Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Sweetheart,” he said, the word sounding way too sexy in his velvety voice, as he looked at me like I was something special to him. “I’m not going to get bored of you. Ever. I could even listen to you nerd out about construction for… years, probably. When you talked about rolled roofing versus built-in roofing the other day? I had stars in my eyes.”
I snorted. “Built-up roofing, not built-in,” I corrected.
“You’re going to be the one who gets bored of me, constantly wanting to touch you and hold you and bother the fuck out of you. Oh, and make you stupid sweet treats in the kitchen even though I have no clue what I’m doing.”
I let out a laugh that was something like a sigh of relief. I felt like I had a buzzing in my veins now, an excitement that was purely our own. “I like the sound of that.”
“And I like the sound of seeing what this town has to offer me now that I have you,” he said. “So don’t you go anywhere, either, okay?”
I put my arms around him, holding him in a tight hug. The warm bulk of his body felt like home to me already, and even though that should have been alarming, really it just felt incredible.
“You got it,” I told him, my face smushed up against his chest.
“I mean it,” he said, leaning back to look at me as he held me in his arms. “If I find out you have a sudden urge to move to Paris, I’m going to be really mad—okay, no, maybe I’d move to Paris with you,” he considered, his mouth quirking up in a grin.
“Maybe sometime in the distant future, we can have an adventurous Paris era,” I said.
He chuckled softly, his eyes sparkling with the mini lantern lights surrounding us. “Deal. Jade River is my home for now, though. You’re stuck with me, so get used to it.”
“Bet your ass I will.”
22
RUSH
Was it wrong that I wanted to be touching Shawn at all times? While we were standing waiting in lines, while we were walking around, while we sat at little picnic benches and ate our snacks?
Based on my track record, I knew Shawn shouldn’t have been giving me a chance—but the fact that he was giving me a chance just made me fall even harder for him, plunging right into the deep end even though I’d never learned to swim.
With Shawn I didn’t feel like I had to learn to swim. It all came naturally.
I had my hand on the small of his back as we got back into the crowds of the festival, a little while after our conversation on the bridge. I loved that I could keep my hand on him even when we ran into Nathan, and I didn’t have to bother keeping anything a secret anymore.
I could really have this, all of the time.
Nathan was snapping photos of basically everything he saw, and when he found me and Shawn, we’d just gotten a mini chocolate malt milkshake to share from the Hazel’s Diner tent.
“Hey,” I told Nathan, waving him over. “Get a shot of us in front of the deer statue?”
“He might not want to do that,” Shawn said to me, his voice low as I grabbed his hand and led him to the front of the statue.
“Why not?” I asked. “Nathan loves the deer statue. We used to climb it all the time.”
Shawn gave me a look I couldn’t quite read, looking from his brother to me and then back again. Nathan looked perfectly happy to me, crouching down on one knee and bringing the camera up to his face, ready to take a photo.
“Let’s both lean in and lick either side of the whipped cream,” I said, putting my arm around Shawn and holding the milkshake between us.
“Damn, you really are going all in on the cheesy couple stuff, aren’t you?”
“Like you don’t love every fucking minute of it?” I said. “I thought I was holding back, honestly.”
“You know me so well.”
The trees swayed in the gentle night breeze, the smell of freshly fried funnel cake drifting over. Shawn obliged me and posed for the silly photo, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I had way too much fun with it. After Nathan snapped a few shots, I pushed the milkshake just a little forward, getting a bit of whipped cream on Shawn’s cheek.
“Hey!” he protested, his eyes going wide. I laughed, leaning forward and licking it off.
“You lovebirds,” Nathan said as he came over to us. “I’m down to take photos of you, but I’m not taking a picture of that.”
“It’s not my fault your brother is so goddamn adorable,” I said. “But fair enough.”
Shawn and Nathan exchanged a glance I couldn’t quite figure out. It was more of the same weirdness I’d seen on Shawn’s face the moment his brother had come around again. I watched as Shawn seemed to recede behind some sort of shell, suddenly and for no reason.