Page 43 of New in Town

He nods, “Some of it. My parents fought a lot. I always went outside during the arguments; I liked having the fresh air and not feeling trapped in the house. Anyway, when I was in high school, their fights eventually turned into them splitting and moving to their respective hometowns. Neither one took me with them. When Brett found out, he insisted I move into the ranch and I’ve been there ever since.”

“Oh, Grey. I couldn’t imagine.”

“Yeah, well like I said, I had the Hayes Ranch family.”

“For someone who gives off theI’ll kill you with easevibe, Brett sure is caring.”

Another laugh escapes him, a glint in his eyes. “Don’t let him hear you say that.” He shifts to lay on his side, setting the phone on his coffee table and making it so she can now see more of him. She drinks in the view shamelessly. He is the most handsome man she’s ever seen, how could she not?

“Is that when the fights at school started?”

“No, that was before. I kept to myself, usually read with free time at school. It made me an interesting target, apparently, being the toughest looking kid and wanting to sit in the corner in peace. But I always finished the fights as the one still standing. The problem was… my mom wasn’t as eager to advocate for me in the principal’s office like the other guys’ parents. It started to earn me a reputation.”

“I’m so sorry. I just can’t see you as the bad guy. How did teachers not understand what was happening?”

He shrugs. “Really happy to hear that you can’t see me as the bad guy. That’s the opinion that matters to me.”

“But people love you in town,” she points out.

“Yeah,thatis what started after I moved onto the ranch. Hayes Ranch, its revered in this town. Brett brought me in, so that was extended to me.”

“I’m so glad, you deserve to have people admire you. I know I do.”

“Maddie,” he breathes.

She sinks lower in the bathtub and sighs, blowing bubbles up around her.

“Wait.” He sits up and leans towards the screen. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m, uh, having a bubble bath,” she says, pushing a cluster of bubbles in front of the camera with her free hand.

“And you say I don’t play fair…”

“What do you mean?” she teases, shifting so her bare shoulders, collarbone, and the slight curve across the top of her breasts are on screen for him. His eyes are trained on her, throat bobbing.

“You answered my call in there. You didn’t have to,” he seems to say almost to himself.

“Maybe I wanted to FaceTime with you like this.”

“I want more, Maddie. I want to see you like this.”

A thrill runs through her at his honesty. And if she’s being honest too, she hoped he’d ask. Propping her phone up on the tub spigot, she flashes him a taunting smile. She was enthusiastic with the lavender suds, and it really is impossible to see through the bubbles to anything hidden below the surface. For this reason, when she leans back once again, she makes sure to leave just a bit more of her chest out of the water now. Enough to make him lean even closer to his phone to take her in.

“More.”

She bends her knee, bare leg rising out of the bubbles. She slides up at the same time, bringing the line of bubbles to just hiding her nipples now. He lets out a groan as he rubs his hand across his chest.

“You say you want to see me like this,” she murmurs. “But what are you going to do about it, Greyson?”

“What do you want me to do?” he replies, voice thick.

Squeezing her legs tight against each other to minimize the heat settling in at the apex between them, she considers his question. She lets her mind wander to the idea of him satisfying that heat. She can imagine it a hundred different ways, she already has considered plenty.

“I want you to do anything you’ve been imagining. That is… if you’ve been imagining things?”

“It’s all I think about at night, sweetheart.”

At his admission, she feels the simmering heat explode through her core. “Me too,” she whispers. “Maybe we need to do something about it on our next date.”

---