Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I grab him and wrap my coat around him instead. “Well, Dave offered me Greg, but he was already passed out, so I missed my chance. You’re going to have to do.”
“Wow, what a downgrade.”
I cup his cheeks with my gloved hands. “As far as consolation prizes go, I suppose you’ll do.”
“I’m feeling the love here.” He leans in, aiming for my lips, but I pull away.
“Patience.” I release him with one hand and tilt my wrist until my watch catches the light. “Still a minute to go.”
“Of course you wear a watch. I didn’t even think they still made those things.”
“It’s an heirloom.”
“Really?”
I chuckle. “No. I’m fucking with you.”
“Exactly how drunk are you?”
“Barely.”
He aims a skeptical look at the tiara I’m still wearing and gives the boa a tug. “I can’t put my finger on why I don’t believe you.”
“West! It’s starting!”
We both jump at the muffled voice inside the house, but thankfully no one comes out.
“Ten! Nine!” They’ve turned the TV up and are counting along with it. “Eight! Seven!”
West presses in closer, cold nose against mine, lips fanning hot breath onto my face.
“Three …” I whisper.
“Two …” His smile is sudden, blinding.
“One.”
Our mouths crash together, a burst of warmth in the frigid air, and West sighs into the kiss. His body relaxes into mine, and the nerves in my gut are exploding in time with the fireworks on the TV.
There’s a loud bang, and I start, breaking the kiss to look up as a burst of light fills the sky. It’s followed by a green explosion, then a red, and all across the distance, I can hear rounds of fireworks going off.
When I look back down, I find West watching me, his red lips letting out tiny white puffs.
“You’re gorgeous,” he rasps.
I kiss him again.
All tongue and warmth and desperate want. He tastes like sugar. His moan is music to my ears.
We’re kissing so long I swear it lasts from this New Year’s to the next, and then I remember the time limit.
I jerk away and check my watch.
12:05.
“I have to go.”
“Maybe you could …” He glances toward the house, indecision written on his face.
I tug him in for one last, quick kiss. “Not tonight. I got what I came for, but I have to go, or my car will leave.”
He grins. “You’re like my own personal Cinderfella.”
“I’m certainly hoping you won’t need an item of clothing to identify me tomorrow.”
West shrugs. “I’ve kissed so many people tonight, I don’t know how else you expect me to keep track of them all.”
I take the feather boa from around my neck and loop it around West’s. “Problem solved.”
“You’re a dork,” he says, backing toward the house.
I watch him slip back inside before hightailing it for the car. Despite what the driver said, he doesn’t look in any hurry to go by the time I get to him, and I wish I’d taken a bit longer with West.
But this is still new. We need to do it right from the start.
We’ve got time.
And West is worth the wait.
23
Westly
When I was in school, winter break was never long enough. As an adult, having five kids with no school and Asher not in classes, it lasts ten years. Since Christmas Day, when we had a moment where we actually felt like a family for the first time since I moved home, things are still chaotic, but I’m handling it better. I still burn dinner, I can never get on top of the washing or cleaning the house, and I won’t be winning any domestic awards anytime soon. But I also haven’t been overwhelmed or felt completely helpless.
I haven’t had the need to run to Jasper. Just the want.
And fuck, do I want him.
It’s only been a bit over a week since I last had Jasper’s mouth on me, and I’m driving myself crazy thinking about it.
The way he showed up on New Year’s Eve to kiss me at midnight, I desperately wanted to invite him inside. But I haven’t told the others about him, and I’m definitely not going to tell Asher that I’m dating his most hated professor anytime soon. Even if the class was only one semester long, and it’s now over.
I want to introduce Jasper to my siblings properly, and I want them to get to know him, but I’d be delusional if I thought it would be easy or that Asher would accept it right away.
It needs to be done tactfully, in a positive way. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet, but it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters in this precise moment is school is back. I have forty minutes before practice starts, Jasper should be in between classes, so I covertly go the long way to his office to avoid running into Asher.