Page 35 of Yours To Hold
Ivy nods, a knowing smile on her face.
The heat between us rushes out, the air cooling around us.
“I guess trucks aren’t made for fooling around.” I clasp the side of her head, bringing her down to me.
Ivy drops her forehead to mine. “I guess not.”
Everything in me is telling me to take this woman inside and take her to bed. Hell, I’ve jacked off enough times to the thought of her. It’d be easy to continue this.
But something stops me.
“You’re not having any regrets, are you?” Ivy whispers.
“No.”
“Then where’d you go?” Her nose drags along mine before her lips press against the corner of my mouth.
I want to get lost in her again.
“I want to do this again.”
“You know this could get very complicated, right?”
Whatever lust I’m still feeling gets a bucket of ice-cold water tossed over it.
Fuck. I’m so wrapped up in this woman that I didn’t even think about the complications.
“Willow. And you’re leaving at the end of the summer.”
“And Gemma is my best friend. She would lose her shit if she found out.”
That gets my attention. “Seriously?”
Ivy nods, her face still close to mine. “Do you remember our friend from high school who dated Logan?”
“One of your friends dated Logan?”
She taps a finger on the tip of my nose. “Exactly. Avery said she couldn’t be friends with Gem anymore after Logan broke up with her, but then she went and spread horrible rumors about Gemma about what a slut she was and how she was going to steal everyone’s boyfriend. Then she convinced Gemma’s boyfriend to start dating her, and then they cheated on her together. She was crushed.”
“Why don’t I remember this?”
“It was right before Willow was born.”
“Still. It makes me feel like a shitty brother.”
Ivy is still impossibly close. So close I can see everything she’s feeling on her face. “Gemma didn’t want to worry you. It was hard enough on her losing her friend, then her boyfriend, but to have everyone turn their backs on her was hard. You know how hard it is to recover from something like that in a small town.”
I nod, understanding now. “Fucking gossip mill.”
“Exactly.”
“Fuck.”
Why can’t things ever be easy?
“Mason.” Clasping my face in her hands, Ivy pulls my attention back to her. It’s so easy to give it to her. “I want this. But if we do this, it’s only temporary. I’m leaving in a few months.”
There’s something between us. Do I want to take my time and explore what it could be? Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely.
