Page 53 of When the Stars Fall
“Such a dirty mind. Where’d you get all this muscle?”
“Running. Climbing at the climbing wall. And working out in your gym.”
“Yeah?” He glanced at me. I nodded. “We can start working out together.”
“Let’s not rush into anything.”
He laughed and pulled his hand away, transferring it to the wheel so he could hang his other arm out the window and tap out the beat on the roof of the truck as “Howlin’ For You” by the Black Keys started playing. I stared at his profile, at his straight nose and full lips and the chestnut hair that was tousled and messy, a warm breeze ruffling it. He didn’t look like a boy anymore. There was stubble on his jaw and I wanted to brush my lips across it. Let it rough up my tender skin. I had the irresistible urge to kiss his neck. To drag my fingers through his hair and lick his abs. I wanted to bite him and leave my mark the same way he’d done to me.
He glanced at me and graced me with a slow, lazy grin as if he could read my mind and knew where my thoughts had taken me.
“So... does this mean we’re friends again?”
He snorted and returned his eyes to the road. “Don’t even think about friend-zoning me.”
“What zone do you want to be in?”
“The one where I get to rip off your clothes and do dirty things to you with my tongue and my hands and my gigantic cock.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh please. It’s not even that big.”
He snorted again. “Yes, it is.”
Since I had no basis for comparison, I couldn’t really argue with that. And it had seemed pretty big. “You’ll be lucky if I let you kiss me with that dirty mouth of yours.”
“You’ll be lucky if you get to find out what this dirty mouth of mine can do.”
Oh my God.
What a difference a year makes.
“How is this going to work? Now that we live together.” I thought aloud as we headed for home. On Sundays we had dinner as a family so we needed to get home.
“Leave it up to me. Where there’s a will, I’ll find a way.”
Typical Jude. He hadn’t changed a bit. He still thought he could take care of everything. He still needed to be in charge. But why would I fight him on something that would only benefit both of us? We were on the same team again so we’d both be winning. Why fight something I’ve wanted for so long?
Chapter Seventeen
Lila
“What’s happening now?”Jude asked.
“They’re having sex.”
The weights clanged as they hit the rubber floor. I stifled a laugh and bit into my green apple, the tartness making my cheeks pucker as my eyes scanned the page in front of me.
“She’s having sex with the dude in the kilt?” Jude asked.
“Jamie, yeah. He’s a sexy beast,” I taunted, the apple making a satisfying crunch as I took another bite and side-eyed him from my spot on the leather sofa. A few weeks ago, Kate got a new sectional for the family room, so we moved the old sofa into the barn. I was sitting with my back against the armrest, knees bent, paperback propped up against my thighs.
Jude scowled. “So she’s cheating on her husband.”
I knew his views on cheating. For him, it was a hard limit that completely broke the trust. He said there’s no coming back after that kind of dishonesty. I called him a hypocrite, reminding him of all the other girls he’d been with but he claimed it didn’t count because we weren’t together.
“Technically, she’s not cheating,” I said. “She traveled back in time so it doesn’t count.”
“Still counts. She’s still married.”
