudson and Vine?”
I searched my memory. “The Rupert place.”
She nodded. “It’s about three thousand square feet and four bedrooms, which is way more than we need, but you asked about the dream, not the rational. Sutton could walk to school, and it’s only about ten minutes from the lodge, so it’s not like the commute is a big deal.”
“Let me guess, the Ruperts won’t sell.” They’d lived there all my life.
“If I could even afford it.” Her nose crinkled as she thought. “Oh, and I’d never actually live there, but I love the style of your parents’ house. That whole chalet vibe with the open concept is to die for.”
“It’s a great house,” I admitted, shutting down the feelings that threatened to rise with memories I didn’t want to deal with. He’d thrown everything she’d owned out onto the lawn and scraped almost every part of her out of the house, leaving it a shell of what she’d made it.
“Crap,” she muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “I meant to ask you last week, but we were too busy avoiding each other to have a discussion—”
“You were avoiding me too?” My eyebrows shot up. My reasons had been purely for her benefit, but what were hers?
“Well…yeah.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Kind of. I mean, the way you vanished like a magic act wasn’t exactly a confidence booster, and I figured if you were keeping away, it was because you didn’t want it to happen again, and let’s face it…” Her eyes squeezed shut. “That’s an embarrassing, awkward conversation I’m not really anxious to have.”
I closed the distance between us and cradled the back of her head with my hands.
She sucked in a breath but kept her gorgeous eyes shut.
“Callie, look at me.”
She pried open one eye.
“Both eyes.” There was no stopping the smile forming on my face.
The other opened slowly.
“I nearly lost control on that couch,” I told her without finesse or charm, not that I really had either of those skills. “I avoided you so I wouldn’t lose control. Because I liked kissing you entirely too much, and the whole reason we’re roommates is because there’s nowhere else for either of us to live on this mountain. There’s not a whole lot of room for error here.”
“Oh.” Her gaze lowered to my mouth and her posture relaxed, the tension draining from her muscles. It took everything I had not to lean into her, to feel her melt against me.
Slowly, I flexed my hands, releasing her head so I could step back. Sutton was upstairs. Callie was my roommate. It was inappropriate to fuck said roommate in the kitchen while her daughter was upstairs. I repeated my reasoning in my head until I’d managed to get six steps between us. “Now what was it you forgot to discuss with me?”
When in doubt, change the topic.
She cringed. “So, Reed sort of asked me to Thanksgiving.”
I blinked, trying to get my brain to process that as red filled my vision. “My brother invited you to Thanksgiving?”
“He invited us,” she said, motioning between us. “Ava and I have been friends forever, and he was just afraid that if he asked you himself, you’d say no, since they’re having it at home.”