Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Ozzy grins, brushing his knuckles along my cheek before tucking my hair behind my ear. “I didn’t say it first, but I fell first.”
Leaning into his touch, I whisper, “I didn’t think you were going to sweep me off my feet tonight.” I giggle because my mind is still swimming in merlot. “I was wrong.”
Before I open my eyes, he kisses me.
Maybe it’s not fair for him to love me. But nothing about my life has been fair.
So we climb into the back seat.
Love doesn’t need anything more than a chance.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ozzy
“Nice of you to find time for lil old me,” my best friend, Diego, says, wiping his greasy hands on a rag as I park my bike just inside the detached garage he uses as a shop.
“You know where I live,” I say, ogling the red Mustang on his lift.
“Where’s your sidekick? Kai has been asking about her.” Diego stuffs part of the rag into the back pocket of his sagging black cargo pants before adjusting the yellow bandanna tied around his head of messy black hair.
“Lola’s at my mom’s house. She’s been spending more time there. I’m on my way to get her.” I run my hand along the newly painted bumper.
“Driving yet?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I wish.”
“I’m sure you do.” He opens his garage fridge and offers me a beer, popping the top as if it’s a foregone conclusion that I’m drinking.
I don’t turn it down.
“Thanks.” I take a swig.
“What’s new?” he asks.
“I met someone.”
“A woman?”
I nod.
“On your bike?”
“Well, I wasn’t on my bike when I met her, but she’s seen my sweet ride.”
Diego chuckles. “Don’t tell Cheyenne. I’ve led her to believe a man needs a muscle car beneath him to feel like a man. If she hears you’ve found someone, I’ll have to trade in my Mustang for a fat-tire bicycle.”
I shrug. “You don’t need a car to feel like a man, but damn, I miss getting behind the wheel and driving up to Glacier. Four-wheeling in the winter. Windows down in the summer. But on the flip side, my legs are fucking fabulous.”
Diego barks a laugh, shaking his whole body for a few seconds before he sighs. “Tell me about the woman.”
I stare at the beer bottle for a few seconds. “She’s a tanker pilot.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, damn.” I bite my lower lip for a beat.
“Hot?”
Shaking my head, I glance up at him. “That’s your first question?”
“What?” He smirks. “Sorry. Is she beautiful on the inside?” He bleeds too much sarcasm to take him seriously.
“Her name is Maren. She’s funny and confident.”
“And hot?”
I ignore him by not looking at him. “She’s a badass pilot. She adores Lola.”
“Good in bed?”
I squint toward the street at nothing in particular. “She braided Lola’s hair for track-and-field day.”
“If you tell me she’s given you head, I’m not returning your car. Cheyenne has the worst gag reflex. She won’t even lick it.”
“Diego . . .” I shake my head. “Dude, I’m talking about her braiding my daughter’s hair. You can’t mix that shit with giving head.”
“Fine, fine, fine. She likes your daughter. I’m just looking out for you, Oz. You deserve to get a little something, you know what I mean?”
I grin before taking another swig of my beer. “I’ve known you my whole life. I’m pretty sure I know what you mean.”
“So she’s at least tickled your balls. Right?”
I spit out my beer and laugh, wiping the back of my hand across my mouth. “Yes, she’s tickled my balls and licked my dick. She’s fucking incredible in bed. Now, can we move on to more important things?”
Diego stills, unblinking, lips parted. When his shock wears off, his expression relaxes into something more serious. “Better than Brynn?” he asks.
Even though it makes me cringe, I’m not mad. He’s trying to be serious, not disrespectful.
I can’t look at him; all I can do is shrug. Sex and love are not interchangeable. Brynn was my wife. She was the mother of our child. It’s not possible for me to love someone more than I loved her.
“Fuck, man,” Diego whispers when my hesitation speaks the truth.
I shake my head, returning my attention to him. “No. I don’t want to compare Maren to Brynn. It’s not fair, and it’s unnecessary.”
Diego eyes me for a second before relinquishing a nod that’s as tiny as his smile. “She flies a plane, and you ride a bike. You can’t make this shit up. And let’s not overlook the elephant in the room—you got your pilot’s license. Seems almost torturous to date a pilot, don’t you think?”
“I can see how you might think that, but Lola’s alive. And Maren is amazing. I have a job I love. Although sometimes annoying, Brynn’s parents have gone out of their way to help me. And Lola now spends time with my mom and my aunt Ruth.”