his heart. Something written that I couldn’t read unless I got closer. Which I caught myself trying to do.
His right shoulder was covered in ink, an array of shapes and colors that kept stealing my attention away from the beautifully toned muscle that he had to offer.
It was strange, but there was something about his neck that got to me too.
The way he didn’t care about shaving or keeping some kind of groomed line for his facial hair. The stubble on his neck that gave way to a more unkempt look on his chin and jaw sent warnings from my heart to my brain that something was happening.
No shit something’s happening… it’s Josh. And now we’re both grown up. And he’s staring at me, knowing I’m staring at him. And his left hand is holding the door open, showing off the way it looks when the side of his stomach is pulled and flexed, forcing me to count the ridges of the muscle on his stomach…
Of course, all of this happened over the course of a couple of seconds.
“Amelia,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Is this a bad time?” I asked.
“Never,” he said. He backed up and waved for me to come in. “I just got out of the shower a few minutes ago.”
As I walked by him into the large apartment, I could smell his fresh, clean skin. It was contradictory to the gruff look of his hair, face, tattoos, and messy jeans. But he smelled perfect.
“Let me grab a shirt,” he said as he shut the door and walked across the open floor plan.
There was a bed in the corner next to a large window. A dresser against the wall at the foot of the bed. He opened the second drawer and took out the first shirt he grabbed. His back muscles twisted and flexed in an unfair way as he put the shirt on.
By the time he turned around, I had forced my eyes to look somewhere else.
“To what do I owe this visit?” he asked. “Figured you hated me.”
“Why would I hate you?” I asked.
His bare feet shuffled across the wooden floor.
God, why is that so sexy?
He went to the fridge and got out two bottles of beer.
“Drink?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said.
He twisted off the caps and slid one of the bottles to the edge of the counter.
“Were you not there the other night?” he asked. “Or was that a different Amelia? Do you have an evil twin?”
“What if I do?” I asked.
“Then I’m in trouble.”
“Why’s that?”
Josh smirked. “Well, because I kissed your evil twin. And I liked it.”
I couldn’t control the heat that filled my face even if I controlled the look on it. That lasted all of a few seconds before guilt washed over me.
“I’m sorry about that,” I whispered.
“For what? Being jealous? Mean?”
“I was working, Josh. To be fair, when I came to your job, you were a dick to me.”
Josh opened his mouth but didn’t say a word. He took a drink of his beer instead.
“Damn,” he finally said. “You’re right.”
“I am,” I said. “So, you were bothering me. Just like I was bothering you.”
“Only I wasn’t trying to get your story,” he said. “I’m not going to write up the story about a pretty waitress and how I couldn’t stop staring at her the entire time I was at the restaurant.”
“Really?” I asked.
“What?”
“Thanks for saying that. I don’t necessarily feel pretty when I’m working.”
“Neither do I,” Josh said.
I laughed. “You feel pretty then sometimes?”
“Depends on my mood.”
“And what’s your mood now?”
“Settled,” he said.
“Settled? I guess that’s good.”
“Settled because you’re here, love,” he said. “Which leaves me to wonder… what exactly are you doing here?”
I put my bag on the counter and traded it for the beer Josh offered.
“I brought you something to read.”
Chapter 18
All Your Wings
NOW
(Josh)
As I reached for the flipped over story, Amelia smacked my hand.
“Not while I’m here.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Seriously. This is bad. It’s embarrassing, Josh.”
“That’s the point. It’s supposed to be. You wrote this when you were… ten?”
“Thirteen.”
“Oh,” I said, lifting an eyebrow. “Still with talking animals then?”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, it’s all you knew, right?”
“It’s all I had,” she said. “You know that. Of all people, you know that.”
I looked at the story and moved my hand away. When Amelia tried to take her hand away, I hurried to grab it. My fingers curled around her hand and it was a little awkward since our arms were outstretched across the island in the kitchen.