He winked. “If that’s what you want.”
I couldn’t keep from laughing. “No way. I wouldn’t think you’d be down.”
“I’m not crossing swords or anything,” he said quickly. “But if you wanted an Eiffel Tower.”
“Oh my God,” I said, my cheeks flaming. I looked pointedly at my menu. “We need to talk about something else.”
“What can I get you?” the waitress asked, appearing out of nowhere and interrupting our perfectly outrageous conversation.
After we put in our orders, Hollin took my hand in his. Somehow, it was entirely natural.
“You know this is date three,” I blurted out.
“Yeah?”
“If the guys are right, this means we’ve hit your limit.”
He brought my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to each of my fingers. “And what if I said that I wanted more?”
“Do you?”
“I want all of your dates. Every single one of them.”
I swallowed the emotions clouding my throat. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.”
I was still skeptical. After all, I’d never seen Hollin date anyone. Even if he’d said that he’d done it before. It felt so removed from the present. Yet here he was, offering me the world. What kind of person would I be not to accept?
Part IV
Love Story
25
Piper
I’d been certain my skepticism going into this relationship was warranted. I thought I knew Hollin and the way he operated. That maybe our three dates wasn’t real to him since one had happened with my family and the last had been a continuation of the night before.
Then, we had our fourth date at a bar downtown with live music. A fifth date at Fun Noodle Bar for ramen and dessert at Pie Bar. A sixth date, riding his motorcycle through Ransom Canyon and picnicking by the lake. Old movies at his place for the seventh date. Our eighth, we went trampolining, which was a sight to behold, watching someone as enormous as Hollin Abbey having the dexterity to do flips on a trampoline. We were both sore for three days straight after that. We spent the ninth date in with sushi and a bubble bath. The tenth date, we took my Jeep up to Palo Duro Canyon and hiked the two miles to the Lighthouse. We sat on the edge of the enormous rock, our feet dangling over the edge, and listened to the quiet of the universe.
At some point, I lost count.
There were more dates. More unofficial outings. Just us being together, going out to get dinner, breaking for lunches, stealing kisses after work, nights in his sheets. And all the skepticism faded into nothing.
Hollin had been serious. He wanted this. And he proved it every day we huddled together and made more plans. More and more plans.
Suddenly, a whole new reality bloomed before me. I was doing this. I was actually dating Hollin Abbey. And I wanted more of everything he was offering. Not just the sex, which continued to be mind-blowing, but also the time together and all the silly moments. The fact that he read the books I liked so he could make conversation with me. That we liked the same music and binged the same movies. That I was kind of loving the Harley as much as he did.
“You’re doing it again,” Blaire accused with a laugh.
“Doing what?”
I stared out the front window of my Jeep as I drove me, Blaire, and her assistant, Honey, to The Tacos game.
“Getting that dopey smile on your face. You’re thinking about Hollin.”
“I was,” I admitted.
“It’s so cute!” Honey said from the backseat. She wore a Blaire Blush baseball hat over her shoulder-length blonde hair and lavender matching leggings and crop from a designer that Blaire loved.
Blaire agreed. “So cute. I’m happy for y’all. I knew there was a reason you two were always at each other’s throats.”
“Not sure that’s stopped.”
Buttons were pushed all the time. We were always challenging each other and seeing how far we could go. In and out of the bedroom. But it was the right kind of challenges. It wasn’t anger for its own sake. It was different, better. Who knew I just needed a guy who didn’t bore me?
She laughed. “True.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “Any guy catching your eye lately?”
She wrinkled her little nose and drew her baseball cap lower on her head. “No.”
“You were talking to that guy online,” Honey said, waggling her eyebrows.
“What guy?” I gasped.
“No one,” Blaire said with a huff. “You weren’t supposed to see that, Honey.”
“My bad.” She got a sheepish look on her face. “I handle her messages, and sometimes, I answer fans and see personal stuff.”
I arched an eyebrow at my best friend. “Spill.”
“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “There’s this, like, TikTok star. He’s real hot.”
“He’s a thirst trap,” Honey volunteered.
I blinked. “A thirst trap?”
“Yeah. He’s one of those guys who smiles sexy at the camera and takes his shirt off,” Honey said. “Like a model.”
“I see,” I said with a laugh. “And y’all are talking?”
“He lives in Midland.”
“A thirst trap in Midland, Texas. Now, I’ve heard everything.”
Blaire shrugged. “I live in Lubbock. Anyway, that’s how we started talking. Because he’s only an hour and a half away.”
“Have you met?”
“No. I’m sure it’s not going to go anywhere.”
Honey giggled. “Not the way he talks to you.”
“And what is this guy’s name?”
“Nate,” she offered.
“Nate King,” Honey volunteered. “You can look him up @nateistheking. His family is into oil money. They run Dorset & King.”
“Thank you, Honey,” Blaire said sarcastically.
I’d look him up to see if he was everything Honey was going on about. It would be nice for Blaire to look at someone other than Campbell Abbey. She hadn’t been in a relationship in a while. And look at me, suddenly happy and wanting my friends to have this ounce of freedom.
I parked the Jeep next to Hollin’s truck and hopped out. Blaire grabbed her bag out of the back and fell into step beside me.
“Honey wants something to work out for me,” Blaire muttered.
“So do I.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll find someone in this small town eventually.”
I laughed. “You will.”
“They’re a bit close, aren’t they?” Blaire asked, jutting her chin toward where Hollin stood on the sidelines next to Tamara. “I can kick her ass if you’d like?”
When needed, Blaire could flip to defensive best friend mode in the blink of an eye. And I didn’t doubt for a second that she’d get into it with Tamara for touching Hollin. Not that it was necessary. I already knew that Tamara made Hollin uncomfortable.
“I can handle it.”
Blaire nodded and jogged off toward the field.
I walked right up to where Hollin stood. His smile brightened at the sight of me. I grabbed Tamara’s hand and removed it from Hollin’s arm.