Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“I don’t want your pity.” His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“And you don’t have it. I promise.”
He nodded.
“But I… care. So I feel like shit for how I treated you, and I don’t like knowing you struggle.” I shrugged. “But it isn’t pity. It’s just… giving a shit.” God, I was bad at this. Could I blame my parents for not being able to express my feelings well, or was that all on me?
For whatever reason, my bumbling apology seemed to work for him. He gave me a half-smile. “There’s a small chance I was a dick to you as well,” he said, copying my words from a few moments ago.
“Yeah, well, I know we like to one-up each other, but I think you’re going to have to concede the win to me here. I was by far the bigger asshole.”
“Yeah,” he said with a teasing glint in his eyes. “You were.”
We stared at each other across the table, both grinning. All around us, people carried on with their lives, enjoying breakfast, chatting, and working. But we might as well have been completely alone for all the attention we paid anyone outside the bubble of our table.
I reached out and covered his hand with mine, where his rested on the tabletop. Never before had I felt the need to have a physical connection with someone, but the second he flipped his palm and wrapped his fingers around my hand, my heart steadied.
“Last night was amazing—”
Alex grunted. “The last part was amazing. The rest…”
I shook my head. “No, the whole thing. I really liked helping you out last night. We solved a problem together. We worked as a team. You let me in and let me see parts of your life no one else does. It was special.” My cheeks heated as the words left my mouth, and I averted my gaze, finding something very interesting on the top of my sandwich. For all I know, he’d laugh and call me childish for interpreting things in such a way.
“Ryder, look at me,” he said in a soft tone I’d yet to hear from him. “I felt the same way the night you talked to me about changing your career goals. Special, I mean.”
We stared at each other for a few moments, probably looking like two fools mooning over each other.
“So now what?” he asked.
“Now, we hang out more alone. And we learn more about each other. Maybe we learn everything about each other.” I held my breath, realizing just how much I wanted to be with him.
“I…” He swallowed. I loved the way his throat moved and would have loved to lick over his Adam’s apple as he did it. Maybe he’d let me later. He stroked his thumb over my wrist, raising thousands of goose bumps along my arm. “I think that sounds perfect.”
Pounds of tension whooshed from me in a long exhale. His agreement made me feel like I could fly out of my seat and soar above the entire city.
My smile hurt my damn cheeks.
“And we fuck.” His voice dipped to the seductive tone I’d heard from him last night. “We fuck a lot.”
I groaned as my dick responded to the enticing statement. “Yes. We definitely do that. A lot.”
“So…”
The smooth pad of his thumb continued to draw circles on my wrist. Somehow, it soothed and ramped me up at the same time. I wanted to reach across the table and kiss the hell out of him. “So?” I asked.
“Does that make us…”
I arched an eyebrow.
He rolled his eyes. “I mean, I’m not interested in anyone else, so I guess I’m asking if we’ll be exclusive.”
“Yes,” I answered so fast he snorted a laugh.
“Okay then.”
“Is that what you want?” I held my breath, not daring to disrupt the air around us until I got the answer I wanted.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m feeling a little possessive where you’re concerned.”
Damn, that was nice to hear. “Same. I almost punched a customer at the club last night for staring at your ass. Not that I can blame him. Your ass is a work of art.”
That had Alex rolling his eyes again, this time with an adorable flush to his cheeks. “Last question, does that make us…”
“Boyfriends?” My heart fluttered at the word. Why did it sound so good falling from his lips?
His face scrunched as though he’d gulped sour milk. “Does that sound stupid?”
Hell, no, it didn’t sound stupid. I shook my head. “No. Not stupid. I think it sounds pretty damn good. I’ve never had an official boyfriend. Hookups and a few fuck buddies, but nothing more.”
“Me neither.” A glimmer of teasing shone from his eyes as he smirked. “Unless you count Jared Poznic, who I dated for three days in the seventh grade.”
I laughed hard. “No. We’re not counting that fucker, whoever he is. I like the idea of being your first.”