Page 33 of The One With The Secret Crushes

He arched an eyebrow but didn't push it. Instead, he informed me it was time to read.

"Oh really?"

"You remember the things I said I wanted? One of them was reading in bed naked together. Naked Reading Time. It will be a nightly ritual." He started undressing me.

"I don't get a vote?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Okay. What's your vote, Mackenzie?"

I lifted my hands in the air so he could peel off my shirt. "All in favor of Naked Reading Time being a nightly ritual say aye."

"Aye," he said roughly.

"The ayes have it, Scott. Your motion has passed."

He gave my backside a playful smack as I crawled into bed and flipped open my book. I only had a few chapters left and I had been waiting all day long to find out how it ended.

"Yes, this is the perfect way to end the day." He cracked open his own book, but his eyes were on my exposed breasts.

Then the book caught my eye. "Wait...what are you reading Scott Shaw?" I pushed at the cover and sure enough, it was this month's TBCIMA selection.

"Mind your business." He tried to turn away from me.

Silly man. "Is this our first secret? Are you lying to me?" I teased.

His shoulders sagged. "Okay fine. I've been reading along for months."

Which was adorable. "Why don't you participate?"

His face twisted and his eye twitched. "I have no desire to act out a murder or share my thoughts on the plot." He shrugged. "But I enjoy listening. It's easier to follow along if I know what they're talking about."

Oh my goodness this was the cutest, most adorable revelation about Scott I could have imagined. "I knew you liked them. You act like you don't, but you really, really do."

"They're murderous and they meddle, but fuck." He tossed the book onto the bed. "Full confession?"

"Of course." This night just kept getting better.

He turned towards me, watching me very carefully as he spoke slowly and deliberately. "When Willow kicked them out of the store...I volunteered the saloon because I hoped you'd eventually join in."

This adorable, grouchy man was all mine. "I'm sorry I avoided you for so long."

He gave my fingers a gentle tug. "Yeah, about that...I get that we didn't get a chance to talk that particular day, but why go out of your way to avoid me afterward?"

It was an extreme reaction and while I was embarrassed at first, now I simply regretted being so selfish. "I was an emotional mess. I was trying so hard to not let any of it show and hold it all together and...and underneath it all I had a completely different current of emotions boiling over. I didn't want to be your younger friend who needed protection anymore. I wanted you to see me all grown up and have your eyes fall out of your head and realize you had to have me." I blurted it all out in a rush of words. "But instead you ignored me and left. I was crushed and embarrassed and that tiny hope I'd had that your sudden need for me would blur out all the bad was destroyed. I handled it poorly and I'm sorry."

He reached over and brushed his thumb across my cheek before taking my chin. "There's nothing to apologize for. It was a misunderstanding. That time was always going to be hard and messy, but now I have all the pieces and I get it." He nodded to the book in my hands. "Naked Reading Time."

Peace settled over me as we laid there side by side reading. We didn't have to have drama in our lives. Misunderstandings were just that. There was no need to complicate things when we were happy. So I got lost in the final chapters of my book and snapped it closed. "Damn. I hate cliffhangers but I also love them. Becausedamn." TheRebels Revengeseries was extremely popular. It felt like everyone had read the books and everyone was waiting with bated breath for the final book. Which was why I knew it had been delayed twice already and to not expect the conclusion any time soon.

"Good?" Scott licked his finger and turned the page.

"So good." I traced the cover and the author's name.Wait a second..."A.M. Quill." It couldn't be...could it?

Joanne was going to lose it when she found out.

If I was right.

"Everything okay?"

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