about-”
The sounds of heavy breathing and a rustling sound brought my head up from the journal to find Ty in front of me.
“Hey,” I said.
He stood there breathing heavily. I got up and got him a bottle of water. You would think if you were going on a run, you would have water. I handed it to him silently.
He took it from me, but didn’t drink it. “I want a do over,” Ty stated out of the blue.
I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “With the sex?”
He seemed to think about it for a moment. “I mean at one point, I guess if it leads to that . . . but . . . shit. Damnit. I had a spiel and now you threw me off.”
I couldn’t help but smile at how lost he was. He seemed so alpha male when I ran into him at Caleb’s apartment, but ever since then he was regularly fumbling his words. It was kind of adorable.
“I mean I want a do over with you. I want to get to know you. Take you out.”
My smile quickly fell off my face. I let men take me out, but only for a few dates and it consisted of a couple weeks, max, of hanging out, eating good food and having sex. That was it. There was nothing more. Ever. Caleb was the only expectation but really what we had was a deal in escaping into oblivion when we needed to hide. And then he wanted more and I left. It was how it had to work.
And I didn’t know if Ty was asking for a couple weeks. If I gave him a couple weeks, I would then have to spend the rest of the summer dodging him in this very small town.
“I don’t know Ty . . .” I really didn’t. Maybe this summer I should stick with myself, stay away from the men.
“Why not?” he asked. A simple question in all reality.
“I don’t this.” Vague answers for the win apparently.
“Don’t do what? Spend time with the opposite sex? Date?”
Well . . . I did do that, though it was always on my time and my rules. I sought out and made sure I was in charge of the relationship, that way I could end it whenever I wanted.
“I guess I don’t know what you mean exactly. Spell it out for me.”
Ty took a few steps closer to me and made eye contact with me. It oozed confidence and it was crazy hot how his bursts of confidence took me off guard. I felt like Ty could easily take me by surprise.
He took a few calming breaths before stating, “Jolene. Even though I fumble my words like a teenager with no game, it has come to my attention that you keep creeping into my mind and it’s hard to really have you fill my thoughts when I don’t know a whole lot about you. I tend to make things up in my mind and I have a feeling the real thing is ten times better than whatever I can create in my mind.”
“And how do you entail to get to know me?”
“We could date.”
Ha! Date? Just jump in and date. Right . . .
“I don’t really date.”
“So?” he questioned. “You have a whole summer here. What’s it gonna hurt to spend some of your time with me?”
A lot. It could hurt a lot. I didn’t let people in to hurt me.
“Ty, listen. You’re a great guy, but I don’t think I can date you. You make it sound so simple but it never is, yeah know?”
“I can make is simple.”
“How?”
I could tell he was putting his thoughts together, forming a plan. I could see he didn’t want to mess this up.
“A few dates and no sex. You get to know me. Mostly it will be like being friends who do things together. Can you handle that?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and met his gaze. No sex? That was usually what I depended on in a relationship, or whatever it was you called what I did. But maybe this would be good, a different set of pace. Right? Dear god did it push me out of my comfort zone, though. I had friends and I had people I slept with, whose company I enjoyed. Rarely did they cross over. Look at Caleb and that crossover. It was fiery ship sinking in the deep ocean. No good at all.
“Why no sex?” I asked him. He was a man and I was a woman and we had already done it once. What was the big
The sounds of heavy breathing and a rustling sound brought my head up from the journal to find Ty in front of me.
“Hey,” I said.
He stood there breathing heavily. I got up and got him a bottle of water. You would think if you were going on a run, you would have water. I handed it to him silently.
He took it from me, but didn’t drink it. “I want a do over,” Ty stated out of the blue.
I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “With the sex?”
He seemed to think about it for a moment. “I mean at one point, I guess if it leads to that . . . but . . . shit. Damnit. I had a spiel and now you threw me off.”
I couldn’t help but smile at how lost he was. He seemed so alpha male when I ran into him at Caleb’s apartment, but ever since then he was regularly fumbling his words. It was kind of adorable.
“I mean I want a do over with you. I want to get to know you. Take you out.”
My smile quickly fell off my face. I let men take me out, but only for a few dates and it consisted of a couple weeks, max, of hanging out, eating good food and having sex. That was it. There was nothing more. Ever. Caleb was the only expectation but really what we had was a deal in escaping into oblivion when we needed to hide. And then he wanted more and I left. It was how it had to work.
And I didn’t know if Ty was asking for a couple weeks. If I gave him a couple weeks, I would then have to spend the rest of the summer dodging him in this very small town.
“I don’t know Ty . . .” I really didn’t. Maybe this summer I should stick with myself, stay away from the men.
“Why not?” he asked. A simple question in all reality.
“I don’t this.” Vague answers for the win apparently.
“Don’t do what? Spend time with the opposite sex? Date?”
Well . . . I did do that, though it was always on my time and my rules. I sought out and made sure I was in charge of the relationship, that way I could end it whenever I wanted.
“I guess I don’t know what you mean exactly. Spell it out for me.”
Ty took a few steps closer to me and made eye contact with me. It oozed confidence and it was crazy hot how his bursts of confidence took me off guard. I felt like Ty could easily take me by surprise.
He took a few calming breaths before stating, “Jolene. Even though I fumble my words like a teenager with no game, it has come to my attention that you keep creeping into my mind and it’s hard to really have you fill my thoughts when I don’t know a whole lot about you. I tend to make things up in my mind and I have a feeling the real thing is ten times better than whatever I can create in my mind.”
“And how do you entail to get to know me?”
“We could date.”
Ha! Date? Just jump in and date. Right . . .
“I don’t really date.”
“So?” he questioned. “You have a whole summer here. What’s it gonna hurt to spend some of your time with me?”
A lot. It could hurt a lot. I didn’t let people in to hurt me.
“Ty, listen. You’re a great guy, but I don’t think I can date you. You make it sound so simple but it never is, yeah know?”
“I can make is simple.”
“How?”
I could tell he was putting his thoughts together, forming a plan. I could see he didn’t want to mess this up.
“A few dates and no sex. You get to know me. Mostly it will be like being friends who do things together. Can you handle that?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and met his gaze. No sex? That was usually what I depended on in a relationship, or whatever it was you called what I did. But maybe this would be good, a different set of pace. Right? Dear god did it push me out of my comfort zone, though. I had friends and I had people I slept with, whose company I enjoyed. Rarely did they cross over. Look at Caleb and that crossover. It was fiery ship sinking in the deep ocean. No good at all.
“Why no sex?” I asked him. He was a man and I was a woman and we had already done it once. What was the big
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