Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
She lifts her head, turns it, then scoffs when she sees how we’ve literally fogged up the windows.
“Ha.” She smiles. “We pulled a Jack and Rose.”
“A what?”
“You know.” She turns back to look at me. In the sun, the brown in her eyes turns translucent, warm like whiskey. “That scene in Titanic, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet steam up the windows in that car?”
I laugh. “I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen that movie.”
She stares at me. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.” My heart pounds. Do it. Just ask her. “Would you be interested in coming over to my place tonight to, well, come, and then we could watch it?”
She blinks. My pulse stumbles.
“I totally get it if that’s not your, uh, vibe,” I continue. “I just really—what I’m trying to—it’s not just sex I want. I need you to know that. I’d like to—yeah, maybe date you or…take you out on a date. Many dates. And have sex too, of course. But only if you want to! No pressure. I just…” Spearing a hand through my hair, I let out a pained chuckle. “I like you, Wheeler, and I’d like it if the thing we had happening this weekend kept…well, happening.”
Wheeler blinks again. She as shocked as I am by my babbling? I’d like to think I’m a relatively confident guy, but all of a sudden, I’m flustered as fuck.
I’m nervous.
Doesn’t help matters when the expression in her eyes morphs into something like pain.
Like disappointment.
She looks away, and my heart falls.
Everything in me falls, gathering together in a terrible, weighted certainty in my gut.
She’s not coming home with me tonight. Or any night.
My disappointment must show on my face, because when Wheeler turns back to look at me, her expression contracts.
“Look, Duke. This weekend has been a ton of fun. I mean that. And I like you. I really, really do—”
“But you can’t date me.” I search her eyes. “Or you won’t. Why? This is good, Wheeler. I think we could be good together.”
Her brows curve upward, her eyes filling. “I admire your optimism. But this weekend…it can’t happen again. I’m so busy with work—”
“I love your work. I support it, wholeheartedly.” I rock my hips, a reminder that I’m still inside her. “It quite literally turns me on.”
“Jesus, Duke, you’re not making this easy.” She puts a hand on my chest.
I brush the hair out of her face. “Just give me a chance. That’s all I ask.”
She looks away again. Looks down. I see her eyelashes flutter in an attempt to blink back tears.
Really, why is she doing this? Why make things difficult when they could be easy? I know she’s feeling me, same as I’m feeling her.
“I have some napkins in my bag.” Her voice is thin as she pushes onto her knees, pulling up her pants before falling into the passenger seat. “Here, I’ll clean us up.”
My cum is everywhere. It smells like sex in the cab. I feel sticky and cold despite the heat pumping through the vents.
“Did I do something to turn you off or…”
Wheeler shakes her head. “You did everything right.”
Then why are you turning me down, sweetheart?
I get my answer when we’re back on the highway. We’re in east Colorado now, the soaring majesty of the mountains giving way to an endless stretch of high plains.
“Like I told you, my parents are splitting up,” Wheeler says. She’s holding a can of sparkling water in her hand that we picked up at a gas station after we hooked up. The can’s gotta be mostly empty by now.
I adjust my hand on the wheel. “That really sucks.”
“I mean, my mom divorcing my dad has been a long time coming.” She stares out the windshield. “Part of me is relieved they’re finally going through with it. When I was little, I remember them being happy enough. But as I got older, they started to fight more. A lot more. By the time I was in high school, it was obvious they were miserable together, and their relationship has only deteriorated since then. So I’m happy they’re, you know, trying to find happiness again.”
A beat of silence. I don’t know what to say. She doesn’t seem to want comfort, at least not that I can tell. Maybe she just needs a sympathetic ear.
“Seems like a step in the right direction,” I say carefully. “Can I ask what happened?”
Wheeler nods, dropping the empty can into her cupholder. “I think they ultimately didn’t work because they got married for the wrong reasons. They had a shotgun wedding situation, although everyone pretended like it wasn’t because my dad comes from money, and they were able to throw this big, ridiculous wedding to cover it up. Long story short, Mom got pregnant with my older brother, so my dad married her. I think they both wanted kids, so it made sense at the time.”