Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I wouldn’t do that,” Petal said.
“Then tell him to stop coming and helping you, or understand that he wants to be with you.”
Petal glanced down at her hands.
“I get it,” Myth said. “I know he hurt you and you hate his guts … is there nothing he can do to help you forgive him?”
“Hey, Petal, I saw you pull up,” Dirty said, shouting from near the clubhouse entrance. “Come on, it’s already set up.”
Petal glanced behind her and then turned to look at Myth, who merely shrugged. She didn’t want him to think she was a bitch.
There was no way for her to answer his question. She didn’t know what to say to him. Should she admit to Myth that she liked being with Dirty? That even as she hated him for what he had done, she missed him? Should she tell him she was torn between kissing him good night and asking if he wanted to come in? That when he was close, she remembered how good it was between them, and part of the reason she struggled to shoot was because she was thinking about the two of them together.
Following behind Dirty, she glanced back toward Myth and knew he was right. She wasn’t trying to lure Dirty into a false sense of security. She just wanted to be with him.
Arriving at the gun range, Dirty picked up the gun she’d been practicing with, and she had a feeling the one she was going to be given once her training was done. She still felt she had a long way to go before she got the chance to have a gun.
Dirty loaded the gun, then took aim and fired one shot. He always took out the target that seemed the furthest away, and then he held the gun out to her. He looked so confident, so comfortable.
She took the gun from him and smiled. “Thanks,” she said.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
For several minutes, she took aim and shot. The first bullet didn’t hit. The second did, and she took out a target. As did the third and fourth, and the bottles exploded as she hit them.
Dirty clapped his hands. “You’re getting the hang of this. No shooting now.” He moved toward the container of empty beer bottles and placed them back onto their target. He came back toward her, and he was close but not touching.
He took the gun from her, and she watched as he loaded it up, then handed it back to her. Petal took the gun, and their fingers brushed against one another. Just a touch. A light touch. She felt it. And that feeling consumed her.
In the back of her mind, she was screaming at herself to just keep shooting and ignore these feelings which meant nothing. She and Dirty were in the past—a past that needed to stay there.
Only, were they? Was it really over between them, and if so, why did she feel totally gutted at the thought of never being with him again? She didn’t like that feeling, didn’t even want to think of a life without him. She wanted him. Missed him. And in that moment, she didn’t allow herself to think, she spun toward him to find Dirty was close.
Did he feel this too? Was it her craziness?
Neither of them said a word.
He slid his hand against her waist, cupped her cheek with the other, and began to sink it into her hair. Petal stared up at him. There was no reason to talk or even attempt to explain any of this. They were merely talking.
No, they were not talking.
This was not talking.
She stared into his eyes and then slowly moved down. His lips looked so inviting, so ready, and she wanted to kiss him.
Petal didn’t know who started the kiss. One moment they just seemed to be staring at one another, and in the next, they were kissing. It wasn’t a sweet and gentle kiss either. This was one filled with hunger, one filled with the need building between them for months.
Regardless of the heartache, regardless of the bad words and the stupid actions. They hadn’t ended things because it was time, or because they didn’t want each other. Stupid decisions and words had brought them to an end. She knew that.
The hand at her waist moved down, and he grabbed her ass, drawing her closer to him, and she moaned his name, not wanting him to let go, even for a second. He felt so good, and she felt completely out of control.
Throughout the kiss, Dirty took the gun and lowered it to the ground, and then he moved her until her back was up against the building. This time, both of his hands were on her face as he held her, kissing her, deepening it. His tongue traced across her lower lip and she opened, inviting him inside. He let out a moan.