Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Habit is the best friend of an athlete. Ever since his ex fucked with his heart last year, Rhys has been in the habit of resistance. But it’s messing with his head. “You said you need a distraction. So, yeah, break that streak with a distraction.”
“And you’re my wingman?”
“If that’s what you need in Lucky Falls, then yes,” I say.
A little later, as we exit the highway and slow to a stop at a light, a message flashes across my phone screen.
Hollis: It appears we may have a roomie for the week
I tip my chin toward my phone in its holder. “Can you see what that’s all about?”
“Course.” Rhys picks up his phone. Scrunches his brow. “Hollis says, and I quote, we might be sharing a rental with Briar. More to come.”
I picture the tenacious blonde who went to the ends of the earth for her pet.
I remember her offer to drive us all home.
I think about her thank you texts, her picture of her dog, and the way she looked when she ran across the parking lot that night.
Then, when my pulse pounds, my brain connects all the dots at once. I’m fucking attracted to her.
All of a sudden, I’m the tense one.
17
THE AVOIDANCE POSE
Briar
I can’t hide forever on the deck.
But I can make this pose last for a long time. I can backbend the hell out of this moment here on the deck on Thursday morning in the early February California sun.
Maybe Hollis will just make some coffee and leave.
Except…
I feel awful for thinking that.
It’s not my style to avoid things. I still just feel so…ridiculous after last night. I don’t know what else to say to this kind, funny, outgoing man who tried so hard to please me.
Except what I already said when he called me out. It’s not you—it’s me.
Then I said it was no big deal and I needed some sleep. I immediately retreated to the bedroom and considered never coming out.
But I can’t practice the avoidance pose forever. I need to meet with the Sea Dogs strength and conditioning coach before my first class at the festival.
On that to-do list note, I finish my practice, coming out of the pose, sitting cross-legged, then taking several calming breaths before I rise. Donut rises too. I pat my thigh, a cue for her to follow me, and head inside to face the first man who’s learned my dirty little secret even though I have no clue what to say to him.
Good morning! I have intimacy issues. How are you?
Inside the kitchen, Hollis is shirtless and meticulously slathering avocado on a chunky piece of sourdough toast with the back of a spoon. He must have grabbed groceries this morning since that doesn’t look like the loaf of bread I bought the other day.
“Who invented avocado toast?” He holds up the breakfast item like it’s Simba. “Seriously. Have you thought about it? It’s up there with penicillin and birth control.”
That stops me in my tracks and stops me from ogling him in just those workout shorts that hug his hips. “Birth control?”
“Well, yeah. It’s a great invention. It gives a woman more choice.” He taps his bare chest with his free hand. “Raised by a single mom here.”
My heart twists, and I feel even worse for my sex failures. My ex was right. The problem is me. I couldn’t even come for a hot, sweet, flirt of a man who not only cares about women but bought his own groceries rather than snitching mine.
“It’s a top invention for sure,” I say brightly, glad we’re not talking about last night at least. He’s moved on, so I can too. I grab onto the conversational offering he just gave me as I snag a banana from the counter. “And I was raised by a single dad,” I say.
One eyebrow quirks up in obvious interest. “Yeah?”
“My mom took off when I was ten.”
His expression twists in irritation. “Eight for me. Damn, are we living parallel lives?”
“Maybe,” I say, unpeeling the fruit, then breaking off a chunk since it’s too hard to eat a banana in front of a guy any other way. It’s not like I’m going to slice it with a knife. That’s the worst way to eat it. Then I add lightly, “I mean, I like avocado toast and antibiotics too.”
He laughs as I pop in a chunk of fruit, and his laughter has to be a sign we’re both going to sweep last night under the rug and never speak of it again. Just to be sure though, I shift to practical matters as Hollis spins around and grabs the sea salt from the cupboard. “I talked to Kailani. She said she felt terrible that she put me in your rental by mistake, but she has nothing else for me this week.” I fasten on a helpful smile, since I’m kind of the interloper here, and he has every right to just kick me out. “But we slept in separate bedrooms last night, so maybe it won’t be weird to share this cottage?”