Get your mind out of the gutter, Gracie.
This was my best friend, and these were not thoughts I should be having.
We’d already agreed it was a line that we shouldn’t cross.
This was Cutler.
My Cutler.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I hurried to my room, quickly pulling out a cute outfit to wear before laying it on the bed.
I was going to have some fun tonight.
It was time to get back out there.
No more overthinking things.
No more looking for the perfect guy. I also wouldn’t be settling for a man who rubbed me wrong, but something in between would be just fine.
Good-looking. Good personality. No strings attached.
I was sick of always trying to be perfect. Fitting into that box where everyone knew that I was a “good girl.”
I wanted to feel wild and alive for once in my life, like I mattered in a different way.
I wanted to know what it felt like to be desired.
Really desired.
Yes, I’d been called pretty by my ex-boyfriends, but I’d never once been told that I was sexy.
The only person who’d ever called me sexy was Cutler, and that didn’t count, because he was my best friend. Totally off-limits.
And he was the one to tell me that I should ask for what I wanted.
And I realized that it wasn’t all that complicated.
I wanted to experience that kind of all-consuming passion and desire, the kind you read about in romance books. At the same time, it was important to me that I stay in control of my emotions and expectations and walk away unscathed.
This was my time to have a little fun, to be a little wild before I moved to New York and everything got serious again.
And that’s exactly what I intended to do.
I added some beach waves to my long dark hair before applying some shimmery bronzer to my cheeks and mascara to my lashes. I finished it off with some pink lip gloss on my lips, then slipped into my white sundress with spaghetti straps that ended just above my knee and my red cowboy boots. When I pulled my bedroom door open, Luke Combs was singing through the surround sound, and I heard Cutler singing along from the kitchen.
I rounded the corner and just took a minute to take him in, as his back was to me. He wore a white tee that stretched across the muscles of his back. His thick dark hair was a little longer than usual, and he wore a pair of faded jeans that hugged his ass just right.
Cutler Heart was all man.
“You checking me out, Jeege?” he asked as he slowly turned around and winked.
“Please. It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before,” I said with a laugh, making light of it.
Because yes, I was checking him out.
But a girl could look and still have boundaries.
