Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Applause and whistling breaks out amongst the crowd. Nicole and Katja have finished playing, apparently. They wave to the crowd. Katja hands her guitar back to Nicole with a smile. Then Katja opens her arms and Ava runs into them. It’s a pure Hallmark moment. How Katja dips her and kisses her. Ava is laughing so hard the kiss lands on her chin. But that’s okay. Because once she’s horizontal, they attempt it again and this time the kiss is epic, and it’s in front of the whole damn town.
Denise’s mouth falls open.
Lu takes one look at her and howls with laughter. Which is fair enough.
“Yeah,” drawls Stuart. “I think they’re maybe more than friends, Mom.”
Cheers come from the crowd. The smiles on the women’s faces are wide and wonderful. They’re in love and it shows. Several people do a double take and some gasp in surprise. But the bulk of the audience is delighted for the former prom queen. As it should be.
“She looks happy,” says Connor. His smile is small and thoughtful. Like he’s been waiting for this moment for a while. For them both to move on and find something better.
“Hey.” I lean in closer. “Are you okay?”
He just nods and gives my hand a squeeze. But the look he gives me, the expression on his face…something’s wrong. A sadness in his gaze that’s there and gone in an instant. Wanting to get on with his life and watching his ex do exactly this could cause a twinge or two of regret. Or not regret exactly, but something bittersweet. Life can be like that.
However, he masks it easily with a smile and says, “Tell me, Blue, what did you think of the town picnic?”
I give my best fake smile. “Heck of a day.”
My apartment is a bastion of calm and quiet after all the noise and commotion at the fair. We helped pack up some of the tents and chase down Daisy. Now there’s a cow who just wants to roam free. Ava and Katja disappeared straight after the kiss. At around about the same time, Denise started attempting to make an effort with me. I don’t envy her. Admitting you were as wrong as she was can’t be easy. She’s lucky I’m open to bribery. The quart of espresso ice cream went a long way with smoothing things over between us.
“Check it out.” I hold my hands out in front of me. “They’re still shaking. That ice cream was loaded with caffeine.”
“I wouldn’t know because you refused to share it with me. Again.”
“There are just some things that are sacrosanct. It’s not like you didn’t have your own.”
His smile is a halfhearted thing. There and gone in an instant. They all have been since that kiss at the fair. He hardly said two words for the rest of the day. I have no idea what’s going on with him. He sits on my sofa staring off at nothing while I lean my back against the cool brick wall. Not only am I buzzing from caffeine. But my heart is hurting for him. Change isn’t always easy, even if it was what you wanted.
“Connor,” I say quietly. “Talk to me. Please.”
“Hmm?”
“Your quiet misery has been noted.”
He winces and stretches his neck. “I don’t want to talk right now.”
“Okay. What do you want to do?”
Nothing from him.
“Do you feel like watching a movie or going for a walk or…you know if you need some space and want to leave, that’s okay?”
Still nothing from.
“Are you hungry?”
He looks up and there’s a lot going on with him. I just don’t have a fucking clue what. But he narrows his gaze on me, taking in the curve of my shoulder and the stupid rosette still pinned to my breast. Down his attention goes. Not stopping until he hits the floaty hem of my mini dress. This seems of particular interest to him. But the one thing he definitely doesn’t do is look me in the eye.
“What’s going on, Connor?”
“I could eat.” He stands and wanders over to me.
“Okay. We’ll order something. What are you in the mood for?”
This is getting weirder by the moment. He doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of me, staring down from on high, with a finger tracing the neckline of my dress. It’s not my fault my vagina wakes right the fuck up. The surge of heat down there is just natural. How my nipples turn rock hard, and my sex starts to ache. We should talk about whatever is on his mind. Clear the air or whatever people in healthy functioning relationships do. But my kink is apparently him looming over me. How it makes me feel small and at his mercy. Just the hint of it makes my mind go far away and turns me into a needy thing. The man is a menace.