Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
The idea that forty-five was ancient made me laugh even harder. And hell, maybe it was simply because I needed the laugh, but the whole thing seemed hilarious.
“Poor Val,” I said when I finally caught my breath.
“I should go talk to him,” he said, yanking my van door back open. “Thanks, babe. You’re the best.”
He leaned back in and pressed a kiss to my cheek before stepping out of the van…
Right into the broad chest of an angry Trace Bishop.
10
TRACE
Was Wolfe on a flirt tour of America? Because it was starting to feel that way.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I lied, stepping away from the younger man who’d barreled into me.
Wolfe’s chest lifted as he pulled in a deep breath. I held mine while waiting to see if he’d let me in.
But all he said was, “Okay.”
I exhaled and gave what I hoped was a polite smile to the man I now recognized as VotoBren. “Excuse us?”
The guy’s eyes flicked to Wolfe, who nodded and flashed him a reassuring look. “Thanks, Brennan. Good luck with Val.”
Once he left, I lifted an eyebrow at Wolfe and glanced at his passenger seat, which was swiveled to face the interior of the van where the kitchen and bed were. “Can I come in?”
Wolfe nodded, so I hopped in and took the seat, leaning for the sliding door handle to pull it closed behind me.
“Leave it open,” he said.
I glanced out to see if anyone was around to eavesdrop, but the sites were far enough apart to give us privacy.
He sat back on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was wearing an old T-shirt, faded navy with a small pink logo on the shirtsleeve. I recognized it from Instagram photos Wolfe had been tagged in, but I’d never seen it on him before in person. For some reason, it made me feel the distance between us. The six years I’d tried to have as little in-person contact with him as possible.
Our interactions had been reduced to Marian family group events and a few quick encounters that had been unavoidable. And the truth was… I missed him.
I missed Wolfe’s curiosity about the world. His deep, instinctive kindness. His insights. His easy acceptance. His playfulness, which was so similar to my own.
Lots of people could make me laugh, but few had ever made me truly, deeply happy. And very few of those—fine, one person, ever—could make my whole body relax and my spirit quiet with just the simple gift of his presence.
I’d cut myself out of his life six years ago, but I was only now realizing that in doing so, I’d cut out a part of myself, too.
And I missed him so badly my chest hurt.
“I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you in February,” I began, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped together to keep from reaching for him. “It was condescending, rude… and probably very confusing, considering my actions.”
His jaw ticked as he looked down at where his hand was smoothing the rumpled cotton duvet next to his thigh. “Not confusing. At least, not when I had a clear enough head to think about it. You said you were trying to help me get it out of my system. You didn’t actually want the kiss. It was just to prove a point.”
Little drummers banged against my sternum from the inside. “Maybe at first. A little. Yes. But…”
I hesitated, considering how much to reveal. The truth was, as soon as my lips had touched his, all the “point-proving” had gone out the window.
Before I could say anything, he interrupted.
“You weren’t into it.” He shrugged. “Not your fault.”
Wolfe pulled up his socked feet and wrapped his arms around his knees. Like he was curling in on himself. Like he was battening down the hatches to prepare for a storm.
“I…” I raked my hands through my hair. “I… liked it. The kiss. I thought that much was obvious.”
His forehead crinkled. “You did?”
“Jesus, Wolfe, yes! Couldn’t you tell? Fuck. I practically dry humped your leg.”
The edge of his lips quirked up, and his ears turned red. “Well, I did notice that much.”
I ran my clammy hands down my thighs, unsure of where I wanted this conversation to go. I still couldn’t imagine a scenario where we were together. Not when the idea of telling Derek still made my palms sweat. But I didn’t want my relationship with Wolfe to be strained anymore.
Hell, I wanted to have a relationship with him again, period.
I needed him to know I didn’t think of him as a child any longer, but that I also wanted him safe. Not because he couldn’t take care of himself, but because he was precious to me.
“I don’t want things to be like this between us,” I admitted, hearing the roughness in my voice. “You’re important to me. And I… I miss you.”