Page 232 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
Ready to explode a load right here.
And I doubt I’m doing a great job of hiding it.
“Nah, I’ve got no problem with a little bite. Just didn’t know you had it in you.”
But I do.
Damn it, I know all too well.
Her eyes narrow. “You have no idea what I’ve got in me.”
“I’d like to know.”
There’s a moment, just a heartbeat, where the fire crackles between us, and I can feel that spark of curiosity, that pull, deeper than the teasing.
“I’d like to know every single thing about you that I’ve missed,” I add.
No games.
No pretenses.
Everything.
“You really want to know everything?” She’s daring me.
Testing me.
I nod, no hesitation. “All of it.”
For a second, she looks at me, her gaze steady, almost searching. I don’t know where this is going, but I’m ready. If she wants to stay up until dawn catching up, I’m willing.
“I have this book here.” She opens the bucket list on her lap. “It seems you already know a lot about me.”
I feel it before I see it—her foot brushing gently against my leg under the blanket.
The contact is light at first, as if she’s testing the waters.
My breathing stops.
My pulse quickens.
A jolt of heat spreads through me.
Her eyes flicker to mine, but she doesn’t pull away, just lets her foot linger against my thigh.
I swallow, trying to remain calm. It’s a struggle with the way she’s looking at me, the way her foot feels, it’s like she’s just slipped past every damn wall I thought I had up.
“I reckon, I could learn more,” I say.
“Good, ‘cause we’re gonna get up nice and early tomorrow morning. Before our siblings.”
“Are we?” I like where this is going.
“Yes. You saw what happened here when they discovered the book is ours. I can’t handle that first thing in the morning. Among other things.”
I notice the way her eyes flicker to the side, and I wonder if it has more to do with her birthday tomorrow. She’s never liked celebrating it.
I used to love birthdays. The presents, the cake, the noise. She never did. Never liked the spotlight, whether at school or home. She preferred the background. A party was the opposite of her.
