Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“You good up there? Think Jake is itchin’ to come home. I can haul him up there later—”
“Actually, I’m gonna need you to keep him a few more days. Got a lot of equipment out. Nails and sharp shit. Don’t want him around it.”
“All right then. You okay?”
“Yeah, hey, I gotta go. I’ll reach out in a few days.” I click off, drop the receiver, and then tear the plug from the wall.
“Hey, who are you talking to?”
I whip around. Callie is standing in the hallway, minus my sweatpants, her hair in a cute messy bun. “No one. Myself.”
“Oh, okay. Gonna steal another shirt since you ruined the other one.”
“I ruined? I remember you getting paint all over it.”
She shrugs. “I’ll be better with the next one.” She turns, pulling my shirt over her head, dropping it to the ground and giving me an excellent show of her peachy ass, and disappears into my room.
“Fuck.” I run my hands down my face. I’m playing a dangerous game here. I just hope I win in the end.
***
The car trip is a bust. Her locks won’t open for shit. Doesn’t help she cracked her key in the lock, but even trying to rig it open doesn’t work. We make our daily trip up the ravine to the cliff. Watching her stare off into the distance like she was meant to be here turns my need for her into an obsession, and I end up fucking her in the snow.
Now I have her sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire, making sure her sexy little ass doesn’t catch any frostbite.
“Easton?” she says, and I tuck her back closer to my chest.
“Yeah?”
“Where do you think we’d be right now if it weren’t for, well, you know. . .”
I inhale slowly, calculating the right answer. “I don’t know, Cal. Happy. I know that. We’d be together. That’s all that would have mattered.”
Her chest rises and falls. “Yeah.”
We’re silent for a moment until she turns in my arms. There’s sadness in her eyes. “Why the sad face?”
“You said you only have a few months left here. When you’re done, are you coming home?”
Her lips press together, waiting for my reply.
“Depends on what you mean by home.”
“What if I say home. To me?”
Heat spreads across my chest, and I swallow the lump in my throat. “Then I’d fucking be there.” I drop my mouth to hers. “Home isn’t a place for me, Cal. It’s wherever you are.”
“Really?” she asks, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Stay. Stay with me until I finish the cabins.”
“You want me to stay?”
“Yeah. Cal, I just got you back. I can’t imagine losing you again. Not for a second. Not for three months. Stay with me.”
“But I have a job—”
“You work remotely, right? You can do it down here. If you need to go into the office, we’ll make the trip into the city for a night or two. Cal, I love you. I want everything with you. Stay. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“This is crazy.”
“Well, I’m crazy about you.”
“Shit. I don’t—I mean, we just…” This is crazy. “I—okay. Shit, yeah. I’ll stay.”
I squeeze her against me and swallow her squeak, taking her mouth hard. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For you. Making me whole again.”
She pushes me so my back is pressed against the rug and hurles on top of me. “Oh, shut up. Since when did my sexy, rough-around-the-edges boyfriend become such a sap?”
“Fuck, Cal.” I wrap my hand around her neck and pull her to me. “Like the sound of that.” I kiss her hard.
“Yeah, sounds kind of strange. I should probably not say it—ouch!” She yelps when I slap her ass.
“Not a chance. Say it again.”
“No—shit! Okay, boyfriend.”
“Again.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to bunk up with my boyfriend in the middle of the woods.”
She giggles as I land kiss after kiss all over her face. “I can’t imagine what my friends will say when they hear about this. I’m never going to live this down. Tory especially. That gloater.”
“This is all that matters.” I slide my sweats down, open her thighs, and press my cock through her slick heat. “This is the only thing that’s ever mattered.”
Chapter thirteen
Easton
“You piece of shit!” I barrel at him, taking him to the ground. My fist rears back, and I punch him in the nose.
“Fuck you. You don’t deserve her.” I take a punch to my temple but land another to Russ’s chin.
“And what? You do?” His knee meets my groin, and I jerk and groan. He throws me off him and shoots up.
“You treated her like a possession. Like some prize you won. She’s more than that.”
“She is a fucking possession. She belongs to me!” I hurl myself at him, slamming my shoulder into his gut.
“And now she’s not.” He grunts when I punch him in the stomach.