Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Ronnie dips his head in understanding before turning his attention back to Sage, but he doesn't get a word out before she holds up her hand, rejecting whatever it is he is about to say.
Without missing a beat, the man turns toward Eastyn, the young woman who recently started working at the police station as their office manager. She grins at him, but I can tell by the look in her eyes, that although she may entertain his company here, she has no interest in what he and his brother have to offer. It doesn't stop Ronnie from listing all the positive things about dating two men at one time.
I tune him out, focusing on the warmth at my back and the way Mac is all but wrapped around me.
The waitress comes back, asking if we want another round, and I must stare at my drink long enough that Mac bends down and whispers in my ear.
"I rode with the guys, and I'm only having this one beer. I'll make sure you get home safely if you want another drink."
I turn my head slightly to look up at him.
The waitress is just as fast with the second drink as she was with the first. Or maybe I just get lost in his eyes, both of us seeming just fine with staring wordlessly at each other.
Life happens all around us, but for the first time in a very long time, I have something to be distracted with rather than feeling like a third wheel or an outsider, and just as he promised when the night is over, he walks me to the car with his palm on my back and opens up the passenger side door of my car for me.
Once it closes, things seem to shift. By the time he's sitting in the car beside me, the air around us seems different.
It's almost as if he put on a show in the bar, and now that there are no witnesses, he's different somehow.
Or maybe it's me.
I can't pinpoint a single thing he has said or done that made the change happen, but the air feels different.
Wishing I hadn't had that second drink, I stare out the window as he drives us back to my house.
I can't figure out if I'm the one who is all hot and then cold or if it's him.
I internalize everything and always have, so it's probably me. Is it possible to blame the seven minutes in heaven? Is it possible that the make-out session and then him acting as if he'd never seen my face before in his life when school started back up landed me with a lifelong case of PTSD?
Do I expect him to always act differently when there's a change of scenery, so I'm making shit up in my head, convincing myself that he's different now than he was fifteen minutes ago?
Is he even worth the trouble in the first place?
Chapter 26
Mac
I'm lost in my own head the entire drive back to the house, and Riley is inside and gone by the time I realize I need to snap out of it.
It felt good standing behind her as we just chatted and hung out with friends. It felt natural, like something we've done a million times. No one gave us shit for it or interrogated me about my intentions with her.
I know what I did was a declaration. I know kissing her in a public place says something about who we are to each other, especially in such a small town. I'm not going to say I regret it, but I know for a fact I didn't think it through either.
Kissing her told every man that had thought about approaching her tonight that she was taken, that she was mine, and there was a part of me that is internally freaking out about it.
I know I'm drawn to her. I knew it that very first night. It's why I wanted her out of my house as quickly as possible. It's why I acted like such a dick to her after such an earth-shattering experience. Feeling horny for someone isn't a big deal, but feeling an instant connection with someone is enough to make me run for the hills. I go to the borrowed bedroom I tricked my way into getting, walk inside, and close the door.
I pace for a few minutes before stripping out of my clothes and deciding I'm just going to go to bed. Maybe a little sleep will help me figure out what I'm supposed to do next, but I can't even manage to close my eyes without flashes of her in my arms materializing behind my eyelids.
Instead of spending another night tossing and turning with a million questions in my mind and no answers, I leave the room and go to her bedroom.