Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“Sweeter than fuckin’ hell,” he said, giving Maisie one last pat on her side. “Can we exchange numbers? I’ll text or call if I have a spare day to come ride.”
“They love people,” I said. “They’ll be happy any time you want to come around.”
He held out his phone and I entered my number. He gave me his, too, and then shook his head.
“Wow. You moved from yelling at me, to worrying I’m a murderer, to offering me riding lessons in one night?”
“Correction,” I said, “I tried to fuck you, then realized what a gigantic mistake that was the moment I found out who you were. Then I moved on to the yelling and the worrying.”
My words hung in the air, and Jesse’s eyes went wide, illuminated by the lantern. “That’s some honesty, right there.”
My heart was beating faster. “Little too much honesty, I think. But I didn’t want you going home thinking I… yelled at you like that for any other reason.”
“You were just trying to scare me off?” he asked. “Because deep down you want to fuck me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Wanted to. Past tense. Never going to happen now, obviously, and I know you wouldn’t have wanted it anyway.”
“I’m still flattered.”
“Well, quit it,” I said. “But I do like you, okay? Don’t make me regret saying so.”
He leaned against one of the wooden poles near Maisie’s stable, his biceps so chiseled it was almost painful for me to look at. The hint of a smile landed on his face, and I was pretty sure he’d noticed me checking him out. For the first time, I saw that he had the faintest dusting of freckles at the tops of his cheeks.
I turned away, still questioning whether or not I should have just let him keep thinking I was an uninterested, angry prick.
“Let’s head back in,” I said.
“After you, cowboy.”
He was silent as we slowly made our way back over to the house. The rain had stopped completely by now, and the clouds overhead drifted away enough to reveal a bright moon. The crickets seemed to have woken up after the storm passed, too, their cheep-cheep filling the air in between the sound of our boots on the wet dirt.
We took off the muck boots and left them on the deck, stepping back into my living room. The fire was going pretty well by now, and I set down my lantern.
Jesse sat on one corner of my couch, and I took the spot next to him, relaxing onto the cushion.
“You really think I wouldn’t have wanted you?” Jesse asked.
I turned and saw his eyes, looking more bedroomy than ever in front of the fire.
Flirty ass hockey punk. Fuck, I should have sat on the opposite side of the couch entirely.
Something behind my sternum ached.
“No,” I said. “I think you would have wanted to… punish me, in the fun way. But I didn’t think you actually wanted me.”
“Why are you so sure about that?”
“That’s what I’m used to,” I said. “People think I’m fun to talk to, but they think I’m a mess. And maybe they’re right. But I just feel like most people don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
I shifted. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but a guy said I was insane a few months ago just because I told him I like a hand around my neck. It’s not like I want to be choked out, I just—”
“Like the feeling of a strong hand around your neck,” he completed my sentence. “I get you, Mason.”
“Exactly. I’m not afraid of the feeling. It’s comforting, sometimes.”
Jesse swallowed. I watched him glance from my eyes to my lips and back again, pausing like there was some question in the air.
“Truth or dare,” he finally said, surprising me for the millionth time that night.
Don’t play a game with him. Just tell him you’re tired, and he’ll leave, and—
“Truth,” I said, ignoring all my good instincts, yet again. “No. Wait. Dare.”
“Dare you to kiss me,” Jesse said, without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.
I cocked my head to one side, my body going hot all at once. “Excuse me?”
“I dare you,” he repeated, “to kiss me.”
A riot of butterflies stirred in my stomach.
He couldn’t mean that. Not possible.
“What happened to being totally off the market?”
I stared at his mouth. Fuck, how many people would kill for a chance to kiss that mouth, and he was standing there daring me to do it?
“That’s still true,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want you to kiss me. Just once.”
“Why are you doing this, Jesse—”
“Because the last person who kissed me was my ex, and I really fucking don’t like thinking about that anymore, and I just want a goddamn reset button—”
I closed the distance between us before he could finish talking.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to his, taking his kiss like it was a gift I’d been given, only for a moment. The tip of his nose was still a little chilly from being outside, but his lips were warm and plush and perfect, and he hummed just a little as my mouth hit his.