Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
It hurt my heart to hear him talk like that because it hadn’t taken long for me to discover how amazing he was. It also made me wonder if he was having second thoughts about moving his whole life to Aster Valley for a guy he barely knew.
The second full day of his recovery was the day he needed to move his stuff out of the rental house he’d shared with Rocco. By then, he was able to walk by himself with the help of the brace on his knee, so we loaded up in the truck and drove over to the rental to grab his things and clean up.
When we returned to my place, I forced him onto the sofa with Cosi while I put his stuff away in my room. Once we’d kissed and made out that first time, he’d slept with me, and we’d both admitted to loving spending full nights in each other’s arms.
I hadn’t dated anyone seriously in a long time, and I’d certainly never been able to sleep with them in my very own house. Until moving to Aster Valley, I’d had roommates and very little privacy. Now with BJ considering becoming both my roommate and my boyfriend, it was beginning to feel more like a true home.
I could see us here together. BJ had already agreed to let me deliver him to the mid-mountain restaurant tomorrow during my work shift so he could meet up with Mikey and Tiller again. I wanted him to see what a great community Aster Valley was so he could picture a future here with me the way I was already beginning to picture it myself.
When I got back to the living room from putting his stuff away, I noticed he’d fallen asleep with his arms around my dog again, and the sight made my chest squeeze. BJ had already found his place in Aster Valley, and it was right here with me and Cosi. I just needed to be patient until he could see that for himself.
I snuck a picture of the two of them and texted my mom.
Me: I think I met the man I’m going to marry.
My heart thundered even though I hadn’t even said the words out loud.
Mom: OMG look at them! TELL ME EVERYTHING.
I grinned at the screen before glancing back up at the two of them. How had I stumbled into this? I’d been so lonely here before BJ arrived. Even though I knew I’d meet people and get to know them over time, I’d only been here two months.
Now instead of worrying about my future, I was so incredibly excited.
I typed out another text to my mom. I’d already told her about meeting him and offering to take care of him.
Me: He teaches Kundalini yoga.
Mom: NOMG. Shut up.
Me: And he’s bubbly and kind. It makes me happy just to be in the same room with him.
We texted back and forth about BJ for a while until he woke up.
“Why do you have a goofy smile on your face?” he asked, shifting over to see me better. Cosi let out a long exhale of annoyance but stayed asleep.
“I was telling my mom about you.”
BJ’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I hope that’s okay. I was telling her about your yoga classes and about the mentorship program you do for teen content creators on the SocialAdrenaline platform.”
He stretched and sat up, rubbing the heel of his palm over one eye. “Yeah. It’s a great program. That was actually how Rocco and I first met in the forum. He was looking for a mentor for two kids in Chicago who wanted to create yoga content. It was really cool, actually. These girls turned Broadway musical scores into yoga routines.”
As he continued to tell me about their project, he woke up and became his usual, animated self, flinging his hands around as he described some of the numbers and talking faster when he got to the most interesting details.
I moved over to the sofa to sit closer to him. Being in his sphere was both energizing and calming. I could see why his online classes had so many followers.
BJ paused for breath before surprising me. “No one’s ever told their mom about me before.”
“That can’t be true,” I told him. “Maybe they just didn’t tell you about it.”
He shook his head. “I’ve always wanted a boyfriend, a real relationship, but I’m not what guys seem to want long-term. I’m the guy they fuck, Dallas, not the guy they keep.”
I could see the fear of rejection in his eyes, and it killed me. I knew it was way too soon to make promises about forever, but I also knew instinctively that the connection between us was real and had been since the first moment I’d set eyes on him. It was the same feeling I’d gotten the first time I’d gone skiing as a little kid. The same feeling I’d gotten the first time I’d done yoga.