Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Fine. True,” he said. “The dating apps really do suck, though.”
“You have to keep searching until you find a diamond in the rough,” I said. “Or something. I don’t know. I don’t understand why people want boyfriends, anyway.”
“Yes you do,” he said, bringing a hand up and running his palm from my lower chest, down to my ribcage, and then onto my thigh. “You’re just not aware of how good it could be.”
I kept my voice low, stroking my fingers through his hair. “Not so sure about that one. Relationships are just drama, routine, and nothing but problems.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” he said.
I groaned. “You’re just asking for me to have my way with you now,” I said.
“So what are you going to do about it?” he challenged me.
Adrenaline surged through my body, obliterating any last chance of me holding back.
I gently tugged at the back of his hair and leaned down, pressing my lips to his in a rough kiss. He let out another intoxicating moan as I opened my mouth to his, our tongues sliding against one another in a rush of strawberry-sweet, wet heat.
This was worth being up for at eight in the morning.
I licked his lower lip, just teasing him, before biting down on it gently. He groaned even more deeply, leaning into it and gripping a hand against my thigh.
“Knew you’d like that,” I said against his mouth.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “Of course I do. Please do it again?”
I didn’t give him what he wanted. I kissed him once more, but gently and slowly, before pulling back, letting my hand rest at the back of his neck.
“I’m not afraid of dating people,” I said. “I just know people get hurt when they expect me to be someone I’m not. I’m a lone wolf. You know that. End of story.”
I let go of him, missing the heat of his body but knowing I had to disengage. I was hard as a fucking rock and I knew damn well that he was beneath his jeans, too.
“Right,” he said, his eyes still a little dazed, lips glistening from our kiss.
“Let’s go draft up some renovation plans before I do something I shouldn’t do,” I told him. “I’m going to take the world’s quickest shower and I’ll be out in five.”
He nodded. “Thanks for the cuddling,” he said, a sarcastic lilt to his voice.
I wanted to take him right there, bend him over, and utterly destroy him.
“No problem,” I said instead, just as politely, flashing him an innocent smile before heading off to the shower.
If he wanted to play that game, I could play it all day, baby.
9
SHAWN
Apparently, it was like Rush had some sort of sixth sense for every time I swore to myself I was going to stop having a crush on him. Because every time I’d made up my mind that I was done with the endless, aching desire, he found a new way to drive me insane.
This morning, it was with a photo.
Another couple of weeks had passed since Rush had pulled me into a kiss again in the morning and then spent the rest of the morning going over renovation plans acting like the kiss had never happened. I was sitting in the passenger seat of the work van now, kicked back on the leather seat as the opening notes of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” played over the speakers.
Nathan, Charlie, and I were currently driving over to Rush’s house, and before we’d even arrived, Rush was already finding a way to start adding fuel back to my fire.
Just five minutes ago, as I was innocently looking at hardwood variations on a lumber website on my phone, I’d gotten a picture message from Rush that was a shot of him shirtless at the top of a mountain.
>>Rush: Hiked Bluebell Mountain yesterday. Forgot how gorgeous this area can be.
>>Shawn: Yeah, right. You just wanted an excuse to get me to look at the actual gorgeous thing in this photo, which is your perfect chest. And abs. And all of your muscles, basically.
>>Rush: You know me so well.
I tried to hide a smile.
“Turn it up,” Nathan said from the back, rolling down the back windows and singing along to the song. “Did you know Mick Jagger is in the background vocals of this song? And that it was played on one of the first live global televised events? John Lennon actually said—”
“Okay, okay,” I called to him, reaching for the volume knob and turning it up. “You remember when Maddy told you that you’re a ‘Beatles nerd?’ She was right.”
Charlie finally cracked a smile from behind the wheel.
“These are classics!” Nathan protested. “My daughter’s fifteen. She’s probably listening to Justin Bieber.”
“She’s probably listening to cool stuff you’ve never heard of,” Charlie corrected.
“There we go,” I called out over the music. “There’s the Charlie we know and love. Instead of the guy who’s been acting like he’s in a sad, dreary music video from the 80s all day.”