Hitching my rucksack over my shoulder, I jogged across the parking lot and climbed the stone fence. I ran across the field, hoping to make it home before I got soaked.
Rain drops fell, and I figured I was going to get wet no matter what so I slowed my pace. Da was going to be furious my new shoes were covered in sheep dung.
That was if he even looked at me.
I didn’t care. Not anymore.
And nothing could take away the excitement that I’d kissed a girl. The prettiest girl in school who said she liked me.
Reaching the other side of the field, I jumped the stone fence and headed for the bridge across the stream where Emmitt and I often went and skipped pebbles whenever Mum and Da were fighting. And they fought a lot.
The wet wooden panels on the bridge clunked as I crossed. I stopped in the center where Emmitt and I often grabbed either side of the railings and tried to make the bridge swing. It never did, but it was fun anyway.
The rain fell harder, and I peered over the side of the bridge to look at the stream below where we skipped stones. We had a competition as to who could skip the most and Emmitt was winning with six skips.
That was when I saw it.
The familiar red coat snagged on the rocks.
My heart stopped.
My stomach lurched.
My mind spun.
The water rushed around the red material making a V as if… as if something was blocking its path.
Then I knew. I knew what was obstructing its path.
“Emmitt,” I shouted.
I glanced at my phone and the third text from Killian. It had been two days since the visit to Emily and Logan’s farm, and I hadn’t spoken to him.
After Emily had shown me the two massive Clydesdale horses that she’d rescued from the horse auction, we had brunch with them on their deck, and it was nice. Really nice because Logan and Emily were amazing and Killian was relaxed and attentive.
He usually had some part of him touching me, whether his thigh under the table or his hand on the small of my back or the light touches like pushing a curl behind my ear. By the time he drove me home, my panties were soaked, and I was contemplating either forgetting the entire arrangement or jumping him right there in the car.
Savvy. Pick up your phone, please.
I wasn’t ready to talk to him. My mind hadn’t stopped spinning with thoughts of Killian, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it yet.
Hence why Mars and I were out for dinner and drinks. She insisted on it being her treat as an early birthday present, saying I needed this now, not in two months when it was my actual birthday.
“Is it him again?” Mars asked.
“Yeah.” I shut off my phone and placed it in my purse. I’d talk to him tomorrow when I was sober. Drunk texting was a bad idea. I’d probably end up inviting him over and sleeping with him.
We were on the patio of an Italian restaurant on King Street where we’d had dinner and shared a couple bottles of wine while I’d told Mars everything about the arrangement with Killian. Of course, she had to swear on her life not to tell anyone about the fake dating.
And at first I thought it was a great idea to go out and have a few drinks. Now that I was tipsy, I wasn’t so sure. I had no willpower to block him out.
I was thinking of when he held my hand as we walked back to his car after saying goodbye to Emily and Logan. And even though I knew it was for show, it felt right.
How he was so relaxed with them and how he and Logan were pumped about the new album they were working on. His intense side had always attracted me to him, but seeing him so easygoing, that was on another level and I didn’t know if I could resist him.
“Oh, just fuck him and get it out of your system already,” Mars blurted.
My sex tweaked at the thought. God, I wanted to fuck him. There’d never been any question I did. I wanted to feel his hands all over me, to taste every inch of his body, have him sink inside me.
I sipped my wine shaking my head. “No. I can’t.”
“Why not?” Mars wore that tiny mischievous smile where the right side of her mouth twitched.
“He’s paying me to date him, that’s why.” Although, I had yet to cash the check. I didn’t know why, but it was still shoved in the bottom of my purse.
“Did you ever think about why he’s paying you to date him? I mean he doesn’t need to pay a girl. They’d pay him to date them.”