Page 85 of Wildest Dreams

When it comes to a one night stand, I know the etiquette – I grew up with my brother’s horny football friends who spent every summer hooking up with strangers. I know all of the cards they had up their sleeves when it came to the morning after.

One of the biggest ones being using a nickname to hide the fact that they’d already forgotten their partner’s name.

As the reality of the situation sinks into me, I start to wonder about the other aspects of last night. I mean, in the moment it felt right – crazy soon, sure, but there was an honesty between us that was undeniable. I can’t help but lie here and wonder if Tanner meant what he said.

And he said alotof really nice things to me last night.

I look down at his hands on my waist, blushing as he presses a stubble-coated kiss to my cheek.

“Ash,” he murmurs, one hand gently lifting up my chin. I can hear the warmth in his tone, the hint of a smile in his voice.

I twist to look up at him over my shoulder and my heart pounds uncontrollably in my chest.

A handsome dimple cuts into his cheek as he meets my eyes, smiling lazily.

“Hey Ash,” he murmurs, cuddling me closer. “You good?”

With slightly shaking hands I push my hair back, breathing fast.

“Yeah,” I whisper quietly, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop.

Like, nowaycan he actually be as sweet in the bright light of day as I had allowed myself to believe in the dark intimacy of last night.

“I’m just feeling, um… a little overwhelmed is all,” I admit, my voice kind of breathless.

He watches me with an unreadable expression before subtly shifting his weight again, trying to prevent his erection from digging its way into my behind.

“Do, uh… do you want me to leave?” he asks gently.

He has the deepest voice that I’ve ever heard.

I gnaw anxiously at my bottom lip, feeling grateful that he hasn’t removed his warm hands from me yet.

“Um,” I whisper, my breathing picking up as I get even more shy. “No, it’s not that. It’s more like… you’re free to go if you want. You don’t have to, like… hang out, because of the stuff you said last night.”

His eyes hold mine, heated and unblinking, before he gently eases my body around so that we’re lying chest to chest.

He reaches up to brush a curl from my cheek, and he keeps his warm hand around my jaw.

“I meant what I said last night,” he rumbles, watching me carefully as I twist my hands in front of my stomach. “If you don’t feel the same, then okay. But what I said last night hasn’t changed.” He pauses for a moment, checking for my reaction before pulling me closer.

After what we did last night Tanner slipped back into his boxer briefs and then rummaged around for his shirt, easing it gently over my head so that I wasn’t just wearing my lingerie. Then we had made out for a reallylong time, laughing and whispering intermittently before he finally cuddled me to sleep.

So now his hands stroke over the fabric of his own grey shirt, the cotton soft against my skin as he massages it against me.

“I wanna take you on a date,” he continues. “Probably like a million dates, with loads of kissing.”

I breathe out a laugh, flashing him a shy smile, and his dimple deepens in his cheek as he presses his forehead against mine.

“What d’you say?” he murmurs, a warm flush staining his neck as he breathes deeply, awaiting my reply.

His hands stroke down my arms until he’s caressing me just below my elbows, and my eyes flick down, catching on the tiny love heart freckle, just above where his thumb is rubbing me.

I’ve never actually worn my heart on my sleeve, I told him last night as the rain pounded gently against the windows.

But what if I did?

Because being at Carter U is my fresh start, right? No more acting like the bad girl when all I want is to be loved. To have something real and genuine – that once in a lifetime small town love.

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