Page 52 of Rookie Season
“It’s yours,” Ryan decides.
“No, I couldn’t.” I turn back to find him right behind me. He’s crouched to fit.
“Yes, you can. I’ll take the couch.”
“But who’ll protect the cabin?”
“Me. You’re off duty, Sheriff.”
I bite my cheek as I take in his stance. “This ceiling is a bit low for you.”
He’s close enough I can smell him, hear his low, steady breathing. “Or… the loft is mostly meant for being horizontal.”
My gaze drifts past his massive body to the perfect cozy bed.
Suddenly I’m imagining us there, the things we could do with an entire night. All the things we never got to do at the bar.
“It would have been a lot more than twice.” Ryan’s words come back to me.
“This place feels magical. It’s a different world,” I say.
“Different like a world where you’d text me back after we hooked up?”
I peer back out into the snowy darkness. Ryan kneels next to me.
“What would you tell me?” He’s playful but serious, his voice close to my ear.
“That it was hot,” I say, my body remembering. “That I liked being with you.”
“Liked the sex or the company?”
“Both,” I admit.
He inches closer. I feel him do it, as though he’s daring me to deny him.
I turn back to him, needing to see his face.
“I’m sorry I stabbed you.” My voice is a whisper.
Our faces are inches apart. “I’m not.”
He says it so matter-of-factly my mouth falls open.
“That’s a stupid thing to?—”
His lips brush mine.
He’s warm and hard and smells like the pine trees outside, only better. His scent wraps around me. His mouth coaxes mine open, confident and persuasive.
My body lights up as if I’m a lock and he’s the key. Every inch of me throbs, aching for more of him.
It’s him and me up here with no one else. There’s no pretending I don’t know how this will go down if I let it.
Ryan groans as though I’m the only thing he wants.
“If we do this,” he breathes, “you can’t pretend tomorrow that it never happened.”
Everything feels so magical here. So right.
