Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
I reached down, pressing lightly. I hadn’t thought about this when we were in the middle of it.
Blaise came back a moment later, carrying a washcloth.
His face was gentle as he sat beside me, moving my leg. “Let me see.”
I did, but it was different now. I felt self-conscious.
As if he could sense it, he shook his head. “Don’t feel that. You are perfection, Aspen. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.” His words came out fierce as he put the washcloth between my legs. It was warm, soothing.
He cleaned me, and I relaxed back into the bed.
“Feeling better?”
I nodded, my eyes closed.
“You’re going to be sore. I’m sorry.”
I opened my eyes, seeing the worry in his. “Hey, I didn’t tell you.”
He looked tormented. “I knew. I mean, I didn’t, but I should’ve known. I should’ve asked.”
I sat up, taking the washcloth from him, and I scooted down, my legs going around his waist, my front against his side. I tipped his chin toward me. “It happened the way I wanted it to. If you think a girl doesn’t think about the conversation to tell the guy she’s a virgin, you’re an idiot.”
He stiffened, but the corner of his mouth lifted. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to have the conversation. This was how I wanted it to happen. Thank you for not being mad that I didn’t tell you.”
His hand flexed over my leg. “I’m not a complete dick.”
He wasn’t a dick at all, not to me. But I didn’t tell him that because I knew he wouldn’t believe me, not yet.
He grinned, his hand rubbing over my leg. “Wanna shower together?”
“What?”
“Shower.”
My eyes went wide, and he laughed. “Come on.” He stood, taking my hand. “You’re going to be too sore for anything, but this is the fun part.” A pause. “The other fun part.” He drew me to him, then moved behind me, his hands at my hips.
In the bathroom, he held me back as he turned the water on, testing it.
When it was warm, he maneuvered us into the shower. He was pressed all up against me, and he was right. As he drew soapy lines down my body, it was a whole lot of fun.
30
Blaise
Fuck. I could’ve stayed here forever.
After the shower, we both got dressed, but there was a whole lot of touching, tickling, and laughing. I couldn’t get enough of Aspen. I was starting to think I never would, and that thought should’ve terrified me, but I wasn’t going there. Not now.
We snuck out for breakfast, and when we came back, Aspen told me to park in the driveway. I carried the coffee and bag of muffins as she led the way. We went through the garage and into the house, and that’s when I met Benny, the chef.
He was a nice guy, maybe in his forties, and he doted on Aspen. Miss Sandy was there too, giving me a tight-lipped look. I was thinking she knew I spent the night. I just flashed her a smile and she huffed, looking away.
Aspen was becoming a lifeline to me.
No way I could pull back, not if I wanted to keep breathing. And yeah, there was a prickle of alarm in the back of my mind.
I shouldn’t have needed someone like this. It wasn’t healthy—for me, but mostly for her. To have a guy like me come into your life and need you as much as I needed her? That couldn’t be normal, or good for her. I didn’t want her to feel like she was drowning in me. Ever. But we could deal with that later. We sat at the table and had our breakfast.
Benny and Miss Sandy joined us. The lawn guy came in later, sitting close to Benny, and it kind of seemed like these three were more Aspen’s family than her own.
That shit wasn’t right. Not at all.
Miss Sandy might’ve guessed my thoughts, because she gave me a pointed look. But I ignored her. After breakfast, Aspen wanted to be lazy, so we headed up to her movie room. She grabbed a journal. I lounged back, watching sports, and she sat next to me, writing.
I drew circles on her back as her leg pressed against mine, and this right here was heaven.
I never wanted to leave.
I knew she wanted to ask about what had happened with me last night, but I wasn’t ready to go there. She gave me space.
But it was pressing on me.
I was on borrowed time. Eventually that world would interrupt us.
My mom had taken a valium to sleep. Fuck. Every time an alert went off on my phone, I tensed. So did Aspen. She was reacting to me. When my phone finally rang, a part of me was okay with it.
It was time to get this shit over with.
It was Zeke calling.