Page 66 of Other Side Of Never
I froze in my tracks, a denial on the tip of my tongue, before tipping my chin up and smiling slyly.“That shower, hm.Very nice.”Continuing toward the fridge, I dragged my hand across his back.“You should…try it.”
He snorted.“I’ve been ‘trying it’ for weeks now.One day you’re going to go too far, Bridget.You need to make up your mind,” he snapped, good humor dissipating.
My jaw dropped.Not only had Kian snapped at me, but he inferred I was the one holding this up?“Make up my mind?”
“Yeah,” he turned toward me.“Either you’re willing to try with me or you’re not.”
I stuttered, “I thought you didn’t want to get involved?”
He dipped his chin down and leveled me with his gaze.“Really, Bridge?We’re not involved?”
I swallowed.“Well, yes, but not romantically.”
He huffed impatiently.Hm.A horny Kian was a huffy Kian.“We’re not fucking.Yet.That’s all.”
I plopped down into the kitchen chair behind me.“Huh.”
Voice tight, he continued, “It’s all fun and games until somebody—”
“Gets a boner,” I finished.
His chest began to shake.“Okay, yeah.We’ll go with that.”Laughing, he strolled over and pulled me up out of the chair and into his arms.
I tucked my nose into his neck, my body trembling with sudden cold.
Wrapping my arms around his lean waist, I clung to him.I’d been playing with fire, safe in the assumption I could stretch my sexual wings with no repercussions.
His big hands ran up and down my back as he gently pressed me closer, murmuring, “We’ll sleep on it.But before we head back to Sage Ridge, you need to come to a decision.And if you decide you only want to be friends, all this teasing you’re so damn good at has to stop.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I pictured all the ways this could go wrong.“And if I decide I don’t want to stop teasing you?”
He rubbed his stubbled cheek against my temple.“Then you willingly accept the consequences.”
“Which are?”
His hands stilled as he pulled me in closer.“You and me making a go of this.”
My heart thudded in my chest.“It’s going to hurt.”
Between the two of us, we carried a lot of baggage.Navigating each other’s triggers would require a degree in cartography.
“Yeah.”He dropped a sweet kiss to my forehead.“But is there anything worth having that doesn’t?”
I nodded against his wide chest.
A chest this wide, did it house a heart big enough to hold me as well?Me and Isaiah and all my fears as well as our future?Wasn’t that too much to ask?
And what happens if it doesn’t work out?Am I supposed to walk away?
That’s exactly what you’ll have to do.
What if I can’t make a living in Sage Ridge?As much fun as I’m having at Susie Q’s, it’s not enough.
Or is it?
What if Kian’s not enough?
Oh, God!What if Isaiah’s not enough?
