Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
He dropped his head. “Why are you so exhausting?”
“Am I exhausting or are you just exhausted by someone wittier than you?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“You, tooting your own horn.”
I shrugged. “Someone has to toot my horn. Until I’m a billionaire and can buy my own band to do some tooting, I have to do it all myself.”
He rocked his head from side to side, stretching out his neck. “There’s just no arguing with you, is there?”
“I don’t know. You did a pretty good job of it yesterday.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“I’m just saying. You can’t say there’s no arguing with me when you did it yesterday. In fact, you’re sort of doing it now. If you were smart, you’d just stop talking.”
“Have you considered taking your own advice?”
“All the time. I give excellent advice.”
“That went right over your head, didn’t it?”
“No. I just chose to ignore it. Really, all this is on you. You’re the one who showed up here to apologise when you could have just left me be. I was quite happy here.”
“You were digitally murdering me.”
I pouted. “Like I said, I was quite happy here.”
Max shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know why I’m still here.”
“I don’t know why you came here,” I admitted.
“I’m wondering that myself,” he shot back. “Although apparently it was to apologise, save you from falling, watch a pixelated version of me freeze to death in a pool, and now engage in meaningless tit for tat with you.”
I leant back on the sofa and smiled. “Sounds like a good day to me.”
“You and I have vastly different ideas of what makes a good day.”
“Yet, here you are. Still sitting here. Still talking to me.” I crossed one ankle over the other, hoping I didn’t look too smug. “I guess I’m not that bad after all.”
Max stared at me for a moment too long.
My heart did a weird little skippy-skip thing. “What?”
“Nothing.” He pushed off the sofa and headed for the door.
“No, what?” I got up and followed after him, only hobbling a little bit. “You can’t just look at me like that and walk off.”
“Look at you like what?”
“Like you…” My words stopped working, and I swallowed when he turned around.
“Like I what?” he asked, his voice low.
I jerked one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “Nothing.”
“No, what?”
“No. If you can ‘nothing’ me, then I can ‘nothing’ you right back.”
“Jesus, you’re so stubborn.” He ran his hand through his shiny black hair.
Was it as soft as it looked?
Hmm.
Why did I care?
“You started it,” I shot back, tossing those thoughts out of my brain. “If I’m stubborn, then so are you.”
“It’s not a competition, Ellie.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You never stop talking, do you?”
“Well, you’re the one talking bloody back, aren’t you?”
He turned around and looked at me. Something sparked in his eyes, and his lips twitched on one side. “I’m going to leave before you drive me flipping mental.”
“Again with the talking back.” I folded my arms and glared at him. “This isn’t an airport, Max. There’s no need to announce your departure. You can just go.”
“Oh, be quiet.”
“Bloody well make me,” I snapped. “You came over here and you’re the one who won’t leave and keeps arguing back even though I apparently can’t be argued with!”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.
Then, out of nowhere, Max took three long strides towards me, cupped my face, and did the one thing I never thought he’d ever do.
He kissed me.
His fingers threaded into my hair, and his thumbs followed the line of my jaw. His firm grip made my head tilt back, offering my mouth to him, leaving my lips completely at his mercy.
Max was kissing me.
And I liked it.
A lot.
My heart was beating as if it was going to burst out of my chest and take off, and my arms slowly loosened from their folded position against my chest. Something about the way his lips felt against mine set my entire body on fire.
I wanted to reach out. Grab his t-shirt. Hold him closer to me. Wrap myself around him so this feeling would never end.
So it couldn’t end.
But it did.
Slowly.
He tentatively pulled back, dragging out the final touch of his lips, almost as if he didn’t want it to stop, just as I didn’t. Even then he didn’t move. He stayed here, standing right in front of me, his lips just millimetres from mine.
I kept my eyes closed, and my breath was almost laboured despite the gentleness of the kiss.
Had that really just happened?
Max inhaled sharply, but the exhale was anything but. It was heavy and ragged, as if it was taking all his control to keep it even that steady.
I didn’t know what to say.
I thought he’d leave.
I didn’t think he’d do that.
I never thought he’d kiss me.
I certainly never thought he’d kiss me like that.