Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I shifted my focus to the road, not wanting to let my thoughts betray me. I already had way too much to stress about. I couldn’t be thirsting over a man who was off-limits for me.
…Right?
“Just don’t do anything crazy, then. Can you promise me that?”
“Define crazy?”
“Something that puts yourself in danger. Trying to find this person on your own. Confronting them, shit like that. I need you to promise.”
He shifted his attention out the window. A thick wall of trees blurred by as I drove. “Fine. I promise I won’t do anything crazy, then.”
“Okay, good.”
“Can you promise me the same?” He looked to me. His hand was on my leg, close to my knee. He squeezed. It was a firm grip and one that made me excited to get that massage he said he’d give me. There was residual tension all throughout my body that I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding on to.
“Promise.”
He gave my leg another squeeze before letting go, his hand returning back to his lap.
I briefly wondered how impossible that promise actually was. Because with Dyl at my side, all I could think about was throwing caution to the wind and letting my good judgment fly with it.
I’d think about all that later. For now, I simply looked forward to spending more time with Dylan. He was the antidote to my worries. And this evening, I planned on having none.
“This is my place,” I said, holding the door open for Dylan as he entered. I quickly realized he was only the second person I had invited over to my new home. Emmy had been here to help me move and stopped by a couple times afterward, but aside from him, it had only been me.
“Wow,” Dyl said as he stood inside my spacious living room. “I love it. That wallpaper is stunning.” He walked over to the accent wall I had covered in what looked like a hand-painted scene of a beautiful forest-scape. There were evergreens on rolling hills sitting underneath a vibrant blue sky, birds dotting the horizon.
“This is the first place I’ve officially owned and not rented so I decided to be a little more bold with the design.”
“Puts my place to shame.” Dylan kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly on the rack next to the door, pulling off his socks next and stuffing them in his shoes. He rubbed the back of his neck, the rolled-up sleeve of his T-shirt falling back to show the twitch of his bicep, the curve of the muscle. I pried my eyes off him.
“I thought your place was great.” Memories from that night we stayed up playing video games, laughing and joking, popped into my head. It had taken everything inside me to not drop the controller and ask to play with another kind of joystick. I lost a couple of rounds in the fighting game we played because my mind had become way too preoccupied with the fact that all I had to do was reach over and I’d have my hand between Dyl’s wide open legs. I didn’t mind one bit that he’d been manspreading all over the couch.
I had somehow controlled myself that night. But tonight was already beginning to feel different. There was a potent spark in the air. Could it be because the full moon was set to rise in a few days? Was that tugging at my libido and burning away all the caution tape I’d tried to set up around my infatuation for the smiley, handsome, muscular blond man currently standing barefoot in my living room?
“Thanks, but I can guarantee you it’s not as good as yours. You know why?”
“Why?” I asked, cocking my head.
“Because mine doesn’t have a massage table. Now show me where it’s at.”
I laughed at his eagerness while flames licked their way up my core, heat caressing my ribs and wrapping around my heart. “It’s this way,” I said, leading Dylan across the living room and through the hall, past my bedroom, and into the second bedroom that I had converted into a serene, spa-like retreat. The walls were painted an elegant dark green color, lit by strips of ambient lighting that I had hung around the border of the ceiling. I dimmed the lights, keeping the temperature of them warm so that it enhanced the rich green shades of the walls. There were potted monstera plants in beautiful golden pots that seemed to shimmer under the light. A lavender and vanilla air freshener dispensed a fresh puff of scent as we entered.
In the center of the room was the famous massage table Dyl had been so excited to see. The teak wood cabinetry next to it held my massage oils and eucalyptus-soaked towels in a warming bowl. A massage gun sat next to some unlit candles, with a couple of books stacked beside them.