Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
He might have accidentally stepped in the same steel trap, too.
But he didn’t seem to be panicked about it, like she was, since his heart thumped steadily under her palm.
Right now, hers was far from steady.
None of this should be happening.
What she was feeling.
What he was doing.
The way they were staring at each other.
This wasn’t what it was. What it was supposed to be.
None of it. Any of it.
What the hell was happening?
“Easy…” His name got caught in her throat.
“Cage gave us four weeks. That gonna be long enough?”
That depended. Four weeks until they approached Trip? Or four weeks until it all ended?
Cage was right. They couldn’t keep going on the way they had been. They already knew that but Cage giving them that ultimatum was like a bucket of ice water being dumped over her head. However, either decision still scared the shit out of her.
She didn’t answer Easy because she didn’t have one and she also didn’t want to think about it yet. Especially since it was no longer four weeks, now it was less time than that.
She was well aware that she was sticking her head in the sand and ignoring that deadline. Even though she thought Easy had made that decision for the both of them when his door was locked the other night.
But now that she knew why… “Will your door be unlocked later?”
He squeezed the hand he held over his heart. “Yeah. Will you be walkin’ through it?”
“Will Brandy already be there?”
“Only if you want her to join us,” he answered. His tone wasn’t joking, it was serious. But that shouldn’t surprise her. Easy had no hang-ups when it came to his body or sex. He would probably be up for anything. Including multiple women in his bed at the same time.
But sharing Easy with another woman would never be her thing. “And if I don’t?”
“Then it’ll only be me.”
Again, his tone was serious. He meant what he said. “You know, I won’t blame you if you take her up on her offer.”
“Yeah, you will.”
Was she that transparent? “It’s not fair to you.”
“What ain’t?”
“Wanting to keep you to myself.”
“That ain’t your decision, Tess. Never has been.” He rolled until he was on top of her and whispered, “It’s always been mine.”
Her heart began to knock against her chest as if the police were trying to serve a warrant. “I never asked for that. That was the whole point of this… No commitment. No expectations.”
“You fuckin’ say that now, but if you woulda seen me gettin’ head from one of the sweet butts, or me doin’ one of them… Would you have stopped comin’? Would you have moved on?”
“That’s the thing, E. It shouldn’t matter if I saw you with a sweet butt. It shouldn’t matter if I moved on. That was the reason why I chose you.”
He stared down at her, his warm hands cupping the sides of her head, holding her hair away from her face. “Why you chose me,” he echoed flatly.
Oh shit.
“‘Cause I was easy in more ways than one?”
Originally, yes. But now… “I wasn’t looking for anything more than what it was… is. I figured it would be the same for you.”
“You’re right. It was.”
“And now?” she asked in a whisper. She had not expected their “discussion” to head in this direction.
“Now… It’s not. And if you’d only admit it, it’s not for you, either.”
Her anxiety was spiking and the trap her foot was caught in began to squeeze tighter. “I’m not ready for everyone to be breathing down our necks before we get a chance to figure things out for ourselves.”
“And that’s why I asked about Cage’s deadline. We’ve been doin’ this for what? Three months or so now? Will another month change your mind?”
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “I wish I did, but I don’t.”
He sighed. “Listen, we don’t gotta deal with it for another month…”
“Less than that now,” she reminded him.
“Close enough.”
There was no way that between the two of them, she was the only one starting to panic. “Tell me, E… If I agreed with you approaching Trip, are you ready for that? I want the truth because I’m not sure you are. I don’t want you to get stuck in something you don’t want just to avoid the problem us being on the sly will create. I don’t. It’s not a good way to start. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen how toxic those relationships can turn. I don’t want that. Yes, if that happened we could go our separate ways, but by then, the damage may already be done.” And she wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive it. She might have to leave Manning Grove, leave her Fury family, leave Trip and Dyna and Rush and…
Her life would be turned upside down all over again. She was settled in and, for the most part, content.