Page 87 of Hang the Moon
“Ew,” Darcy muttered.
Annie stole his cup and took a sip. Her nose wrinkled and his heart rolled over like a golden retriever wanting its belly scratched. “Needs sugar.”
***
BRENDON (7:19 P.M.):Got a new phone, FYI.
ANNIE (7:21 P.M.):Old one couldn’t be salvaged?
BRENDON (7:23 P.M.):Waterlogged beyond repair. Guy at the Verizon store found my story about falling in the lake hilarious, though.
ANNIE (7:25 P.M.):It *was* hilarious
BRENDON (7:26 P.M.):
ANNIE (7:27 P.M.):I’d say your night was far from ruined
BRENDON (7:39 P.M.):I’ve drafted and deleted a dozen different texts and I can’t seem to find a smooth way of saying I had an amazing time last night without sounding like my mind’s in the gutter.
Heat settled in a distinctly different part of her body than she’d been expecting when she’d sent her last text. Not between her thighs, but in her chest. A pleasant squeezing warmth, because what Brendon had said sounded the opposite of guttery. Sweet,sosweet, but she could do with its being a little more sinfully so.
ANNIE (7:39 P.M.):Or...
BRENDON (7:39 P.M.):Or?
ANNIE (7:39 P.M.):You could come to the dark side and join me down here in the gutter.
BRENDON (7:40 P.M.):Dark side, huh? Do you, uh, have cookies?
She stifled a laugh.
ANNIE (7:41 P.M.):Cookies, sure. If that’s what you want to call it.
As seconds turned to minutes and Brendon didn’t respond, she read back through her messages and worried she’d crossed the line from flirty to thirsty.Desperatelythirsty.
BRENDON (7:44 P.M.):Then I guess you won’t judge me too harshly if I tell you I can’t stop thinking about that little gasp you made when I slid inside you.
BRENDON (7:45 P.M.):Or the way I could feel your pulse flutter against my tongue when you clenched around my fingers.
Her breath quickened and the warmth that had settled in her chest slithered lower.
BRENDON (7:46 P.M.):And that, if I’d had my way, I would have spent the morning with my head between your thighs making you come so hard you forgot your name.
She lifted a hand, pressing her fingers against the notch at the base of her throat. Jesus Christ.
BRENDON (7:47 P.M.):That the thought of getting you in my bed, where you can be as loud as you want, has me so hard I can’t think straight. That I’m supposed to be prepping for a meeting tomorrow and instead I have my hand wrapped around my dick thinking about how you taste.
She whimpered. It was like a switch had been flipped, Brendon going from adorkable to filthy in under five minutes. She liked it, shereallyliked it.
ANNIE (7:48 P.M.):Jfc, Brendon.
BRENDON (7:49 P.M.):That, uh, guttery enough for you?
ANNIE (7:50 P.M.):I’d say that earns you a cookie, yeah. If only I could reward you in person.
BRENDON (7:51 P.M.):Tomorrow.
BRENDON (7:52 P.M.):Come over.
