Book Boyfriend (Someday #5) Read Online Free

beating of her heart, in time with mine. Time slowed. My vision tunneled down to just her face. Sounds faded away until they seemed like they were coming from another place. No. Another dimension. The world shrunk to nothing but Miche and me and the blood rushing through our veins in perfect synchronicity.
    She turned her face to me in what seemed like the slowest of slow motion. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her waist, pull her warm body to me, and crush my lips to hers. Need filled me. I shook with it. My head spun. With every last bit of control I possessed, I made myself step back from her. I was just starting to earn her trust. There was no way I was going to fuck it up that quickly.
    Her cheeks flushed, and her china-doll eyes widened behind her glasses, making her even more adorable than usual. And that was really saying something.
    I racked my brain, trying to think of what to say next. Something casual. Something that would move the conversation on before I had to walk through this damn grocery store sporting wood.
    Nothing came to mind.
    Then, just as quickly as it had started, the moment came to a crashing halt. Michelle spun back around and pushed the cart up the aisle with a distracted, “Only two more things on the list. We should hurry. Gran’s waiting for me.”
    Her knees trembled a little as she walked away from me. I smiled. That was good. Very good, in fact. It meant that I’d gotten under her skin, too. At least a little. It was a useful tidbit to know.
    I jogged down the aisle to catch up with her, my muscles taut and alive from the adrenaline rush I’d just experienced. “Well, damn, girl,” I teased. “Stop holdin’ us up, then. We’ve no time for nonsense! Let’s get this shopping finished.”
    Her lips twitched the way they did sometimes when she found a joke of mine amusing, and fireworks went off inside my brain. Hell, in my baseball-playing career, I’d hit my share of home runs. I’d easily loped around the bases, keeping my pace steady and even so that I could soak in the sound of the stadium full of cheering fans. I knew what victory felt like. I knew it with every fiber of my being, right down to my bones, and there was no mistaking it.
    When I made Michelle Mitchell almost-smile, the feeling that flooded through me was pure, unadulterated victory with a capital V.
    And I couldn’t get enough.

Chapter 5
    Michelle
    I t should have felt good to smile. No, it should have felt great.
    Forget should have though. What it actually felt like was terrifying . All I could hear inside my head as my lips curled up as if of their own accord, was my step-douche saying in that oily way of his, “Now, smile like a proper young lady. Nobody likes a frown.”
    Whether we were going to church or a school function where there would be other parents to impress around or having some of his colleagues over for dinner, it didn’t matter. Douchebag Dan, Stepfather Extraordinaire, could never resist the opportunity to remind me that I just didn’t quite measure up.
    I shivered as I remembered his words, hearing them play through my brain as clearly as though he were right next to me. I had the same reaction to the memory as I’d had when I was in high school and had continued to have subconsciously ever since: Fuck him ! If he thought I should smile, then I’d frown. If he thought I should wear frilly dresses, I’d wear skinny jeans and studded belts. If he thought I should wear a floaty, floral, button-down blouse, I’d dress all in black.
    Not all of the rebellion had been terrible, of course. Some of it had left great stuff in my life. For instance, all of my pushback on the pretty, sweet “proper young lady” clothes he had tried to foist on me had led me to experimenting with fashion choices and aesthetics, and now, I loved my look. I felt comfortable in my own skin.
    Also, trying to escape all the constant pressure to socialize and make nice with the people he wanted to