Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
I draw back, baffled. “I am offended, actually. Not that I know of whatever food spoilage you’ve consumed in your life, but I’m a full-on nutritional package.”
She snorts.
Slowly, what she’s saying starts to make sense. I’m like the other guys she’s dated, and they’re all losers.
I should keep my mouth shut and go on about my night because I have no interest in being the one. Hell, I can’t be anyone’s everything. I can’t promise anyone shit—not even myself.
But I also don’t understand how she’s associating me with any man who had her and blew her off. Fuck. That.
She sighs. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lumped you in with them in such a general way.”
“Or in any way, but thanks.”
“I just meant that you’re unavailable. You don’t live here. You don’t even live in a place that’s remotely accessible to a girl in Ohio unless I hop on a plane for a half-day trip.”
This is true. Completely true.
“You told me that you’re a California boy. ‘Sunshine and salt water.’” She half smiles, half frowns. “Kissing you was a big mistake. Huge.”
“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t go that far.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You, Mr. Beck, are a slippery slope. I think you know this.”
I grin. It’s a compliment.
“I’m going to have to relive that kiss for days now. Weeks, even,” she says. “And that’s not . . . that’s stupid.”
I hear what she’s saying. I understand what she’s saying. I agree with what she’s saying.
But after a few moments of letting her words settle in my psyche, I’m still not convinced that she’s right. The two of us spending time together, kissing—or more—does logically seem like a waste of time and a potential disaster when I go back home.
Because I am going back home.
So why does that logic, that common sense, fail to make me not want to see Palmer again?
“I’m not going to try to convince you to do something that you don’t want to do,” I say. “And I’m not going to lie to you and paint a picture that isn’t real.”
But as I lay the words on top of the fence between us, she recoils.
“But I will say this . . .” I take off my hat and run my fingers through my hair. “I think honesty cures a lot of miscommunications and problems in life.”
“True.”
I plop my hat back down on my head. “You don’t want a relationship with me any more than I want one with you.”
Her face falls, and it causes an uncomfortable blip in my chest.
“But two adults can be friends and have fun together and know that it’s not going anywhere. Right?” I ask.
She nods slowly, like she’s unsure.
“I have a helluva lot of fun when you’re around,” I say. “You make me smile and laugh, and you’re so fucking beautiful.”
Her whole face lights up.
“I don’t want to cause you any problems,” I say. “I just like being around you, Palmer. So if you change your mind and decide you want to hang out—”
“I picked them all up!” Ethan hits the fence like a train. The entire fence line shakes as he climbs it like a tree. “They’re in the bucket.”
“You got all the balls picked up?” I ask.
He hops off the top of the fence and lands on his feet. Then he spins around and grins from ear to ear. “Yup!”
“Thank you, buddy. That’s super helpful.”
“Sure!” He tosses a ball up in the air and catches it in his bare hands. “I’ll be in the car, Mom.”
“Okay. I’ll just be a second.”
Palmer turns to face me. She takes a long, deep breath. As she exhales, the shakiness is evident.
“You make me nervous,” she says quietly. “Like, I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t know if I can be that much of an adult and remember . . .”
“Remember what?”
She grins. “I don’t know if I can see the stop sign that we just plunked down at the end of baseball season. That’s when you’re leaving, right?”
I nod.
“So this is just . . .” Her voice trails off.
“It’s whatever you want it to be. It’s fun. It’s friendly. It’s killing some time until I go to Cali and you find your Prince Charming.”
She levels her gaze with mine. The intensity, the soberness, buried in her eyes lights a fire in my core.
Fucking hell.
“If Val will watch Ethan for me Friday night—and that’s a big if—maybe you could come over and we could order a pizza.”
I grin. “Can’t wait.”
“Oh.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t take you up on that offer?”
She walks backward toward her car. There’s a hesitation in her eyes, and I hold my breath to see what she says.
“I’ll let you know what Val comes back to me with,” she says, grinning. “But she might refuse because I’d get a meal with the guy she was trolling last night.”