The Wild One by Burgess Gemma

Author:Burgess, Gemma [Burgess, Gemma]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781466859821
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Friends.

With benefits.

Best. Idea. Ever.

The bar was dead tonight, so we closed before midnight and came back to Rookhaven. (Frankly, I think both of us just wanted to get laid. Ahem.)

“Do you have any cake?” Joe whispers, cuddling into me in the dark. It’s really too hot to cuddle, but I don’t care. The tiny ancient air conditioner gives out more noise than air, so we usually keep it off.

“Cake?”

“Manly, postcoital cake?”

I grin into the darkness. “Alas, I do not. I haven’t baked in weeks. I can offer you peanut butter on toast.”

“My dad hated peanut butter,” Joe says softly. “He was old-school Ireland, you know, thought peanut butter was newfangled American madness. So whenever I want peanut butter now I think, Sorry, Dad … Is that strange?”

“No,” I say. “I get it. Random stuff always makes me think of my mom.”

“Yeah. It’s like he’s always somewhere in my head, ready to step into my thoughts.”

Neither of us needs to explain ourselves any further. We both totally understand what the other means. I start kissing him again. I’m sleepy and sticky, but right now, I don’t care. I just want to kiss him more. I never thought I could feel so relaxed and in control when it came to sex. My virginity was such an albatross for years, and then my first time with Eric was just the worst. But sex with Joe is just … it’s fucking great.

Joe pulls away. “Can I ask you a serious question?”

“Sure.”

“Will you marry me?”

“What?” I choke the word out, suddenly very awake.

“I need a Green Card to stay in the States. I don’t want to go back to Ireland, but my visa ends in a few months, so I figured—”

I sit up so fast that I nearly fall off the bed. “No! I mean, I can’t—”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you,” Joe says. “Maybe I’ll go home to Ireland. I’ll board the plane and be welcomed by the dulcet tones of the Irish air crew. I’ll fall in love with the one named Colleen. We’ll have eleven children and live happily ever after…” Joe sighs. “I’d rather stay in New York.”

“If Potstill Prom makes enough money, I bet Gary will get you a visa,” I say, lying back down. There’s enough light coming in my attic window from the streetlamps outside that I can just make out the outline of his face

“Right. Like our little party is going to turn everything around,” says Joe, defeated. “Coco, face it. The bar is dead.”

“Don’t be negative. The prom will be a huge success, Gary will rebrand the bar as a music venue, and he’ll ask you to be the music venue guy—”

“I don’t want to be the music venue guy, I just want to be a music guy.”

I smile, pulling him closer. Joe reaches out, tracing a line with his finger from my lips, along my jaw, down my neck, and then we start kissing, and …

I know what you’re thinking, but Topher doesn’t even cross my mind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.