Page 152 of City of the Lost (Rockton 1)

“It’s about what I found out…about your past?”

He pushes a curl out of my eyes. “Okay?”

“I promise that I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me. I’ll make sure my sister keeps her mouth shut too.”

“You don’t have to make me promises like that,” he tells me.

“I know. But I want to. Even when we hated each other, you didn’t tell my secrets.”

“For the record, Liz, I didn’t hate you.” He links his fingers with mine as he speaks. “I told myself I should stay away from you.”

“Because you thought I was going to be like your exes?”

“That’s what I told myself. But I think that part of me knew that once I got a taste of you, I wouldn’t be able to give you up. I’d be hooked.”

“And what do you think now?” I ask.

He leans in, rolling me onto my back so that he can look into my eyes. “I was right.”

twenty-nine

Not Playing Fair

Jack

“What’s wrong, old man?” Liz asks as she looks back at me. “Can’t keep up?”

Oh, she is going to pay for that one later.

“Old man?” I ask, keeping up a steady pace. “You realize I’m not that much older than you, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Step it up, Gramps.”

Little does she know that I would rather hang back so that I can stare at that cute little ass of hers. I could probably pass her if I wanted to, but why would I want to give up this view?

She starts running a little faster, and I follow suit to keep up with her.

Catching onto my game, she glances at me over her shoulder. “And quit staring at my ass.”

“What are you going to do about it?” I tease.

She starts to push even faster, quickly pulling ahead of me. My legs burn as my feet hit the ground.

As much as I love all the sex that we’ve been having, I’ve missed this. And there’s something even more special about it now that we are together as a couple—or whatever the hell we are. Before, I tried to be coy when I’d stare at her ass. Now, I’m completely fine with her knowing that’s what I’m doing. I want her to know exactly how sexy she is to me.

And I plan on showing her every single chance I get—whether that’s while I worship her naked body or while we go running in the morning.

I’m so busy staring at her that I barely even register when she starts talking shit again. She says something about me being old or slow or something else of the sort.

Time to get a little bit of revenge.

Reaching forward, I grab her arm, causing her to slow down and come to a quick stop. I turn her around to face me, taking her into my arms and kissing her like it’s the last time I’ll ever do so. She practically melts against me.

Just when she’s completely relaxed and wanting more, I pull away and take off like a bat out of hell.

“Oh, that is so not fair,” she calls as she runs after me.

I manage to make it to the parking lot first but just barely. Without my head start, there’s no way that I would have won. Liz is much faster.