AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Blondie," he groans. "You can't—"
"I can sit next to you," I grin. "And I'm going to."
He moves over to let me in beside him. "They'll tell Cash if they see us together."
"I don't care," I gently touch his face. "Cash dumped me. He left you. We can do whatever we want."
Wilder frowns. "You can but I can't."
"If Fanny comes over, I'll deal with her," I promise him. "I haven't seen you in two days. I want to sit next to you. And I want to kiss you, too."
He runs a tired hand over his face. "Work's been busy."
"I know," I drop my hand from his cheek. He catches my forearm in his fingers and runs his thumb along the lightning bolt tattoo on my wrist.
"You ever going to tell me why you got this one?" The corner of his lips tip up.
"I already told you," I smile wide. "It's bottled-up lightning."
"Yeah," he slides an arm behind my neck. "But what's the significance?"
I inhale him. The clean smell of his laundry detergent mixed with the musky scent of working in a lumber yard all day is my new favorite scent.
Wilder makes me want to tell him the truth, even when I know it's risky. Even when I know it gives him a bigger chunk of my heart to inevitably shatter.
"You. The significance is you."
His breathing hitches. "Me?"
"You're bottled-up lightning," I shrug. "Wild, free, hard to contain."
He smiles, the corners of his hazel eyes crinkling. "You got a tattoo for me after giving me shit for getting one for you?"
"Mine is less obvious," I bury my face in his chest.
"You like me," he teases me. "You really, really like me."
"I told you I did," I raise my chin and stare up at him. A dark lock of hair falls across his forehead and I brush it off his face with my fingertips.
He reaches for my hand before it leaves his face, and he kisses the inside of my wrist. There's a tenderness to Wilder I never experienced before now. He's wild and free like lightning but he's also gentle and steady like the rising sun. Every part of me wants to dive into the depths of his soul and memorize every scar, every wound, every tear.
"What?" he whispers in the space between us.
I think I might... I think I might be in love with him.
"I just missed you," I say.
"I missed you, too," he replies.
"Wilder," Fanny's high-pitched voice interrupts our moment. I swallow the lump forming in my throat and turn to face her. "And Ingrid."
"How are you?" Wilder asks as he carefully removes his arm from behind me.
"I didn't realize you two were friends," Fanny narrows her hawk-like gaze at us.
"We've always been friends," Wilder lies.
"Does Cash know about this?" Fanny challenges as she motions back and forth between us.
