Going Hard: Boys of Fall Read Online Free Page B

airspace.” She jabbed her finger into his biceps. “You’re harshing my buzz.”
    “You’re past buzzed. And on a school night, too.”
    “I’m not in school anymore, thank you.” Other than continuing education classes, which she’d have to take forever. Thank God for doubling up when she was younger and had no social life.
    As much as things change, so they stay the same.
    “Thank God,” he muttered.
    “What was that?”
    “Nothing.”
    She waved to Sadie.
    “You’re cut off, Lady Jane.”
    “Aww, come on.”
    “You’re weaving,” Rafe grumbled.
    “You’re my DD. I don’t have to be a good girl. I’m so tired of being a good girl. Do you realize I’m turning twenty-five soon? Twenty-five.” When he winced, she rolled her eyes. “What?”
    “That’s young.”
    “Not in this town. Around here, people are preparing to pop out a prodigy by then, if not sooner. I’m not ready for that. I’m dying to live.” She leaned into Rafe. “Dying—wilting on the vine. I’m not ready to be table wine, Rafe.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?”
    She dropped her head on his shoulder. “I want to live a little first before I start taking care of anyone else. I don’t want to wake up next to some guy with hips yay wide from birthing out a dozen babies before I even turn thirty.”
    “Considering that’s impossible, I think you’re safe.”
    “Stop being literal. You know what I mean. I was born to be champagne.”
    “I’m trying to follow your analogy, but I’m having a tough time. What’s with the wine and champagne thing?”
    Sometimes her brain full of information made talking to people very difficult. She hated when they didn’t follow her train of thought. “Never mind.”
    “No, I honestly want to know.”
    “Vines that are cultivated for years, that truly live through cycles of beautiful growing seasons, become the perfect conduit for champagne. I’ve got no knowledge. No life. I’m barely table wine.”
    His brow furrowed. “Your head is full of knowledge. Your trivia ability is unparalleled.”
    She transferred her forehead to her arms on the bar. “You don’t get it.”
    “What exactly do you want to do?”
    “Have fun. Experience more than what I know. I’m just so tired of doing the same thing with my life. I get up at six, feed my cat, get ready for work, go to work, come home. Lather, rinse, repeat.”
    “Just like the rest of us, babe.”
    She lifted her head. “You’re old.”
    “Thanks.”
    Did he just call her babe? Best to just push that aside. She peered up at him. “Aren’t you thirty?”
    “Twenty-nine,” he muttered.
    “Same difference.”
    “So, what, when you’re twenty-nine, it’s okay?”
    “Sure, after I sow my wild oats. I’m not saying I never want to settle down and have a family. I just need to do some planting first.” She sighed. “Serious planting.”
    “How many oats are we talking here?”
    “More than the three that I’ve sown.”
    His jaw dropped open a little. Kinda cute actually. He was always so serious. She’d put that face in the dictionary under gobsmacked.
    “Three?”
    “I know. Pathetic, right?”
    His jaw tightened. “No.” He took a healthy swallow of his beer.
    “Well, I’m a modern woman, and should know at least a quarter of the Kama Sutra before the year is out. That’s my goal. Intimately, that is. I’ve read the book, and seen most of them in video form. But you know, participation. That kind of thing.”
    He choked and snapped the glass down on the bar. “Jesus, Hol.”
    “What?”
    “That’s dangerous.”
    “Well, if I find an adventurous guy then I can have some fun and do these things.”
    “Are you just going to keep going through them until you find one?”
    She turned on her stool and propped her head on her hand. It was starting to feel a little heavy. “I’m pretty discerning. It’s not like I’m going to just hike my skirt for anyone. I want to put myself out there and let a