Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Shit, I’m sorry. That had to have been rough.”
“Yeah, and that wasn’t the extent of it. Eventually, I found out he had a gambling problem and owed a lot of people money. He maxed out his credit cards and would disappear for hours. At first, I thought maybe he was cheating, not at some blackjack table or with his bookie. But somehow, he was always able to convince me that he was sorry and that everything would be okay. He was very charismatic and could probably charm the pants off anyone—except my sister. And, well, the people he owed money to. And I…” He shook his head. “Fuck, this is hard.”
I set my hand on his knee, hoping it would be supportive. I gasped when Dane set his hand on top of mine.
“Sometimes I felt like he was everything I wasn’t. Like I should have felt lucky just to have him. I’ve always been quieter, more low-key. With some things, you remind me of him—someone who can be comfortable in any situation, and hell, own it.”
A tremble shook me. I didn’t want to be seen like Dane’s ex, but I liked the way he saw me. That he thought me capable of owning anything.
“Anyway, so things got worse between us. We started fighting more, and then…then one day I came home to an empty apartment and realized he’d taken everything, all our stuff, and most likely sold it. Everything, even the money from my account, was just gone. And I had to start all over again from scratch. Thankfully, Bree and Mark took pity on me and told me I could stay with them.”
“Fuck…” I didn’t know what to say or how to process all that.
“The worst part was hearing a rumor that he was already onto some new guy. Probably charmed him out of money too. He used me and then discarded me like I was nothing.”
“Damn, I’m so sorry.”
Now I could understand why Dane was closed off sometimes and didn’t trust. But then…that wasn’t really him either. He was the guy who would give his niece the moon and helped his sister even if it meant no sleep for himself. He was the guy who bought me cotton-candy lip gloss when I couldn’t afford it, and who sometimes looked at me the way he was right then, like he didn’t know what to make of me, but like he was in awe of me too. No one had ever looked at me like that before.
“Hearing you talk to Skylar made me feel…inconsequential, the way Steve used to. It made me feel like a means to an end, or…hell, I don’t know. But I should have talked to you.”
Oh, my heart broke for him. He was knocking down more and more of my walls. “I can understand how you felt that way. You were more than a ride to the mall, and I said we weren’t serious because…because I don’t know what we are. But I like you. I probably shouldn’t, and I don’t know what to do about it, but I like you, and that’s…different for me.”
Dane sucked in a sharp breath, as if he hadn’t expected my admission. That made two of us. Not only had I not expected to feel it, I sure as shit hadn’t expected to share it with him. I was more of a mind to ignore that fact, while still hoping for the fucking part.
“I’m sorry I didn’t consider my words,” I added, wishing it would make him forget what I’d admitted.
“I’m sorry I took off.”
“Look at us! Having a grown-up conversation with no anger. This might be a first.”
Dane chuckled, and then his gaze turned heated, hungry. “You wore it,” he said, reaching out and running his thumb beneath my lip.
Desire shot through me. God, I wanted him. Wanted to have him the way I had in the storage room. “I’d tell you to taste it, but I’m not sure you have the guts,” I goaded, trying to get him going.
Fire flashed in Dane’s eyes, that competitiveness I loved between us, and before I could make sense of what was happening, Dane grabbed me, pulled me to him, and slammed his lips to mine.
24
Dane
My brain was obviously short-circuiting, because I’d just told Jesse a bunch of personal stuff right after ignoring him for three days like some middle schooler, and now my lips were against his, my tongue in his mouth, and I could taste that cotton-candy lip gloss I’d bought him.
And fuck, him admitting that he liked me made something happen to my chest, like a lightning bolt shooting through it. I didn’t want to like him too, but I did. Fuck, I so did.
When I stood up and pulled him with me, his legs circled my waist, and I liked the weight of him against me. I wanted him, maybe even needed him, and I did not want to think about what a bad idea that might be, but I was tired of fighting it, of fighting him. I just wanted to blank out my thoughts and feel. Explore this electric energy between us.