The taste of him lingered.
Bringing my hand to my mouth, I let out a dreamy sigh. I ran my tongue along the seam of my lips wanting to savor the mix of mint and spice he’d left behind.
I should have gotten up and made my way out to the front room where I knew I’d find the man who’d kissed me senseless before putting me to bed. He’d insisted on staying to make sure I’d be okay after my wine intake, and I insisted, no, more like demanded, causing him to chuckle, that he stayed on the couch, not in his car.
He’d tucked me in after the kids had come home and retreated to their rooms. That was after Bre had carried on about her babysitting experience and flashed her money in the air with glee.
Too much money, I knew. My sister and Bronson had overpaid her for sure. We then had to hear Lennon grumble about not getting paid to hang out with the girls, which was rather amusing.
He of course was just being a turd at his sister’s expense to get a rise out of her, but I knew he’d never let her go alone.That protective instinct was a mile long and it reached his cousin Stormi now too—not just me and Bre.
I burrowed back under the covers giving myself a few more minutes to reminisce about the date.
At first I’d been nervous as hell but when he’d tucked me into the car at the start of the date and lightly pressed his lips to mine, something came over me.
I guess you could say my inner warrior emerged.
I’d seized the moment and set off on an exploration of uncharted territory for me.Lewis and Clark would be so proud.
I was testing the waters. And it felt amazing. Sure, it was scary and nerves rippled through me like waves crashing to the shore, but I forged ahead and dove deep.
The little blip in the middle of the date rattled me a bit because all the men were so on edge and looked ready to battle, but then the women broke the tension. The mood lightened and I had a ball—something that still surprised me—with the whole group.
And when we’d come home…
He’d stolen the air from my lungs like a thief in the night with a kiss that knocked my socks off.
I licked my lips again.
Huntley was becoming an addiction.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
HUNTLEY
She was ghosting me.
A month after our first date, things had drastically changed. Not at first. River and I had actually gotten closer the first couple of weeks, even gone to dinner alone once. We had game night with the kids, family dinner with Bronson, Lake, and Stormi, along with a barbeque at Capri and Paxton’s.
We even shared some phenomenal kisses.
I’d thought she was getting close to sharing her past, to revealing the secrets she’d said she wanted to tell me but couldn’t yet.
And then one day it seemed to change in a blink of an eye.
River may have claimed she was just busy with work and with the kids being out of school, but I can read between the lines.
She was pushing me away, but why?
Without her, I was going a bit out of my mind.
But I wasn’t giving up on her.
Even if I had to go back to just being her friend, I’d do that.
I’d doanythingfor her.
Because that’s what you did when you loved someone.
