Slow Burn (Hearts on Fire Series Book 1) by Claire Ivy

Author:Claire Ivy [Ivy, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Claire Ivy
Published: 2024-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

My ears buzzed at the contrast between the noisy bar we were exiting and the quiet, cool night.

It had rained while we’d been inside, the sidewalk was still wet, and shallow puddles dotted the pavement.

I drew in a great big breath of fresh air.

Tonight had been good, and spending time with Scott was amazing. It felt like our closeness was back. He’d left my apartment so abruptly the other night and then this week we’d been like ships in the night. When we had seen each other, there had been a strange palpable tension I couldn’t quite shake, even though things were seemingly still exactly the same.

On Tuesday night he’d brought over takeout, and we’d shared easy conversation over spring rolls and chicken chow mein, but then on Wednesday my morning call had gone to voicemail, and he’d had an extra practice.

That evening, I had to tell him I was too busy for our usual mid-week meal, where I cooked and put his kitchen to good use. He’d said he’d bring something over, but I’d been munching on twisted cheese bites, stressing over a giant cupcake order, and was too full to eat another thing.

But it wasn’t even that.

Nothing felt right between us. I was looking too deeply into his texts and his voice had seemed distant when we’d talked on the phone during his shift.

When he’d picked me up for the karaoke party tonight, though, he’d acted more like himself, and I’d gotten caught up in us feeling like us again. That had shaken me out of my rumination, and we’d ended up having the best night together.

We’d sat close and laughed all night. I’d let myself relax and sink into the fun that being out with the girls always brought. Scott had stayed near, his chair jutted up against mine. Not an inch of space separated us, and I loved it.

He was touching me again. Playing with my hair, his arm around my shoulders, or holding my hand.

He was also guarding my drinks like it was his job and giving any guy not from our circle a glare had they dared to come within a five-foot radius of our table.

A table myself, Wren, his sister, his sister-in-law, and her best friend were sitting at.

It hadn’t slipped my notice that he’d switched to water while Wren and I had doubled down.

Now the fun was catching up with me, however, and things were a little spinny.

Totally worth it though.

“Wow, did we need that or what?” I collapsed into the cab Scott had hailed and he gave the driver the directions back to Cupcake while he buckled me in like I was a toddler.

But toddlers couldn’t get drunk, so, the joke was on him.

“Yeah, it was a good night,” he agreed and smiled. But it didn’t meet his eyes.

I worried my lip. “It’s been a little weird between us.” I wasn’t trying to ruin the time we’d had, I just wanted to know if everything was okay.

“No, it hasn’t. You’ve been busy with your orders, and I’ve been at the rink a lot.

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