The Chase (Briar U, #1)

by Elle Kennedy

“Don’t you fucking look at me like that.” My gaze jerks toward his. Okay, the words aren’t the same, but the growly rasp is exactly what I’d heard in my head. “Like what?” I ask weakly. My pulse has gone from zero to a million in a split second, making my knees wobble. “You know what I’m talking about.” He hisses out a breath. “And you need to stop it.” “Stop what?” He groans. A frustrated, animalistic groan that sends a bolt of heat between my legs before spreading outward to set every square inch of my skin on fire. I’m no longer feeling the cold. I could be buck-naked in the Siberian tundra, and I’d still feel like I was going up in flames. I thought I’d known what lust felt like, but I was wrong.

“Why didn’t you want to get involved with me?” “Because you drive me crazy. Wanting you is exhausting, Summer. Being around you is exhausting.” He throws his hands up before dragging them through his messy hair. “I’m an introvert, and you’re the very definition of social. And exhausting. Did I mention you’re exhausting?”

I feel like too many girls fail to remember one vital truth: we deserve someone who gives us one hundred percent. Half-assed effort isn’t effort. Half- assed love isn’t love. If a man isn’t all in, then we need to be all out.