Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Laughing, we go along with it.
I close my eyes and let muscle memory do the rest. I leap and soar, spinning and twirling. The world shrinks to just this, me, the night, the other girls dancing beside me. Aggie slips, squeals, and collapses laughing, but Tatiana spins me and keeps the movement going. We improvise, parody and sincerity shambling together in a wobbly, glorious performance. It gets looser by the minute, but the guys are with us—Kellen clapping, Ace howling at every kick, Zeke grinning huge.
When we finish, we collapse onto the rock, sweating and breathless.
Adrian takes a bow, to nobody, but it is like his entire life has been leading up to this moment.
God love him.
The guys all stand, pelting us with applause. Ace comes over and drops down to his knees, presses his lips to my shoulder, and murmurs, “That was the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen in my life.” I grin, beaming.
Ace helps me up and, very deliberately, leads me down the dark edge of the beach. The sky is so thick with stars it almost hurts to look. We linger by the rocks, me still catching my breath, and he just stares at me with a look so hungry it could devour me. Before I can say a word, he grabs my face and kisses me so hard I have to dig my fingers into his arms just to keep upright. His hands are everywhere, and I feel like if I don’t get air soon, I’ll faint right here on the rocks.
I push him away, gasping, and laugh. “What was that for?”
“For making me so fucking crazy about you,” he growls, and the sound of it is almost enough to make me drag him back to camp by the belt.
I shake my head, but my voice is soft when I say, “I feel the same. You... you do crazy things to me, sir.”
He studies me, his face so open it’s almost painful. “I want you in a way I have never wanted anything before.”
My breath hitches. “You do?”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ do.”
My heart skips a beat.
“Me too,” I whisper, not even sure if it’s loud enough for him to hear.
But he does.
His eyes darken, and I swear he almost says something else, but instead he just kisses me again, softer this time, slow enough that I feel every inch of him sinking into me. When we finally pull apart, I look back at the fire, at the others laughing and shoving each other, and for once I don’t feel like I want to be anywhere else but here.
“I have to pee,” I admit, wriggling away from him. “Find me later?”
“Oh, I’m goin’ to find you,” he grins, and lets me slip away toward the tree line.
I duck around the first tree and make sure no one is following. It is dark, but the moonlight is just enough for me to see. I do my business, then linger, enjoying the hush of the jungle. But after a moment, I hear a branch snap, and Aggie stumbles up behind me, her face flushed.
She’s giggling. “Don’t freak out, it’s just me.”
“I heard you from five miles away,” I tease. “You don’t know how to walk quietly.”
She bites her lip, then jumps up and down like she has something to say but doesn’t know how. “Can I tell you something?”
I raise my brows, then roll my eyes. “Girl. Always.”
She leans in closer, whispering, “I slept with Kellen.”
My jaw hits the floor. “What!”
I shriek so loud she presses a hand over my mouth. “Shhhhh!”
“You slept with Kellen?” I whisper-hiss.
She nods, eyes wide and sparkly. “I did. Last night. It was wild. We were talking on the beach, and I don’t know, alcohol and the moment... next thing I know we’re fucking and girl, oh girl, it was incredible.”
“And you’re only telling me now!”
“I was going to tell you today, but it was crazy!” She grabs my wrist, her palm sweaty. “I just... I don’t know. It was so damn good. Is this bad? It’s bad, right?”
I shake my head, then yank her deeper into the brush so the others can’t hear us. “Hey, we all have to enjoy whatever we can out here,” I grin. “Did you at least use protection?”
She giggles. “No, but I have the IUD, so I am good.”
“What about STDs?” I ask, eyes wide.
“He said he’s clean, and I don’t know, I trust him.”
“Said every woman ever,” I sing.
We both dissolve into giggles, clutching onto each other so we don’t fall over. After a long moment, Aggie says, “Are you weirded out?”
“Why would I be weirded out? I’m just shocked. I didn’t even know you liked him.”
She laughs, high and bright. “I didn’t. Not until he started talking to me about when he was a kid, and his favorite band, and how he never thought he’d get another chance after he...” Her face darkens for a second, then she shrugs. “It just happened.”