“A relationship?” A smile grows slowly into a grin. “You mean it?”
“Or if we have birthdays coming up. Presents to hide. Gotta be able to lie a little bit, right?”
“Your butt is amazing,” he says. “It could never look big in something, and even if it did, I’d still want to grab it with both hands.”
“You say thatnow. Wait a few years.” I’m not even sure where I’m going with this, and continue in a mutter, “I hear ravens mate for life.”
“Wait a minute.” He turns and walks into the bedroom, leaving me standing there. Not quite sure what just happened. Or what I said. Or why the hell Isaid what I said.
Did I really just… jump the whole way from hating him to planning out the next few years together?
Did I ever really hate him?
Hell yes I did.
Loved him, too. Still do.
Fuck, and now I’ve scared him off. Coming on strong, like some crazy woman. After telling him I never want to see him again.
He walks back in, a sheet of paper in his hand. “Sorry, it took me a moment to find it.” He shrugs. “I packed it.”
“Find what?” I can’t see it clearly. It looks like some hand-written notes.
“There’s a 9-ball pool tournament early September.”
“What?” Of all the things I expected him to say. “One more time?”
“It’s open entry,” he continues, holding the single sheet like it’s something precious. “The standard is high… I don’t know if we’ll do too well, but…”
“Declan, what are you talking about?”
“…it’s in New Jersey,” he says, voice going soft. “Thirty-five hundred miles without a single interstate. Route 66… Ozark Mountains… Cumberland Gap. The Blue Ridge Parkway, obviously. Three weeks on the road.”
I feel a smile trying to get out, but force it back. “You want to go and play pool in New Jersey?”
“I don’t give a shit where we play pool,” he says honestly, the hand holding the sheet falling to hisside. “I just want to go for a ride with you, Hellcat. For days and days and days. We’ll be staying in shitty motels because, well, I’m a little strapped for cash, but the point is the road, right?”
I hold out my hand. “Let me see that.”
He passes me his sheet of paper, hope blooming in his eyes.
“It goes through New Mexico,” I say.
“Yeah.”
“You’re missing the Million Dollar Highway.”
“Well… sure. Could jog north through Colorado then back southeast into Oklahoma.”
“I want to ride it,” I tell him, taking a pace closer. “With you.”
“With me?” His smile lights up his eyes.
“Uh-huh.” My hand lies flat against his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin and the steady, fast beat of his heart.
His hands close gently on my waist, like I’m something fragile.
“You know what else is good about that road?” I ask.
