I shrug.
“Do youwantto be punished?”
Another shrug.
“You been thinking about me since that night?”
Shrug.
“You’ve been desperate to see if I’ll show up to your house? If I’ll take you over my knee, and make your ass red before I make you ride my face so hard you soak my beard with how much you come for me?”
I gasp, leaning down to put my hands over Sadie’s ears. “You can’t talk that way in front of a child.”
He smirks. “Tell me I’m wrong then. Tell me you don’t want that.”
“I can’t.”
“That’s what I thought.” He smiles smugly and then we continue walking again like nothing just happened. “Have you thought more about going to Jameson and Sutton’s for Thanksgiving?”
My mind whirls with the stark subject change. I stutter trying to find my words once again because the spot between my thighs is throbbing from the visual he just painted. Somehow, now he’s asking me about the holidays like it’s no big deal.
“No, have you?”
“No. Don’t you have parents or siblings to go see or something?” he asks and I can’t help the grimace that appears on my face.
“Don’t you?”
He looks down, kicking a dead leaf on the trail. “My parents aren’t around anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” I sigh, the mood suddenly somber.
“It’s fine, it’s been a long time. Dad died when I was younger, and my mom passed while I was in the Army.”
“That’s awful, I’m very sorry,” I tell him honestly.
“My dad is actually the reason I joined in the first place. He’s the reason I wanted it to be my career.”
I’m surprised Wes is saying as much as he is, but with the way he’s opening up I’m not about to say anything to ruin it. It’s the first real glimpse of him as a person, not my scary neighbor, not the obnoxious man with an even more obnoxious car. Not the man that likes to take total control in the bedroom and work my body in ways I never knew it could be worked.
This is just Wes.
“He died in battle, and I knew it would be a possibility for me. I accepted that, but for some reason getting injured and not being able to continue was the hand I was dealt. An Army career wasn’t an option anymore.”
He’s mentioned that before and I didn’t realize how this truly was a crucial part of his life. That without the Army he really didn’t know who he was. And maybe I’ve been too harsh on him. Neither of us know what we’re doing. Neither of us had the lives we thought we would.
Maybe it’s that thought that gives me the strength to do something I never imagined I would do. Something I never evenconsidered until this moment. Because maybe we both can learn to take chances on things that scare us.
We just have to take the leap.
I look down at Sadie, speaking to her, but I can sense the surprise from Wes when I say, “You ready to come home with me?”
CHAPTER 32
Wes
My car is really not builtto have two people and a dog in it, but the fact that Bailey is smiling right now is enough to erase every complaint I may have. We’ve all fit in here with Bruno before, and he’s bigger than Sadie.
Stopping by the pet store so Bailey can get the items she needs for Sadie, we end up stuck in the aisle with food and water dishes while she stares at them. Sadie just sits next to her new owner happily.
