"Did you even hear what I said? About the horses?"
I finally manage to drag my eyes up to his face, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Not a damn thing. Sorry. You were talking, and there were words but also abs and I'm only human."
He laughs even harder, his whole face lighting up with genuine amusement.
"Well damn. Looks like we should absolutely write this scene into that book you wanted to create earlier. What was it called again? You mentioned it at the diner."
"Knotty Christmas Wish!" I say immediately, my enthusiasm returning full force despite my total inability to form coherent sentences around shirtless cowboys. "But I have to becompletely honest with you, Grayson—I can't write for shit. Like, seriously. My prose is terrible. I use too many commas, and my sentences run on forever, and I can't do dialogue tags to save my life. BUT!" I hold up one finger. "I can come up with loads of cozy ideas and plot points and character arcs! I'm totally sold on this concept!"
He nods thoughtfully, his expression shifting into what I'm learning is his 'author brain' mode.
"The title is witty. I like it. Very clever with the double meaning and wordplay. Makes you wonder if it's all innocent Christmas magic and wishes like the cover will probably suggest with snowflakes and mistletoe and fairy lights."
I laugh, feeling bold and reckless.
"Hell no! It can't be innocent! The Omega protagonist has to be whipped left, right, and upside down with steamy, epic, absolutely filthy, mind-blowing?—"
I pause.
The little red LIVE indicator is still there.
Still broadcasting.
To five thousand people.
"AH!" I shriek, nearly dropping my phone. "I'm still on LIVE! Oh my god, did I just say all that on camera?!"
Grayson leans in from over my shoulder, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his bare skin despite the December cold. He peers at my phone screen, seeing himself in the selfie camera.
The comments go absolutely feral.
SHIRTLESS COWBOY ALPHA
IM DEAD IM DECEASED
marry me immediately
THIS IS THE BEST LIVE STREAM EVER
"Oh," Grayson says, his face very close to mine as we both look at the screen. "Is this how TikTok works? Never used it before."
I gasp, turning my head to look at him in shock.
Our faces are suddenly inches apart—so close I can see the flecks of gold in his honey-hazel eyes, can count his eyelashes, can feel his breath on my lips.
"You've never been on TikTok before?" I ask, genuinely scandalized. "How is that even possible?"
He smirks slightly—this small, devastating expression that makes my heart skip several beats. The look is handsome as hell and he probably knows it.
"Nah," he says, his voice low and intimate despite our very public location and very public audience. "I usually like to look at things up close in real life rather than through online dramatics."
He pauses, our eyes locked, and his gaze drops to my lips for just a second before returning to my eyes.
"But if you're into it..." His smirk widens slightly. "I could start."
My face goes red in a heartbeat—I can feel the blush spreading like wildfire across my cheeks.
