Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He winced but pushed on. “Yeah. I was eighteen, and everything was new and exciting.” He knew that while he’d been young and stupid, enjoying life too much, he’d left her behind and hurt her in the process. “It’s not that I didn’t miss you . . . I did. I just—”
“You had a dream, Grey. I don’t blame you for chasing it.” He didn’t want her forgiveness, not when he could have, should have, handled leaving better . . . for both of them. But he’d wanted out of his parents’ house as much as he’d wanted to play for a living.
He swallowed hard. “I saw you, you know. Everywhere I looked. The women didn’t mean anything. It was easy sex, just like the drugs and alcohol were easy. But when I closed my eyes, I pretended they were you.”
Her eyes dampened, but he didn’t want to hurt her more by dwelling on the past. He’d just wanted her to know he hadn’t left and forgotten.
“What changed for you?” she asked.
“Milo got heavier into the drug scene, and things became clearer for me. I realized I loved the music but not the lifestyle.”
He laid an arm over his forehead, staring at the ceiling. “Lola and I knew we were done long before we all agreed to call it quits. I reconnected with you . . . or tried to. Then Milo OD’d, and all my focus had to go into being there for him. I didn’t mean to stop the gifts or texts, but it was a rough time.”
“Grey,” she said, her voice a light in the darkness that blanketed him whenever he thought of Milo.
“He’s okay. He’s still impatient, which is cool. He seems committed to getting better, finally.” He held onto that bit of hope for his friend.
“Thank you for telling me.” She reached out and touched his forearm, her soft touch a balm for the pain in his soul.
He glanced her way. “I don’t share with anyone,” he told her. “Even Lola has to pull things out of me . . . but it feels right with you.”
“So that hasn’t changed either. Our ability to open up and talk to each other.” A soft smile lifted her lips.
“Thank God for that.” He grinned in return. “So how are your brothers and sister?” he asked, curious about her family.
“Olivia is amazing. Like I told you, she’s married to Dylan Rhodes. They both work for the Thunder. She’s pregnant and due in a few months. I’m going to be an aunt again!” The excitement in her voice was tangible.
“Again?”
“Yes. Ian has a baby girl. Rainey Noelle. She is the sweetest thing ever . . . except that she has her daddy’s stubbornness. And Scott’s going to be a dad too. He’s with a woman who was already pregnant . . . long story, but they’re really happy. Just Tyler’s still single. And me.” She looked away at that admission, obviously not wanting to get into heavy relationship discussions.
Fine by him. He had a plan to build slowly. As long as she was here, he could live with that. “So your brothers are settling down, huh?”
“Yes, but not mellowing out,” she muttered, and he caught the subtle warning in her tone.
“In other words, I’d better watch out?” Her older brothers had always been protective of Avery and Olivia, and clearly that hadn’t changed. Grey had a hunch the Dare brothers wouldn’t like him coming back into Avery’s life.
She nodded, indigo eyes as serious as ever. “I’d steer clear if I were you.”
“I’m not worried about your brothers, sugar. If I run into them, I’ll deal.”
“But—”
He placed a finger over her soft lips. “You’re worth it.”
Her eyes softened, and she touched his cheek, her gaze warm on his. Desire flitted across her pretty face, her eyes darkening, her breath a short hitch.
His body still beat with awareness from their make-out session on the deck, the memory of her wet heat rocking over his cock still teasing and testing his restraint. He wanted nothing more than to thrust into her hard and fast, now. And they were alone on this yacht, nothing stopping them from that kind of reunion. Which meant he was hanging on by a damned thread.
He removed her hand from where she’d been stroking his cheek. “I’m doing my best to be a gentleman.” And he had a painful case of blue balls to show for it.
“That’s sweet but unnecessary,” she all but purred.
He pulled her wrist to his mouth and licked her hammering pulse.
She sucked in a shallow breath, trembling at his touch.
“A little while ago, you were still unsure of me and my life. I’m not going to screw up a second chance by fucking you tonight and dealing with your regrets in the morning.” Nobody would believe Grey Kingston was turning down sex.