Watching her, I went absolutely crazy inside. Taking her mouth in a brutal kiss, I continued with my hand until she was writhing beneath me and crying out between curses. Unable to hold out any longer,I swapped my hand with my hips, giving us both what we wanted.
We were late. We missed breakfast and ended up being over an hour late for work—not that anyone at the construction site appeared to notice my untimely, disheveled arrival. Stopping at the water cooler first, I poured myself a cup, drinking it down as if I were out of breath and already sweating from an hour’s worth of manual labor, and not all because I’d just had sex with Willow,again.
“‘Morning,” I called out, nodding at Joshua as I passed. “‘Morning, Logan,” he replied, giving me a curious glance.
“Hey,” I greeted EJ, joining him inside the cabin we were working on. Pulling my shirt off, I tucked it into my tool belt and turned toward the ladder.
“Where the hell have you been—” EJ broke off with a laugh. “Hey, man, no need to rub it in.”
Shooting EJ a questioning glance, the man only laughed harder. “Your back,” he said between chuckles. “Either you got into a knife fight from behind or you had a way better morning than I did.”
I attempted looking at my back, glimpsing a streak of blood on my shoulder. Fighting a grin, I pulled my shirt from my tool belt.
“No, no—don’t cover up on my account. Those are badges of honor, my friend.” EJ was still laughing. “So, you and Willow, huh?”
“Uh, yeah,” I muttered. “But maybe just keep that between us, okay.”
“Bro.” EJ laughed heartily. “You realize everyone already knows, right? Sure, Jordy was a little late to the party—wishful thinkin’ probably—but after that whole scene at the wedding, everyone’s pretty much up to speed now.”
“Yeah, brother, we all know.” Joe sauntered inside the cabin with an armful of precut two-by-fours. “In fact, some of us been takin’ bets, trying to guess when the two of you were gonna get your shit together.” Dropping the wood, he turned to leave but not before tossing a salacious grin in my direction. “And now that you’ve sealed that deal, maybe you can get Willow to put in a good word for me with Britta?”
“Ignore that asshole,” EJ said through clenched teeth once Joe was out of earshot.
I stared at EJ, brows raised. “Okay?”
“I’m just saying, Britta doesn’t need that guy in her life.”
I shook my head. “Whatever—I’m going to work now.”
“No really,” he pressed. “He’s gone through half the women here already—he only wants Brit because he hasn’t had her yet.”
As I ascended the ladder, I said, “Not my business.”
“She deserves better than him,” EJ called after me. “He’s not good for her.”
“I don’t care,” I called back.
The tone was set for the rest of the day—EJ continued to talk incessantly about Britta while I ignored him. Which wasn’t hard, as all I could think about was Willow—when I would see her next, when I could kiss her next, when I could be inside of her again.
The way she’d torn up my back this morning.
So distracted by my thoughts of her, my work soon grew sloppy. Three times I mis-measured stud length, and twice I brought the hammer down on my hand instead of a nail. By the time dinnertime rolled around, I felt bruised and battered and in desperate need of a change of clothes. But more so, I was desperate to see Willow.
Parting ways with EJ, who was still blathering about Britta, I headed for home, wondering if Willow would be there or if she’d left for the dining hall without me. We hadn’t discussed going to dinner together, it was merely wishful thinking on my part.
The cabin door opened as I was reaching for it—Willow stood before me, her face freshly washed, her long curls wound into a thick bun on the top of her head, wearing a blouse I’d never seen before—a black button-down top with a bow at the neck that she’d partially tucked it into a pair of faded flare jeans.
“Hey,” she murmured, smiling shyly—a new expression that was completely out of character for her, but one I found myself liking.
“Hey yourself,” I said, shifting past her. “Where’d that shirt come from?” I’d waited all day to be with her again—only now that the moment was here, I wasn’t sure what I should be doing. Did I kiss her? Hug her? Willow and I had so much history, but this was uncharted territory for us.
“I found it at that school.”
The school.Hiding my scowl, determined to keep my pissy thoughts to myself, I headed in the direction of my dresser, pulling my shirt off and tossing it away.
“Your back,” Willow suddenly gasped. “Holy shit.”
Turning, I found her with her hand pressed to her mouth. “I’m so sorry,” she said, between muffled laughter. “Actually, I’m not sorry—like, at all.”
