Page 57 of ILY
After what feels like an actual forever, he murmurs against my temple, “I would have waited.”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s answering my question. And not just answering it, but for the first time since we met, he’s telling the entire truth.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LEAF
“Honestly, Thorne, what are you doing?”I turn around and see him watching me, his hand rubbing his jaw.
“Just admiring the view.”
I roll my eyes, holding up my gloved hands. I’m wearing a pair of cutoff shorts, no underwear, and a tank top. My hair has seen better days after the shit sleep I got last night, and I know I have a sunburn on my shoulders. How he is admiring this view is beyond me. Unless…
“Wait, are you talking about me or the sunset?” I turn toward the pink and orange sky before turning to look at him.
His lips twitch. “Can I say both?”
“Fuck off,” I say, tossing a weed at him. It barely makes it to him. I need to work out. Thom would be so disappointed in me if he’d seen that sorry attempt at a throw.
“Think I’ll stay now that you’re no longer mad at me.”
I bite my bottom lip and stare at him. I’m not mad at him. Not after he exposed the truth to me earlier. He laid himself bare, and I liked it.
I like him. I like how he looks and how he looks at me. Especially right now.
After a fantastic edging session, Thorne decided to assist me in protecting my garden from Michael. We may have spent way too long looking up traps for groundhogs who terrorize local farmers. Seems I’m not the only one.
There’s an entire thread online about it. I make a mental note to post there if the traps don’t work.
Thorne suggests things I’ve already tried. Veggies inside a trap? Already done, and he managed to tap-dance around the entire thing and grab them, the cage empty the next morning.
He did this twice.
Using a mirror inside the trap in front of the veggies? Michael merely fixed his hair in that damn thing, tiptoed his way around it, and got the veggies out.
I even covered the traps with canvas and straw, but he evaded those as well.
It’s why I ended up going for the TNT, and I think Thorne is starting to understand why.
“Maybe we should just go with something natural. Hemlock or nightshade. I’m starting to think killing this beast is the only way to save you.”
I stare at Thorne, looking far too attractive to be real. “You, Mr. Thorne, are speaking my language now. Perhaps I should give you a thank-you for that idea.”
He cocks his head and adjusts his pants as he shoots me a dark grin. “Maybe you should. I’m full of good ideas.”
I pull my gloves off and walk toward him. He has a streak of dirt on his cheek from helping me pull some weeds earlier and from cleaning up the mess Michael made.
“I even have a contact where we can get them.”
I place my bare hands on his chest and run them up to his neck. “Stop being so sexy.”
“I can’t help it. I was born this way.”
I let out and laugh and then reach down, pulling on his shirt. “Come on. Let’s shower, and then you can make me dinner.”
“Oh, can I?”
“You owe me, remember?”
