Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Meanwhile, life was happening all around us.
Jaxson and I had dropped our packs on the rocks at the edge of the water. I’d beat him across the bridge, and I was also the first one in the cool water of the creek. I waded in knee-deep, careful to avoid the current, and soaked it all in.
Distantly, I was aware of the sound of Jaxson wading into the water, too. I creaked one eye open, and then the next, before they both shot open wide.
He’d stripped off his shirt and abandoned it at the shoreline, along with his shorts.
He carefully edged himself into the cold water in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, his lips in an o as he made quick puffs of breath.
“Fuck, it’s cold,” he cursed, but he wore a smile, one more relaxed than I’d ever seen him have.
I, on the other hand, was shocked stupid, standing there with my mouth hanging open and no prayer of gathering my senses with him prowling closer in nothing but his underwear.
To be fair, I was in shorts and a sports bra. It wasn’t like I was being modest.
Still, I didn’t have muscles like that.
There was no better way to describe this man than thick. His chest was sculpted, pecs hard and round before they met the top ridges of his abs. And he didn’t have an ounce of softness there — it was a rippling eight-pack, the sweat from our hike teasing me as it cascaded down the valley that ran over his belly button before disappearing at the band of his briefs.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his arms, from the bicep muscles that were the size of a cantaloupe, or the black and blue ink that swirled from his right shoulder all the way down to his wrist. And as if the top half of his body wasn’t distracting enough, those briefs left nothing to the imagination downstairs.
His thick thighs were corded with muscle, stretching the fabric, and between those thighs there was an unmistakable bulge.
Fuck, he was big.
I started sweating again the longer I stared, and when Jaxson cleared his throat, I jumped, ripping my eyes up to meet his gaze.
He chuckled, cocking a brow and folding his arms over his chest. “You checking me out, Nova?”
My cheeks warmed at the nickname, the heat nearly unbearable when a sly smirk spread on his perfect lips in the next breath.
“Don’t act like you haven’t been staring at my ass the whole hike up here.”
“Me? I would never,” he said, flattening a palm against his chest. “Now, your tits in that sports bra, on the other hand…”
I reached down for a handful of water, scooping it as best I could and launching it at him. His deep chuckle rumbled through his chest as he splashed me back, and then I was running, skipping over rocks as best I could to dodge his advance.
Which was pointless.
He caught up easily, his strides more confident and surer than my own, and he swung me up into the air with water spraying off me like I was a sprinkler. The river was freezing, but his body was hot against mine.
Until he took us both down into the water.
I emerged with my breath completely gone, lips trembling as Jaxson laughed and shook the water out of his hair. Once my breathing was somewhat even again, I chased after him, climbing onto his back in my attempt to take him down the same way he’d done to me.
But again, it was useless.
He was gargantuan in comparison to me, and he just laughed and dragged me with him toward the shore. Jaxson reached around for me and pulled me to the front of his body, where I tried to cling to him and continue my mission of dunking him. But before I could find purchase, he threw me over his shoulder like a fucking caveman.
Which left me with a glorious view of his ass.
His briefs were soaked now, hugging every inch of him, and I watched that indentation in the side of his ass flex with every step he took. I no longer fought him, and when we made it to the rocky shore, he carefully sat me down in front of him.
Water seared down his skin in rivulets from his hair to his chest, each drop rolling over his abs or along the line in-between them before they slid to the band of his briefs.
My mouth was dry again, seeing that bulge highlighted by the wet fabric sticking to it. I thought I saw it twitch, which made me clench my thighs together as I dragged my gaze up to meet Jaxson’s.
He swallowed, his jaw tight, and then nodded toward our packs. “Let’s eat.”
We set up a picnic in the shady area by the bank, both of us keeping our distance now. I poured a smorgasbord of snacks out of my backpack while Jaxson retrieved two reusable water bottles from his, passing one to me.