Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
He was sitting on the porch swing, drinking a beer. “Eve,” he said, drawing out my name for at least three seconds.
I gulped. Why was I so on edge? We’d almost had sex.
“My sister has a crush on you,” I said.
Why did I say it?
No clue.
He paused the can of beer an inch from his mouth. “She’s in my Trig class. I really have to draw a line, and sixteen is nonnegotiable.”
Don’t laugh!
My boots clicked on the wooden stairs, and I pressed my lips together, sucking on the mint. “Is Josh in bed?”
He nodded before drinking the last of his beer.
“When I said I wanted you to work for it, I thought that might involve some effort.”
“It has.” He stood, eyeing me with an unreadable expression as he opened the screen door.
I followed him inside.
“Are you saying it takes a lot of work to ignore me?”
“Ignore you?” He tossed the can into a bin by the back door. “I haven’t ignored you. I see you and talk to you almost every day.”
“You talk to me like I’m …” I drew in a long breath.
Stay chill.
“Like you’re what?” He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head.
My fake, calm smile felt psychotic. “You haven’t kissed me, touched me, said anything that’s the least bit suggestive, or even winked at me in two weeks.”
Kyle made duck lips and returned an easy (infuriating) nod. “Because I’ve been focused on working for it.”
I pumped my fists. He was too chill.
Too dismissive.
Too everything except making any sense.
I rubbed my hands over my face and then ran my fingers through my hair, and he had the audacity to let his lips twitch into a tiny grin.
“Ugh! You’re such a jerk.” I turned and stomped my feet toward the door.
“What are you doing here?” Josh asked in his blue jammies from the top of the stairs, rubbing his tired eyes.
“Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?”
“Go back to bed, buddy,” Kyle said, climbing the stairs. He framed Josh’s face in his big hands and kissed his forehead. “Bad dream?”
Josh nodded.
No. I couldn’t let him make me weak in the knees again, not just from being a good dad.
“Did you show Eve the hut without me?” Josh asked in a soft voice.
“That was a secret,” Kyle whispered, but I heard him.
“What hut?” I said.
Kyle deflated, hanging his head.
“Me and Daddy built you a new hut.”
“Go to bed, buddy.”
“Show me,” I said.
Kyle looked at me. “Not now. It’s getting dark.”
“Bring a flashlight.”
“I can’t leave Josh.”
“I’ll come too.” Josh perked up.
“You should be asleep.”
Josh clasped his hands together in a prayer pose at his face. “Let’s show her. Please.”
Kyle frowned.
“I’ll get my boots on.” Josh slid past him and hopped down the stairs, sticking his jammie-covered feet into his little cowboy boots.
Kyle rolled his eyes, taking his time descending the stairs. He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a flashlight.
We didn’t head in the direction of my old hut. Instead, Kyle guided us further north, away from my family’s land, to where the creek snaked between a long grove of trees at the bottom of a hill.
Kyle pointed the light to the right, and there was a hut, but it was more like a treehouse on the ground, made from wood and much larger than my hut.
“Come inside,” Josh said excitedly, waving me toward the door.
I stepped inside as Kyle shined the light behind me.
There was a log bench along one side and a window on the opposite side, which had hinges for opening and closing.
“Do you like it?” Josh asked.
I was speechless, my heart free-falling, taking every ounce of air from my lungs, so I nodded.
I sat on the log bench and gazed up at Kyle. He offered a shy grin.
“Okay. We showed her, now you need to get to bed.” Kyle stepped out of the hut, and Josh followed.
“Coming, Eve?” Josh asked.
I smiled. “In a minute. I’ll catch up.” I wiped my eyes before either one of them saw me getting emotional over a hut. Then, I brought up the rear as Kyle gave Josh a piggyback ride back to the house.
“Bed. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars,” Kyle said.
“What?” Josh giggled as he rode Kyle’s back up the stairs.
I followed them and stood in the hallway while Kyle tucked him back into bed.
“Love you, buddy,” he said, closing the door most of the way. Then he lifted his gaze to mine as if surprised to see me waiting for him.
I grinned, stepping past him, teasing the palm of his hand, and threading our fingers together while wordlessly leading him to his bedroom. Releasing his hand, I quietly closed and locked the door behind me.
“You built me a hut,” I whispered, closing my eyes briefly before turning to face him.
He didn’t speak.
I stepped closer, resting my hands on his chest. We gazed at each other in the dim moonlight that snuck past the partially closed curtains. I clutched his shirt, working it up his body and over his head. Then I did the same to mine.