Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“Uh…no. Get your butt up there unless you want a show.”
His smirk is slow, and a low laugh leaves me.
I roll my eyes at myself. “Okay, I walked right into that one.”
Brady chuckles but doesn’t move. “I need to hold this rickety-ass thing for you if we’re going up there. Promise I won’t look.”
“What if I said I had more body jewelry you haven’t seen yet?”
Rich amber eyes snap to mine, and when he speaks, it’s with a low tone I’ve never heard from him before. “Then I’d remind you that I haven’t seen any of them, so what’s one more?”
My mouth is suddenly watering, my hands shaking slightly as I grip the rungs. I climb up one step, then another, and pause, my face just above his with his feet planted firmly on the floor.
Man, his lashes are really long.
“I was kidding by the way,” I rush out.
“Now that’s a shame,” he rasps, holding my gaze. But then he blinks, and his playful self appears as if summoned. “Now get your ass up there.” He smacks my butt.
I laugh and hurry up.
Brady joins me only seconds later, and together we slip through the little door my dad built into the roof of the barn, climbing out onto the small platform he put out here for me and Ari when we were kids.
The boys have been up here dozens of times too, this property being the one we would use for big events and things like my parents twentieth anniversary party. We’ll likely have a graduation party here next year, and this time, we’ll get to hang around inside the house too, since my parents will be back living in it by then.
I sigh, pulling the hoodie under my ass and lowering to the platform, letting my legs hang over the edge. Brady does the same, and for several minutes, we just sit there in comfortable silence, enjoying the view and the noises coming from the creek that we have the most perfect view of.
It runs about thirty feet wide and a good twenty miles long, stretching across several property lines, but as far as I know, we’re the only ones with a little bridge that allows you to cross it without getting wet. It’s only accessible for the next couple months though, until the snow comes and goes and the creek overflows for a while.
“I forgot how peaceful it is out here.”
“I didn’t,” I say quietly, not wanting to disrupt the birds overhead. They should be migrating soon. “My parents are moving back in after some renovations. They’re going to sell the other.”
His brows jump. “They’ve already decided?”
I nod. “Yeah. They told me in September when they came for the family barbecue.”
“You sad about that?”
“Not really.” I rethink my answer. “I mean I was, but then I stopped and thought about it, and it makes sense. That place was so special because of all of us, you know?” I tip my head, looking his way. “But we’re not kids anymore. We’re grown now and, in a few years, probably sooner for some of us”—I give him a pointed look and ignore his blank blink—“we’ll be starting our own adventures, and for the first time, we won’t be two houses down or a couple dorms over. We could be in different states. Hell, countries even.”
“That sounds terrible,” he mumbles, making me laugh suddenly.
“Hey, we’ll still have the beach house, though, right?” I say, thinking of the insane gift our blue-collar parents gave us all for high school graduation. “That’s why our parents put it in all our names, so we’d all have a place to go to be with each other if life leads us different places like it’s bound to do.”
“Stop saying that.”
I laugh again and Brady gives a half smile.
I pull in a long breath. “So yeah, I think it makes sense for my parents to sell. I mean why would they want to wake up to a view of Chase’s house across the street when they can wake up to this every day.”
Brady sits back on his hands, bumping his shoulder into mine. “Why do I sense a but in there?”
My lips turn up. “Maybe because you know me too well.”
“No such thing, Cammie Baby.”
I smile to myself and look out over the creek. “I guess I’m a little bummed because I kind of thought I’d be the one who ended up here one day, not them.”
“Really?” The surprise in his voice has me meeting his gaze. “Have you told them that?”
My eyes move between his, and something soft swims through me. “I haven’t told anyone that.”
Brady studies me a long moment, then wraps his arms around my middle and tugs me closer. “Can I ask you something?”
“Duh.”
He chuckles, then goes quiet for a couple minutes, making me wonder if he’s changed his mind. Just when I’m about to fill the silence with some nonsense, he speaks.