Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
For a moment I thought she was going to argue with me, but she handed it over. At the door she turned and said, “You’re my favorite too, Lawson Grant. Tell your friend I hope he stays.”
She walked out, and I stood there watching the empty space for a second. That had been… If I didn’t know better, I would think Mary Beth saw there was something between us. But how could she? And really, there wasn’t. Not anymore.
In front of the shop, there was a compact black car, Remy in the driver’s seat, cap still on his head. The car hadn’t been there before, so he must have moved closer.
As if he could feel me looking at him, his head turned, facing my direction. We stared at each other for a moment before he raised his hand and waved, shy, unsure. It was stupid sweet, so I had to be me and flipped him off. Remy shook his head, but I knew he was smiling.
My phone rang in my pocket, but I ignored it, assuming it was my mom. I’d been avoiding her calls, not wanting to deal with family stuff.
I finished with my duties, locked up, and set the alarm. He got out of the car, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking over. “That wasn’t very nice of you, flipping me off.”
“I considered mooning you, but it would be just my luck that someone would see. I would scandalize all of Havenwood.”
“Not sure that’s the result you would have gotten.” His blue eyes darkened with heat, before darting away. His cheeks were pink, likely because he couldn’t believe he’d said that, but I’d always loved it when shit like that fell out of his mouth when I was around.
“Look at you. When’d you brush up on your flirting skills?” We began to walk, me leading the way around the corner toward Cherry Hill Park. People were out and about, here and there along the sidewalk, but they didn’t pay us any attention. Remy’s posture seemed to change as he remembered we weren’t alone, and he looked down at his feet as we walked.
“Jesus Christ. I’m the worst at flirting. I once spilled a drink on a guy who was trying to hit on me.”
That made me frown. “How did he know?”
“Um…” Remy rubbed a hand over his face. “We were at Brit’s. He was a friend of hers who would be discreet. She helped with that.”
Jealousy scorched my skin, all of my insides. It was ridiculous. Obviously Remy had fucked other people. I had, a lot of them. But hearing it made my hands fist and my head swim. “Well, that’s good. That you had someone to…”
We turned into the park, which was fairly empty.
“It was only a couple of times. It wasn’t like us. I haven’t had anything like us.”
My muscles loosened without any direction from me. Fuck, I needed to get ahold of myself. It shouldn’t matter who Remy had been with or what he’d done. Still, I admitted, “I haven’t either.”
He stumbled, and my arm darted out to grab him. It was like the touch was a time machine, transporting us back to that first night when he tripped and I caught him. His skin felt familiar, and his heat, like it always had, different because it was his. We were staring at each other, and he licked his lip. Fuck, I wanted to kiss him. If it had been anyone else, I would have, I’d have just gone for it because there was no doubt in my mind he wanted the same thing, but instead I let go of him and cleared my throat. “Better watch your step.”
“Stop making me trip in parks,” he teased. Like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal, and it shouldn’t have been, but it was.
“Anyway, obviously, I’ve been with people—just like you—dates and fuck buddies, friends with benefits; some of them lasted a few months, some a night, but nothing like that.” I didn’t want anything serious. Not again. I almost hadn’t survived it the first time.
“Guys too?” he asked, then, “It’s not my business. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“Yeah, Rem. Guys too. Those were more one-night things, though, hookups no one knew about.”
We were both quiet for a few moments while we walked along the trail. It led through the main part of the park and into a more wooded area. Every once in a while, someone would pass by and say hi, but other than that, it was only us.
“I got a car,” he said, finally breaking the heavy tension surrounding us.
“Yeah, I saw it. Looks like it runs better than the old one. Not the car a typical millionaire drives, but you know, at least it doesn’t break down.” I winked, and he rolled his eyes.