Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
I’m a little bit startled by that. “So you can see my reasoning?” I ask carefully. “For having to leave?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if things would go to shit. I guess that’s the usual outcome, but sometimes, people surprise us. Sometimes, situations come together to create something perfect that won’t end up being a total disaster. My brothers might look like they have it together, but it wasn’t always like that, and day to day, I’m sure it’s not always like that for them. It’s hard; I’ll give them that. They’ve had to make tough decisions, and sticking it out with the family isn’t the easiest thing either. If you’re leaving because I kissed you, then I’m truly sorry. Please don’t let that stop you if you truly want to join our family. But if you really do have a life back home that you don’t want to give up, then that’s fair too. I just don’t want to be the one who chased you away after you spent so much time trying to find us.”
“You,” I correct. His gaze flies to mine, and we lock eyes and hold gazes. His eyes…they’re so, so beautiful. I’d never looked into a set of eyes that I felt I could drown in, but that’s the sensation I get every single time I look into that blue-gray sea. “I tried to find you.”
“Right, yeah. That’s right. And then you found all of us. I hope you’re okay that you did.”
“I am. They’re all very nice, and I do appreciate the offer. I just don’t think I’m ready. It wasn’t just the kiss.” That part might be a bit of a lie.
“But was it good, though? The kiss?” he probes.
I wonder if it would hurt to magically slip through the floor and go crashing to the ground beneath. The treehouse is up pretty high, so yup, it would probably hurt. I’ve already told him it was fine, so I can’t really change my stance now. But I do tear my eyes away and study the floor.
“Yeah, it was okay.”
“Just okay?” He raises an eyebrow.
I’ve been secretly wondering if he felt it as well, if it was good for him, and if it also rocked his whole freaking world the way it did mine. Or maybe it was just lips and tongue and other anatomy, and there was no feeling at all behind it for him. No world changings, no earth-shattering stuff. He seems to be hinting that he felt whatever I felt, or at least a small bit of it, and it makes my very foolish heart do very foolish things. It also makes the ache in my belly, the one that’s never quite gone away because I’ve been so very lonely for such a long time, yearn and ache and churn a little with lonely acid-type stuff.
His eyes land on my lips like he’s thinking about kissing me again. Or maybe just daring me to lie about how I felt the last one was. “Okay, it was good,” I mutter. I want to stop looking at his face and noticing him looking at me, but I can’t.
“Really?”
“Yes!”
His lips curl up sensually at the edges. “It was good on my end too. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I also enjoyed it. A lot. And I’d like to do it again, actually. Can I do it again? One for the road? One as a goodbye? One for luck, maybe?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and clench down on all the muscles in my body before they can go into a full-on series of wild spasms of pure physical joy—a full-body orgasm inspired just by hearing that statement. “That’s a bad idea,” I croak.
“And so was getting drunk and getting married in Vegas, but to be fair, I don’t remember that. I think it would be fair to even out the score, yes?” My eyes fly open, and he grins. “Okay, that doesn’t exactly make sense. I have no idea where I was going with that. I’d just very much like to kiss you again. If you’re leaving, it’s a shame, but I won’t stop you or force you not to. I’m sorry that I rudely interrupted your life a year ago and took up so much of your time. But I’m not sorry that you tracked me down and that we met. It’s been nice. You’re a very cool woman, Echo, and you have a badass fake name. You’re also beautiful and funny, and you can hold your own against raccoons and spiders. I really don’t know you well at all, but the things I do know, I like very much. Thank you for the memories. I’m glad that if I had to get married to someone and not remember it, it was you.”
Those are nice things. Gah, those are really nice things to hear. His lips part, and oh my god, I can’t stop looking at them. They’re probably the world’s prettiest lips. They’re pretty in a rugged male kind of way, not actually pretty. They’re not too full or too thin. They’re basically just perfect on the scale of male lips.