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)
Suddenly, common sense pushed through, and I closed my eyes, laughing as I stepped away from him and turned all the way around for good measure.
Listen to the words he’s told you, not your stupid heart, Grace.
God knows that thing can’t be trusted.
Once I was composed, I turned around with a beaming smile, running past him and jumping up onto the line.
“Watch this!” I said.
“Stop ignoring—shit, Grace!”
His attempt to get me to face the truth he’d spoken went up in flames as I attempted a backflip off the line, only to overshoot and land on my butt, rolling backward and landing sprawled out like a starfish.
“Fuck, are you okay?” he asked, running to where I’d rolled.
My side was in a stitch from laughing, and I clutched my stomach before I opened my eyes again and found him braced over me, hands on his knees and eyes laden with stress.
“Oh, stop,” I said. “I’m fine. I was a cheerleader, okay? I’ve had way worse landings than that.”
He didn’t seem convinced.
“Come here,” I said, reaching my hand for his. “Lie with me.”
That made the line between his brows soften, his eyes widening a bit.
“What — you too pretty to lie in the dirt?” I teased.
“No,” he grumbled, carefully lowering himself beside me. “Are you so weird that you don’t think lying in the dirt is anything out of the ordinary?”
“Shut up and close your eyes.”
“Rude.”
I didn’t open mine again, just smiled as I felt him settle beside me with a sigh. Once he was quiet, nature spoke to us. The water rushed over the rocks and trickled down in streams. The breeze blew through the trees, whispering tales of history in our ears. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance, insects singing along with them.
“Hear that?” I asked softly. “This is my favorite sound in the world.”
I inhaled a deep breath, reveling in the feel of the sunshine on my skin, the shade from the trees blocking it intermittently. When Jaxson didn’t respond, I peeled my eyes open, shielding them with one hand as I turned to look at him.
And found him staring right back.
His eyes were so beautiful it hurt — bright blue, almost see-through the way the sun illuminated them now.
“Grace—” he started, but then a low, threatening roll of thunder made us both pause. Jaxson frowned, sitting up with his hands propped behind him as he narrowed his eyes at dark clouds hovering over the mountain in the distance.
“That doesn’t look good,” I said when I sat up to join him.
“We’d better get going.” He stood, reaching down a hand for mine, and when I took it, he heaved me up so easily I nearly knocked into him. My hand flew out to steady me, catching his bare stomach.
We both froze.
Remove your hand, idiot.
But I couldn’t.
My palm was glued there, feeling the heat of him trembling beneath my cool touch. I swallowed, staring at the contrast of our skin, at how his was inked and showing signs of his age, while mine was tan and smooth and young.
I thought my heart was going to race out of my chest the longer we stood there, both of us watching where I touched him and waiting for the other to make the next move.
Mine would have been to slide my hand lower, to roll my palm over the bulge growing in his briefs.
But Jaxson heaved a sigh, peeling my hand away like I was someone he needed to pity, like I was his friend’s annoying little sister who had a crush on him.
My throat tightened with the truth behind that sentiment.
“Come on,” he said, eyeballing the sky. “We need to get back to the car before this breaks loose.”
Then, he started gathering our things with me still standing there like a fool.
Connect the Dots
Jaxson
The group chat had been going off while Grace and I were on our hike.
We had driven toward Nashville once we’d loaded up again, stopping at an REI at her request. She’d made me promise to stay in the car, and so here I was, sitting in the parking lot still damp from our swim in the creek, as well as the rain we’d been caught in on our hike back.
I thumbed through my phone with my breaths coming a bit easier than before.
Truth be told, I needed a break from her. Not that I wanted one. But I’d come far too close to doing things I knew I shouldn’t when we were down by that creek, and I had the amount of time she would be in that store to get my shit together.
I’d wanted to kiss her so fucking badly I still felt the desire churning in my gut like a spell I’d never be free of.
And when she’d touched me, when she’d looked up at me with those wide eyes and waited for me to make the next move…