Page 10 of True Fate

From his crouched position, he looked up, thoughts bubbling like he was underwater.

Her sweatshirt hung off one shoulder, breasts bouncing with each breath, the flaxen ends of that daring haircut dusting her jaw. Her eyes had deepened to the color of wet ash, darker than he ever remembered seeing them.

No orgasm yet, but she looked well-loved.

His body was overwhelmed with need—and that, he could accept.

But his heart…

Justin sat back on his heels as his answering machine clicked, catching the call. What the hell was he doing, considering something this intimate with a woman he barely knew anymore? He wasn’t a one-night-stand type of guy—at least, not often—and this was definitely one-night-stand behavior.

He never would’ve moved this fast unless something deeper was pulling him in—especially after what happened the last time.

His relationship with Lainey Prescott had nearly destroyed him.

Reading his indecision, a tiny furrow appeared between her brows, and Lainey pulled her hoodie together with shaking hands.

Rising to his feet, he stepped away from her—apartfrom her—and glanced frantically around his kitchen. The past and present tangled in his mind, a sudden fury. This wasn’t his parents’ house. It wasn’t her father’s cottage. Or the backseat of his Rabbit.

He wasn’t some stupid kid in love for the first time. The only time.

He wasn’t in love.

He. Was. Not. In. Love.

Justin’s mouth opened, but no words came out. He ran a hand through his hair, her scent clinging to his skin, seeping into his lungs—rich, intoxicating, unmistakably her. He felt off-balance. With himself. With everything.

He’d just broken every rule he’d written about this woman for the past thirteen years. He was a fool, and Justin True no longer suffered fools lightly.

“There you go,” she whispered, fumbling with her zipper, wrapping herself up and out of view. “I can see the wheels spinning. It feels like I’m standing on that sagging porch again, holding a box of cassettes.”

Anger lit his mind like a live wire, sparking all the things he wished he’d said before. He dropped his head into his hand—lost, vulnerable, alone. Everything he didn’t want to be. Everything hehated.

But age had given him a measure of wisdom. And courage.

So, instead of saying something cool, proud, or strong, he told her the goddamn truth.

“You left, Lainey. Ran away. And when you did, you took my fucking heart with you.” He turned, praying she’d go before he begged her to forgive him for not chasing after her, for not following through on this dare. Because if she was still standing there when he looked back, he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to let her go. “I don’t think I can survive that again.”

She walked out, and like the last time, he let her.

chapterfive

Today–The Smashing Pumpkins

LAINEY

Promise shimmered beneath an inky tapestry,pierced by stardust and the golden light of a full moon. Lainey inhaled the scent of cotton candy and hot dogs, the aroma of county fairs and childhood. The planning committee had done an excellent job; the town had been transformed. Twinkling white lights wound around every tent pole and tree trunk, colorful paper lanterns swaying gently from the branches. A lone guitarist’s melody lanced the air—light, melodic, and haunting.

Or perhaps it was the past that haunted.

Lainey’s mind circled back to that morning, passion and hurt wrapped in a package she hadn’t dared to open until she returned to Promise. She couldn’t forget the stunned look on Justin’s face, like he’d moved his queen into position far too soon. She might have felt worse—more foolish, embarrassed, sexually fuckingfrustrated—if the moment hadn’t shaken him as much as it had shaken her.

The way he’d touched her—his thready moans blending flawlessly with hers—had taken her to a place she hadn’t visited since leaving him. Sex hadn’t been particularly good in any of her relationships, a total ofthree, a realization she wished she could forget.

She was starting to think slapdash lovemaking was the best a girl could get.

Lainey tossed back the rest of her wine as a hot flush swept her cheeks. She’d never craved an orgasm more than the one Justin True had nearly delivered in his sunlit kitchen. Instead, she’d made do when she got home, the thought of him bringing her a blinding release inseconds.

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