Page 41 of What I Should Have Known

A heavy sigh and tender smile lifted on my dad’s face. “Let’s go,” he said, nodded, and winked, then took off toward my mom.

Chapter 14

BERNIE

Islid Muffin down from my shoulders and clipped a leash onto her little vest as Kat’s mom hollered for everyone to get dinner. Just before I set Muffin on the ground, a small hand clamped down around my forearm.

“We need to talk,” Kat hissed.

I glanced at her, rising from my squatted position with a cocked brow. “About what?”

“Just come on, before someone sees.” She tugged at my arm, her eyes darting around like a frantic pinball in a machine.

Curious as to what was happening, I tucked Muffin against my waist, rested the airsoft rifle against a log, and followed after Kat. She darted around trees, weaving beneath the canopy until the sounds of the campsite had all but faded. I wasn’t about to complain, considering she was taking us somewhere where we would be alone, somewhere that I was going to take my sweet time drinking in every ounce of her beautifulself.

And most likely get chewed out for something I had no idea I’d done wrong, but I was fine with that.

She was the fire I thrived in.

Kat released her hand and crossed her arms in front of her very well-endowed chest, turning to face me. I sat Muffin down beside me, tying the end of her leash to a loop on my pants, and looked back at Kat. My gaze slid down her beautiful curves, resting at her breasts, and there was no stopping the rising static in my stomach.

The buttons on her shirt strained against the pressure, barely staying together, and as her lips moved, I hated to admit that I was most certainly not listening to a thing she said. Every ounce of my focus remained on her, tracing every curve, every roll that I wanted to bury myself into. Working into my memory the way her jeans sat around her waist, the dip below her stomach, the perfect amount of pudge at her hips just waiting for me to grab onto; all of it drowned out my ability to process what she was saying.

And a sharp sting slapped across my bicep.

“Are you even paying attention to me?” Kat snapped.

I glanced away from her incredible goddess of a body to take note of the red mark forming on my skin from her hand. “First off, ow.” I rubbed a palm over the slap. “Second, probably not what you were wanting me to pay attention to, that’s for sure,” I muttered.

“You’re an ass! Like every other man on this planet, all you want is to get in a woman’s pants.”

I shrugged. “Or a guy’s.”

“Oh you—” She stopped talking, and her mouth fell open. “Wait, what?”

As I stepped toward her, she backed up, bumping against a tree. “I’m just saying, if I find someone beautiful, I’m down.”

“The recruiter’s son,” she gasped in recognition, slapping a hand over her mouth.

“Yeah. And a few others.” I smiled at her as she tipped her head back, gazing up at me.

The anger slid away from her face. “But you’re like ‘a man, man.’”

I pulled my brows together. “And?”

“You know what, never mind. Quit distracting me. But this just makes my point even more important,” she said, her voice turning cold once more as she narrowed her eyes.

I bit back a smile, a rush of excitement filling my frame at the sight of her trying so hard to be all tough. “You look really cute like that.”

“Oh, will you just stop being a shithead and listen to me.” She pulled her lips into a thin line, and I threw my hands in the air in submission.

“At least you got that hint. Anyway, my bad. Go on.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can’t let my dad find out you’re in the military. Like at all.”

I groaned and let my hands fall back to my sides. “Again, about your dad and the military.”

“Seriously, Bernie. I don’t know how to make you actually listen to me, but the moment he finds out, you’ll never be allowed within ten miles of me.” She paused, a crease forming between her brows. “Wait, again?”

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