Page 54 of Someday

“Hank was great. He took me to the ranch, which was just about five minutes down the road, and I was able to get a job there while I waited for my car to be fixed. By the time I was able to pay it off, I had settled into a routine there and didn’t want to try to start over somewhere else.”

I wait for her to say more, the questions bubbling over inside me, but she shifts in her seat and my phone buzzes.

She glances at my phone and smiles when I mute it.

“You don’t need to ignore it on my account. I should get out of here anyway, let you get to work.”

I look at the time and am surprised it’s almost time for me to leave already. “No, stay as long as you want. I’m due out at the Doherty farm soon, but that’s all that’s scheduled. I should be out of there by three or four.” I reach out and put my hand on hers. “Come back tonight. Get more sleep.”

She turns her hand over so our palms touch and that contact alone is enough to send fire blazing through my veins. I weave my fingers through hers, and her sharp intake of air and the way her teeth skim over her full bottom lip is a jolt of adrenaline through my body.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I whisper.

Her eyes get glassy. “Neither can I.”

I stare at her, my thoughts and lust flying through me at rapid speed. I don’t even know what to say.

She stands up and walks to my side of the table. I turn and she moves between my legs, her hands gliding through my hair. My hands fall to her waist as I look up at her. Her tits are so close I could lean in and kiss the tips straining against the material, and holy fuck, I want to.

She bends down and kisses me. Soft at first and then her mouth parts, letting me in deeper. For a few blissful seconds, we’re lost in each other, and then she pulls away. She smiles at me and I stand up, moving toward her for more.

She puts her hand on my chest and laughs. “I don’t want to make you late. I just wanted to give you something to think about for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll have a hard time thinking of anything else. You’re already…all I’ve ever been able to think about, Sofie.”

She leans in and presses the softest kiss against my lips. When she steps back, her eyes are luminous, her lips kiss-stained.

“I know I haven’t given you a reason to trust me in a long time,” she whispers, “but I promise I won’t give you a reason to regret letting me back in…if you decide you can.”

My heart is pounding out of my chest, and I want to tell her I’m willing, that there’s never been a decision—the vacancy she left has never been filled—but she turns and walks into the house and when I come in from the deck, she’s already gone.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

ESCAPE

SOFIE

I wasn’t really thinking when I left Theo’s in my shortie pj’s. At least I remembered to grab my backpack on my way out. I walk through the fields between our houses, thinking about our kiss the whole way, and by the time I get to my house, I’m ready for a shower. I hesitate before walking inside, going in the back door rather than the front.

If Aunt Hilary has noticed that I avoid the stairs at all costs, she hasn’t said anything.

She’s in the kitchen with Abby and when I walk in, they both turn to me, all smiles and expectant eyes.

I laugh.

“Youhave been holding out on us,” Aunt Hilary says as she shimmies toward me. “Look at you in your teensy-tiny shorts. I’m surprised he let you out of the house in that.”

I flush, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Trust me, no one is more surprised than I am about Theo,” I admit. “I couldn’t have imagined that he would let me back in…at least not this soon.”

Nothing could be truer than that.

“From what your aunt has told me, I bet that boy has been pining for you all these years,” Abby says. She puts her hand up by her mouth and whispers, “And from the way he was staring you down with all that pent-up angst that night at the restaurant, it did not surprise me at all to see him all over you last night.”

I snort. “He was not all over me.”

I’d give anything to have him all over me.

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