Page 51 of Say it Ain’t So

“What?” Her brow furrowed, just like Lee’s, though hers made me want to kiss her confusion away.

“I’m from Kentucky. Tiny little town close to the Illinois and Indiana borders.”

Joss’s lips twitched before the corners pulled up into a smile. She covered my hand with hers, and that touch, that look on her face, broke something inside me.

Or maybe…

Maybe it was healing me instead.

16

JOSS

As the seasons changed and thawed, so did my relationship with Rylan. Or maybe it was just my feelings toward him, the breaking of some invisible barrier that crumbled away like his anger and my hurt. And it all started with Kentucky. Every so often, from that day forward, he left me little notes on my desk.

I like the taste of beer, but I had a bad experience once with vodka shots back in high school and refuse to drink it again.

My best friend growing up was my neighbor’s cat. I never knew his real name, but I called him George. Until I found out he was a she.

I like those little peppermints you can get at diners—the white ones with the red stripes.

All the details he told me were mundane or funny, and it made me feel like he was offering me something special. A small piece of himself I wouldn’t find anywhere else.

In response, I gave him a little piece of myself—little scraps of paper that I folded and tucked into the same space under my keyboard he’d been leaving his notes to me.

I love a good beer, but I’ve never shied away from a good, strong daiquiri.

We had more animals than we knew what to do with when I was growing up. Somehow, I always preferred the conversation of my best friend, Chey.

But have you ever had old people candy? Those hard, caramel-tasting ones are the best.

Rylan’s notes always popped up at the least expected times. Moments after I’d cleaned my desk. Moments after I’d just looked. Or sometimes, when I needed it—that little burst of happiness they always brought me—the most.

That’s why, with the music playing from an old stereo Kolton had set up in our brand-new office space, I was surprised once again to find a note under the keyboard I’d just plugged in. I peeked up as I slid it out from its hiding space, eyeing Rylan.

He stood at the base of a ladder, holding it in place as Kolton finished installing the security camera that covered one-half of our much larger lobby. He didn’t look over at me. In fact, I didn’t understand how he could have slid it into place under my keyboard without me or Kolton or Van noticing. Neither of them seemed aware, though perhaps it was because both were too focused on their projects.

Adventure has always been my favorite. Sometimes I ache with the need to do something wild and crazy.

I bit my lip. Peeked up again. This confession felt oddly personal. Less like the usual notes he left me and more like the kinds of things he told me when we first met.

“What brings you to Vegas?” I grazed my finger along his jaw, unable to stop from touching him. Rylan hummed and it rumbled through every inch of me that was pressed to him.

“Adventure.”

I squealed as he nearly dropped me to the floor. For one flash of a second, my mind played tricks on me. It ran away with the thought of him lowering me down. Climbing atop me. Showing me the hard body that had my skin heating and my own body aching in ways I’d never felt before.

Rylan held me in his strong arms like this was a promise between us. He stared down at me like he was expecting me to speak. It took a moment for my mind to refocus, away from my fantasies and back on the handsome man. I parroted his answer back to him, asking for more. “Adventure?”

“My favorite thing in the world.” Slowly, as if he didn’t want to, he lifted me until I was nearly standing on my own. “There’s nothing better than chasing a thrill.”

“Like jumping out of a building?” There was laughter in my voice, and I worried. Worried that he’d react the way Peter did if ever he thought anyone was making fun of him. But he didn’t.

“It’s wild,” Rylan said before his tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked along his bottom lip. My body reacted like it was me he was licking, me he was wetting with one long slide of his tongue. His words rumbled through me as he tightened his grip around me. “Came here for some gambling and some fun. Then I found you.”

“You know…” Kolton’s voice shook me out of my head. I blinked. Looked up and found him glancing down the ladder to where Rylan still stood. “I think I need to celebrate.”

On the other side of the room, Van lifted his head from the pile of wires in his lap. “What do you mean?”