Page 32 of Unleash You

He peered down at me. “You’re fine. Don’t even say that.”

“Bigger boobs, then?”

Again, he shot a furtive glance down at my chest. “They’re perky. Stop it. You’re beautiful with your cute bun and feisty attitude.”

“Are you serious with that shit?” I rolled my eyes at him with a groan. “You just described Tinker Bell.” I stomped toward the house.

He burst out laughing and came after me, hugging me from behind to keep me from leaving. “To be fair, that stomping was a total Tinker Bell move.”

“You’re just a jerk.” I chuckled.

He swung me around, and I met Wesley’s angry gaze. Omigod, that guy could wear a burlap sack and still look fucking hot. The T-shirt clung to his muscled chest while his joggers hugged his thighs in a way that made my hands itch to touch them. Actually, I wouldn’t mind feeling all of him.

Last night, when he kissed me, his hard body did things to me, things I’d never felt before. For one, the throbbing between my legs hadn’t stopped since his fingers landed on the patch of skin my low-cut dress didn’t cover and hovered right under my breast.

“Hey, man.” Zack let me go.

I stumbled forward, a little disoriented. “Hi.” I managed to say.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Wesley’s voice sounded restrained, and it matched the dark mood in his eyes.

“You know what? I do.” Zack winked at me and headed toward the creek.

“Can we talk?” Wesley pointed at a patch of grass near the flower and herbs bed I’d been working on before I switched to drawing. The sunrays filtered through the tree line and cast a mix of bright light and shadows over the area.

“Sure.”

He sat down and braced his hands behind him, stretching his long legs in front of him. His chiseled jaw and hazel eyes were hypnotizing. I let out a breath and found a grassy spot a couple of feet away from him. The warm breeze and rustle of the tree leaves overhead gave me the illusion that it was just us here.

“How’s Derek doing?” I asked to break the silence.

“Same.” He scratched the stubble on his cheek, then flashed me a sexy smile. “Hey, your basil plant is looking great.”

“Thanks. But it wasn’t me. Someone’s been pruning it.” I looked over my shoulder at the fragrant leaves. “You know if you let it flower—”

“It loses its flavor,” he finished for me.

“Yeah.” I inhaled.

“I told you that.”

“Lilly’s pro-tip.” I recalled from his letter. The first summer after we started writing to each other. I’d mentioned that I missed tending to Mom’s garden. He promised to take care of it for me. Like the brat I was, I challenged his ability to do the place justice. In response, he sent me a long list of his qualifications.

“I did what I could. I might’ve oversold my gardening skills.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

I still had a hard time matching the voice from the letters to his beautiful face. Wesley was that guy. How could he also be this person in front of me, my childhood crush, and the controlling jerk who froze my accounts so I wouldn’t go after my brother.

“About last night, Jesus, I don’t know where to start.”

Right. Should we talk about the letters first, the kiss, or Rebecca? If it were up to me, we’d forget about it all and skip right to the part where we make out again. But we’d had enough misunderstandings for lack of communication. We needed to figure this out now before someone else interrupted us. “I thought…I still can’t figure out how you’re the person behind the letters. I was pissed at you for the deception.”

“I never meant it like that. I promise. This was not a game to me.”

“I believe you, but now I have to consider that in eight years, Charlie never bothered to ask about me. And…does he hate me still?”

I’d been afraid to accept the truth because it came loaded with all kinds of implications. Charlie being at the center of it all. Knowing he didn’t care about me left a big hole in my chest. “I mean, maybe if you hadn’t answered my letters, he would’ve eventually done it himself. We would’ve patched things up and he’d be home.”

Wesley cleared his throat. “Don’t ask me to lie.”

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