Page 24 of Whiskey Weather
“You’re making that up,” I scoff in disbelief. “Are you making fun of me right now?”
“Nope. It’s true.”
I laugh and pull the blanket up to my chest as I sit up. Should I be smiling after he admitted that? Probably not. He could be putting up a front, nursing a full-on heartbreak right now, for all I know.
With my legs crossed, I pull the soft pillow into my lap on top of the blanket, wrapping my arms around it and leaning forward.
“What happened?”
He blows out a breath. “How much time do you have?”
“So much time,” I laugh.
“I probably fucked up, honestly. We shouldn’t have dated; we had absolutely nothing in common. She’s a little more onthe wild and social side. I like my time on the ranch, nights at home, visiting places for hikes outside of Wyoming from time to time. She’d rather host parties with big groups of people every weekend. We just didn’t like the same things.”
“And the sex was uninspired.”
“Yeah, that too.”
“You said she was wild, though. Are you vanilla?” I drop my jaw dramatically. “Wouldn’t have guessed that, but I’m never one to judge.”
“Vanilla,” he repeats with a scoff, and then lowers his tone to a barely audible murmur. “Fuck me.”
“I’m just giving you shit,” I laugh. “I’m sure you’re a solid lay.”
I see it the moment his brain warns him of the dangerous territory. This might be getting out of hand. And no amount of whiskey or abundance of prime-of-life hormones is going to make it seem any less certifiably crazy.
My lips part as he stands from his spot on the couch. My breath comes in short bursts of air, wondering what he’s going to do or say.
He starts by taking the pillow from my lap and placing it at the end of the couch. Two large hands land on each of my shoulders, turning my body and damn near forcing me to lay down.
Oh my god. Yes! This issohappening.
The pillow puffs around my head as I sink into its softness. On instinct, my legs stretch along the couch beneath me. Confusion sets in when he covers me with my blanket.
Dumbfounded, I watch as he turns, gathering the blanket he was using on his side of the couch. Gripping it firmly by the edges, he stalks toward me, slow and deliberate in his steps.
My body responds to his invasion of my space again, and I suck in a breath. With a flick of his wrists, he whips the blanketin the air. It floats down, landing gently on my already covered legs.
“Night.”
“What?” I quietly gasp. That’s it?
His strong hands come down on either side of me, tucking the double layer of blankets in tight. “We should go to sleep now.”
I must seem like a sad child who’s been forced to stop playing their favorite game with a new friend to go home and take a nap, but I don’t care. “Why?”
He’s already walking to his room, but he calls over his shoulder without stopping to turn around fully. “Because I’m not a douchebag who brags to pretty girls about hownotvanilla they are in bed.”
I fall back on my pillow with a huff, smiling up at the ceiling.
He thinks I’m pretty?
Chapter Eleven
Ledger
She must thinkI’m insane, I’m sure of it. It’s all I thought about during my sleepless night. I quizzed her about sex with her ex and thentucked her in,for fuck’s sake. What was I thinking?
