Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Doing okay?” I ask. I wrap a self-adhering bandage around her ankle I found in her medicine cabinet with just a little pressure. “Is that too tight?”
“It’s okay,” she says.
I get the ice on her ankle and sit back, studying her face. “Fifteen minutes,” I say.
She’s stunning. Her bright red hair spills out behind her on the pillow. Her long eyelashes are almost blonde. She looks up at me, and laughs through her nose, cheeks going red. “What?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I say. I pause. “I just…” I frown at the comforter, annoyed that the right words won’t seem to come. “I don’t get how it feels so easy with you, but so hard, too. It doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
Her lips twitch at the corners. “I’m not sure that makes sense to me, either.”
There’s a complex web of emotions in my chest. I don’t even know how to start explaining it all, so I settle for letting out a sigh and lifting my palms in a shrug.
She puts a hand on my thigh, squeezing slightly. She’s not saying it, but part of me thinks maybe I’m not alone. Maybe Mia feels just as confused as I do.
I stare at the bracelet on her wrist and lift my free hand to rub my thumb over the silver chain. “Do you know how hard it is not to say stupid shit around you?” I ask.
She laughs. “What? What kind of ‘stupid shit’? Like the earth is flat? Or that raccoons would make good pets? Or maybe we should use that black waterproof tape from infomercials to seal up bullet wounds?”
I stare, a slow smile creeping across my lips. “Believe it or not, none of those were what I was thinking of.”
Mia returns my smile, shrugging adorably. “You have to admit the tape one makes you think though, doesn’t it?”
“It makes me think you’ve watched too many infomercials, yeah.”
Mia gives me a playful whack on the leg.
She smiles. “Then what were you getting at? What’s all this stupid shit you want to say?”
The words in my head aren’t stupid, though. They’re dangerous. Like how I’m wondering if it would be worth sacrificing everything to have her. Even if it meant leaving hockey behind and letting my teammates down. I shake my head. “The kind of things better left unsaid. Things neither of us need to hear out loud.”
For a moment, I think she’s about to press me to say it anyway. I might, too. If she asks me right now, I might just blurt it all out, consequences be damned.
But her forehead crinkles, she nods, and then she looks down at the ice on her ankle. Just like that, the moment is gone.
“How is it feeling?” I ask, nodding toward her ankle.
“It’s fine. I think I’m going to get away with some light bruising and soreness this time. I actually did the same thing during that Bingo night. Not quite as bad, but I was fine by morning. I’ll be good.”
I’m still touching her bracelet, but now I slide my fingers from the silver to her skin. I let them glide up her arm and then down her side, watching as goosebumps lift the thin blonde hairs on her arms up. “I could be gentle,” I say.
Her lips twist to the side, amusement clear on her face. “I’m not sure I understand, Mr. Saulters.”
“See,” I say, slowly positioning myself over her, careful not to put any of my weight on her ankle. “I have this goal. When I leave for the season, I’m hoping I’ll have convinced you that sex with other men isn’t even worth it. I want you to crave me. Nobody else.”
My heart rate increases, and it’s not just because of where my thoughts are going. It’s because my words are flirting with a deeper truth I don’t want to admit–that I want her all to myself, and not just her body. I want all of her. Every last fucking bit, but maybe I’ll settle for what I can get.
“Is that right?” she asks. “And in this fantasy land of yours, what do you do? Are you still out there sleeping with a different woman every week?”
“This isn’t about me, Calloway.”
She takes my shirt in her fist, tugging me close like she’s about to kiss me, but she bites my lip instead, eyes dancing with mischief. “I think your fantasy Mia would want to know it was a mutual agreement. If she really did think sex with you was that great, she’d need to know you felt the same about her. And that you didn’t think it was worth sleeping with other women.”
“Fantasy Nolan could consider that.”
“He’d better put it in fucking writing,” she says, raising her eyebrows.
I laugh, bending to kiss her neck. She arches her chin back, letting out a sigh.