Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
He holds out a beer. “Thought you’d want this.”
“You’re not wrong,” I say, and grab it. My fingers brush his for a second, and the shock of it zings up my arm, into my chest.
He jerks his chin toward the dance area. “Let’s give them a show.”
I nearly snort beer through my nose. “Oh. No way. Hell no.”
“I had to do your race, now you’ll play my game.”
He doesn’t give me the chance to answer, he curls his fingers around my wrist and pulls me through the crowd. The second we are on the dance floor, and have put our beer safely down, he spins me into him. It’s clumsy at first. His hands are on my waist, but then he slips one hand up, fingers splaying against my bare back, and I swear to god I forget how to breathe.
The music slows and he pulls me closer, his breath is at my temple, soft and ragged. His chest is hard, and under the flannel, I feel him tense with every beat of the song. I let myself fall into it, into him. His body is so close, my ribs have no choice but to line up with his, and when he breathes, my heart stutters to match. I can’t focus, can’t even remember how to move my feet, and it doesn’t matter because his hands have me so secure, like I’m not going anywhere.
For a lost minute, I wonder if Ralston is watching. If Wolfe and the guys are taking odds on how long until Knox destroys me. But here, with the light and the music and the absolutely inappropriate way our thighs are pressed together, it feels like nobody else exists.
He leans down, and his lips are almost in my hair. “You’re not making this easy,” he murmurs.
His words shock me.
I look up. “Making what easy?”
“To...pretend...” His voice is low and my breath hitches.
“You don’t even like me,” I whisper.
“Half the time, I can’t fuckin’ stand you,” he murmurs, reaching up and running a finger down my cheek, “but the other half...”
My knees want to collapse. “Don’t say shit like that.”
He brushes my hair behind my ear with a tenderness that splits me open. “Why?”
“Just don’t...”
I look away, but his fingers are on my chin, forcing me to look back at him. “For once in your life, stop with the fuckin’ sarcasm and have a real conversation.”
Oh he wants real.
Well fine.
I’m half drunk, half high on him, and if I was sober, I probably wouldn’t say this. “You make me want things I shouldn’t want.”
He draws back, just enough. “And what do you want, Callie?”
The song is almost over, the lights fading, and for a second, I forget entirely about Ralston, about my brother, about anything except the heat between us and the way his gaze pins me. “Right now, I want you to kiss me.”
He pulls me in so hard my breath is crushed out of me, and his mouth is on mine before I even know what’s happening. It’s brutal, desperate, and somehow impossibly tender. His hand is curled around the back of my head, holding me in place as his lips claim every last secret I have.
The whole world seems to stop. The music, the lights, the fair, even my own bullshit stories, gone. There’s just Knox, and the taste of his mouth, and the certainty that no matter what else happens tonight, nothing will ever be the same.
When he finally lets me go, I’m dizzy and a little bit lost. He steadies me with a hand on my waist, eyes soft but mouth still set in that hard, stubborn line.
“Not bad,” I say, my voice weakly sarcastic. “I’ve had better.”
“That so?"
I nod, biting my lip, begging my heart to stop pounding.
So, he kisses me again, slower this time, and I let myself fall, drinking him in like it’s the only thing I’ve ever needed.
Somewhere, above us, fireworks explode.
10
Iknow I shouldn’t, I know it, and yet with every step, my heart races a little faster. Knox brought me home, and when we stopped, the truck idling in the night, I turned to him and without a word, nodded. He knew what I was asking, I didn’t need to say the words.
The moment we got out of the truck, I took his hand.
Now, we’re walking towards the front door, Harper’s face flashing in my mind. I shouldn’t be with him, I shouldn’t care, I shouldn’t take what isn’t mine and yet my feet are moving without hesitation. Everything inside me wants him, and I can’t seem to make myself stop.
I don’t even want to.
We make it to the door, and the minute it’s shut behind us Knox pulls me into the tiny, dark living area. The only light is silver-blue from the porch lamp outside and the flicker of lightning through the glass. For a second I think he’s going to say something smart. For a second, I brace for the sarcasm, the inevitable pushback. But he doesn’t. He just stares at me, so many words unspoken, and then he moves.