Page 63 of Dash of Bryce
My gaze locked on hers. "You're no booty call."
"I'm not?"
"Ilikeyou."
Her tongue darted out between her lips just before she whispered, "I like you, too."
"And if you think it's only sex," I said, "you'd be dead wrong, unless that's whatyouwant, in which case..."
She gave me a wary look. "In which case what?"
I grinned. "It'll bemyjob to change your mind."
Her eyes brightened. "Really?"
I reached out and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Just tell me something."
Her voice was breathless as she asked, "What?"
"Do Ineedto?"
She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to mine before replying with a smile in her voice, "No."
I smiled, too. "Good."
Chapter 29
Harper
Bryce stared at the thing in the box. "What is it?"
Standing next to him at the kitchen table, I tried not to laugh. "You can't guess?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure Iwantto."
It was a snowy Sunday afternoon, and I'd slipped away from my aunt's place to spend some time here with Bryce at my own house. When I'd arrived only five minutes ago, he'd given me a package that had been delivered just yesterday.
The package was slightly larger than a shoe box and had been addressed to Holly and Jolly Christmas at my own street address.
Oddly enough, this wasn't a surprise. Before renting out the bungalow, I'd had our mail rerouted to my aunt's place. But of course, this only applied to mail actually addressed to me or my sister.
It did not, however, apply to any of the funny Christmassy names my Great Aunt Matilda liked to use when sending us packages.
Next to me, Bryce asked, "So, which one are you?"
I wasn't following. "Which what?"
"Are you Holly or Jolly?"
I snickered. "Well, I'd probably be Holly, I guess, since I'm more prickly than my sister.She'sthe jolly one."
Bryce turned to me with a smile. "You've been pretty jolly lately."
It was true.Nearly a week had passed since I'd learned of my awful mistake. And as mortifying as it was, the whole thing had been a terrific lesson – one I was trying to take to heart.
During the past couple of years, I'd been so busy trying to keep myself from getting hurt that I'd missed far too many good things along the way.
But now that I'd let down my guard a little – or maybe a lot – I'd been making up for lost time and not only in the bedroom.
