Page 51 of Pucking Wild

“That’s what?”

“The scent that’s been haunting me since beach day,” he replies, his words slurred by fatigue. “In my mind I was calling it piña colada. It’s coconut. My coconutty dream girl.”

My heart stops, and the butterflies all take a knee. Dream girl? I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t. He just breathes in and out, his body relaxing into the bed.

I lean closer to him. “You realize you lasted exactly seven seconds after swearing to a vow of silence, right? I have no choice but to leave. We can’t have you thinking actions don’t have consequences—”

“Stay,” he says, reaching out to grab my hand. He laces our fingers together, pulling my arm across his stomach. “You were talking about scalp massages.”

“Mhmm,” I reply, swallowing down the emotion in my throat.

“I’ve never had a scalp massage.”

“Give me my hand back,” I whisper.

His fingers tighten around mine. “No. You’ll leave.”

I smile. “I won’t leave. Give it back, and I’ll pet your head.”

He lets go of my hand, and I brush it up his bare chest, letting the tips of my fingers graze his warm skin. Using a gentle touch, I stroke my fingers over his soft hair. I scrape lightly along his scalp with my nails.

He groans, following my touch. “Keep talking. Hair mask.”

I curl my other arm under my head, continuing to pet him as I talk him through my hair mask routine. He doesn’t last five minutes before he’s crashed out asleep.

19

The sound of my phone buzzing on the side table wakes me up. Each vibration sends it skittering along the dark wooden surface. I snatch for it one-handed. I don’t even pause to read the caller ID.

“Hello,” I grunt, my voice hoarse with sleep.

“Good morning! How’s it going, Langley?” comes the way too chipper voice of Shelby O’Sullivan.

“Morning,” I reply.

“Oh, did I wake you?”

“S’fine,” I mutter. “I should be up anyway.”

On the other end of the line, she laughs. “Sounds like someone had a long night.”

Her words kickstart my brain. The events of the previous night come rushing back to me, and I almost give myself whiplash with how quickly I turn to look at the other side of the bed.

Tess is gone.

Of course she is. Did I really expect her to spend the night with me? Still, it was so nice to fall asleep to the sound of her voice, the feel of her gentle touch. I don’t like how much I’m frustrated not waking up next to her too. I’ve gotta deal with this crush before I do something truly embarrassing like beg her to hold me. Maybe Doc will let me sweat it out in a brutal PT session today.

Fuck, Shelby is still talking at me a mile a minute. She’s been talking this whole time.

“—about ten minutes out from the house, and I just thought I’d call ahead to make sure you had time to get yourself ready to open the door.”

I sit up, feeling stiff all over. “Ten minutes,” I echo.

“I’ve got all the goodies here for you, and some of them are even nutritionist-approved.”

“Sounds good.”

Outside in the hall, I hear a door shut. Tess is up and moving around. I don’t want to miss her if she’s about to leave. I jerk the blanket off me and swing my legs off the side of the bed, reaching for my crutches.

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