Page 14 of Sturdy & Dirty

The universal emoji for dick.

And there was no denying my body reacted instantly. A jolt of desire swept over me, pooling in my core. Did Austen have a hidden dirty side?

Until him, I hadn’t even thought about sex in years. But there was something so sexy about the way we connected at the build. He thought he wasn’t attractive, but I’d wanted to claw his clothes off right there on the spot.

I bit my lip.

Maybe I was the dirty one.

Several more texts came through in quick succession.

Wait.

Shit. Sorry.

Didn’t mean to send that one. A slip of the thumb.

Damn it.

I typed my answer anyway and hit send: Y

His response was slow, and I couldn’t help my grin. I imagined him as he was at the build, that awestruck look on his face. It made me wish he was here so I could take it in all over again.

My phone buzzed in my hand. Yes?

Of course, I teased. You were asking about Eggplant Parmesan, right? It’s my fave.

This time, he sent the facepalm emoji, the message attached: What am I going to do with you, pretty girl?

Love me, my mind piped up, you’re going to love me. But I didn’t dare say what I wanted.

Instead, I wrote, Pick me up at six, like we planned, I hope.

Well then, he replied. Game over, before I make any more dumbass mistakes and you change your mind.

Who won?

Me, clearly. His message came with a heart-eyes emoji. I’ll see you soon.

I’ll be waiting. I sent mine with a winking-kiss smiley.

***

Mario’s was packed, as usual for a Friday night, but Austin assured me he’d put in a reservation.

A reservation.

I’d never been taken to a place that needed one, so I already felt like a queen. Especially after he showed up at my door with a massive bouquet of roses in every color.

Roses were my favorite, and common enough that he could’ve guessed that part. But what made his bouquet really special was the different colors.

Only Ivy knew that I thought it was a waste to have a bunch of roses all one color when there were so many beautiful shades in existence.

Which meant he could’ve only known this detail if he’d done his research.

Good, because I’d done some too.

According to my sister, who spoke to his best friend, Austin didn’t date a lot. Or, well… ever, she’d said.

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