Page 163 of Dove
“Do you need to figure it out? I like it, you like it. It works.” I pressed a kiss to his chest. “Itreallyworks.”
I knew Josh well enough to realize that this was something he’d have to come to terms with on his own time. He’d always been super protective of me. Of course that would extend tothis—tohimself.Turning my head until my cheek pressed against his chest, I suggested, “How about this? I promise if there’s anything I don’t like, I’ll tell you. I don’t know why you’re worried about that anyway, when have I ever not spoken my mind, especially with you?”
Except for the wholesecretly-in-love-with-himthing. But that was different.
His laughter rumbled under my ear. “That’s true.”
“Great! That settles it then. You can keep roughing me up and talking dirty to me in bed and I’ll continue to enjoy the fuck out of it.”
“Jesus, Dove.” He managed to sound both amused and bewildered at my blunt declaration.
I snickered, enjoying whenever I caught him off guard.
Reluctantly, I pulled back from him. “Guess we should get back to it.”
My phone went off, reminding me that I’d been texting Reverie earlier. I’d completely forgotten I’d messaged her. Probably from the lack of oxygen.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, swiping at the screen to read her reply.
My eyes scanned her giant text bubble, a long-winded rant about how her last client just cancelled and now she had an early day and nothing to do, because I was busy and so was Zeke.
Besides the two of us, Reverie didn’t really have anyone else in this town she could hang out with. She’d never been big on making friends when we were in school and hadn’t kept up with the few people wedidtalk to after she moved.
“Why don’t you go hang out with Reverie?”
“What?” I looked up from my phone, needing both my eyesandears, because surely I hadn’t heard him correctly.
“I mean it. Go spend some time with Rev. You two haven't really had a bunch of time to hang out this summer.”
“Josh,” I started slowly, looking at him like he’d lost it. “You know why that is.”
“Yes, Dove, I do,” he responded just as slowly.
I frowned. “Don’t mock me.”
“I’m not. Just hear me out,” he continued quickly as my mouth opened to argue. “We’re what, one or two more trips from being done? There’s only the field out by the highway left and that’s easy enough since it’s the smallest field. I’ll call up Eddie and see if he’s willing to help. He’s been bugging me to hang out, and I know he’s off today.”
My thumbs hovered over Reverie’s text thread, hesitating.
Josh trudged on, “You’ve been working hard for a long time, even before I got back. You deserve some time off.”
I eyed him skeptically. “You’re only saying that because I gave you an orgasm.”
He smirked, arms crossing as he reclined back against the wall. “Well, it was a damn good one."
My eyes rolled without my consent. I knew that wasn’t really the reason. Josh knew Reverie pretty well, considering we’d been connected at the hip almost since my arrival in Haven. If she was blowing up my phone, it was because she needed me. Even if she wouldn’t outright say it.
I hated pushing off my responsibilities, but wasn’t it also my responsibility to be there for her? I’d been using the farm as an excuse, throwing myself into it to distract me from the loss of my mom, but in doing so I’d neglected one of the most important people in my life. And the fact I wasn’t even sure how long Reverie would be home meant I needed to use this time to my advantage. She’d been gone too long, and I missed her.
“Only if Eddie is off and he’s okay with it,” I relented.
Josh wasted no time in walking over to grab his phone where he'd left it sitting. “You kidding me? Eddie loves anything to do with the farm. I’m sure he’ll jump at the chance to help me.”
I groaned. “Please don’t let him drive the tractor. Remember what happened last time?”
Josh barked a laugh. “Don’t remind me. Gareth nearly skinned us both alive for that stunt.”
Let’s just say Eddie had been banned from operating any heavy machinery on the farm from that point forward. Not that he’d really been given permission in the first place...
