Page 56 of Untamed

“You did that for me?” My grin takes over my entire face because this is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

She shrugs again.

“You love playing music, and you love living in this town. So why not combine the two?”

I grab her face and yank her over to me, planting a huge kiss right on her lips. Everyone’s laughter mixes with Jo’s and Wade’s exaggerated gagging sounds.

“This family is becoming intolerable,” Wells groans from across the table. “I have to be careful everywhere I go. You never know when you’re gonna run into someone making out in a barn or gettin’ it on in a field.”

“Wells Black,” Momma scolds. “Children are present.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’!” He laughs. “Children are present. We should all be mindful of that.”

“I’ve gotta get going,” River says as she begins to scoot back from the table. Poor girl is as red as a tomato. “My shift starts soon. Thank you so much for dinner.”

“I’ll walk you out.” I stand with her.

“See you in a bit!” Poppy calls out after us.

“I’m so sorry,” River whispers, her eyes wide with worry. “I don’t know why I just blurted that out in front of your family like that. I was supposed to wait until we were alone and I could make sure you were okay with it first and—”

I kiss her to shut up her worrying thoughts.

“So, you’re not upset, then?” Her eyes are heavy-lidded when she looks up at me.

“Not a bit.”

“It just…came out. Like word vomit. And the second it did, my whole stomach dropped through the damn floor. Like, that was not how you were supposed to find out. I mean, shit…do you even want to perform anymore? I didn’t even think about that!” Her eyes go even wider. “You can totally say no. Why didn’t I think of all of these things before I asked Bill about this?”

“River.” I take her face in both of my hands. “Hush. Stop spiraling. I promise you, I don’t mind. What I do care about is you caring enough about me to go out of your way to do something nice for me.” I kiss her again and again, little pecks all over her face until she’s laughing and trying to pull away.

“Okay, okay!”

“You did a very nice thing for me, River Larson.”

“So…you’re excited?”

“I haven’t played in front of people since I left the city. So while I’m excited, yes, I’m also a little nervous.” I shrug. “You’ll just have to help me work out that excess energy before the gig.”

She throws her head back in laughter as I wag my eyebrows at her and squeeze a handful of ass. God, this woman drives me crazy in the best way possible.

“I have to go.” She tries to disentangle herself from my arms, but I’m not willing to let her go yet.

“But I’ve barely had any time with you.” I pull her back in, kiss her again, and try to lock in her sweet smell. “You should just quit. Stay here with me.”

“Hayes.” She erupts into a fit of giggles as she continues to fight my hold. “If I quit now, you might lose your gig.”

“Screw the gig.” I kiss her neck and love the way she kind of melts into me as she sighs.

“Don’t get me all riled up before my shift.” She groans when I tug on her ear with my teeth. “I don’t want to be frustrated the entire night.”

“But that’s the fun part,” I murmur against her throat. “The waiting. The anticipation.”

“You say that now.” She grabs my jaw and tugs it away from her neck. “I don’t think you’ll be saying it later when I get you back for this.”

One of her dark eyebrows raises in a promise of what’s to come, and that gets my dick’s attention.

“Are you gonna play with me later, firefly?” My fingers flex against her ass. “Is that a promise?”

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