Festive Faking (Rust Canyon #1)

by Siena Trap

“Honey, you don’t need to be embarrassed about being affectionate with your boyfriend. To be honest, it’s nice to see a man staring at my baby girl like she’s hung the moon.”

“Love changes and matures as you do. It becomes deeper, a part of your soul. Intimacy is less about tearing each other’s clothes off and more about closeness and connection.”

That was the thing about harboring a secret crush—if you kept it to yourself, it would never materialize into something more than a fantasy, a series of what-ifs. I was stuck in that limbo, and if I didn’t take Meemaw’s advice and man up, I would always wonder what could have been.

This might be fake for her, but for me, it was so very real.

Fuck, my level of obsession had gotten to the point where even her breathing, audible from bed less than three feet away, was enough to turn me on.

“Truth,” I declared. But before she could ask me a question, I confessed, “I’ve only been here for four days, and this town has become a part of my soul.”

“Truth,” I cut her off. “You think I’m teasing you about your freckles, but I fucking love them.” She sucked in a sharp breath, but I kept going. “I love how you never cover them up. I’m desperate to count every single one as I memorize your body, inch by inch.”

“Truth.”

“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. Both of them, actually.”

“Truth.” I dipped my head so that my lips brushed the shell of her ear. “Those kisses were incredible, but that hug shook me to the core.”

“If you’re not okay with me touching you, tell me now. Because once I start, I’m never gonna want to stop.”

“Look at you making messes. Not sure whether I should punish you or praise you.”

“Give me a few minutes to recover, and I promise to have you naked and on your knees, telling you what a good girl you are while my cock is stuffed so far down your throat you’re gagging.”

You jerk a guy off through his clothes one time and, all of a sudden, you’re a cum slut.

If this was how I got through to her, then so be it. “The day you walked into that Intro to Structural Design workshop, I couldn’t take my eyes off you, and I haven’t been able to stop since. You’re so fucking beautiful that there are days I wonder what kind of favors your parents had to promise God because I’ve never met another woman who has drawn my attention by simply existing.” I huffed out a wry laugh. “And for two years, I was forced to sit there, tortured that you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.”

“Stop trying to rush this. We have all night, and I intend to make the most of every second until the sun comes up.”

“You going to let me own this pussy? You going to let me be the first man to touch it, taste it, fuck it?”

“If you taste half as good as you smell, Freckles, I might have to check into rehab tomorrow. Because I’m gonna be addicted.”

“What we are about to do is a claiming. But I need you to understand that it’s not one-sided. It’ll make you mine, but at the same time, I’ll be yours. Understand?”

Now that we’d found our way together, I wasn’t going to let anything rip us apart.

“Here’s what I’ll tell you, Aspen. Last night wiped the slate clean for me. It might’ve been your only experience, but I wish more than anything it had been mine too. Because it was more than two bodies colliding with the goal of getting off; there was a connection, a merging of souls. I’ve never felt that before in my entire life, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to let it go.”

“You’ve got that right, honey. Most girls would be having a private moment in a quiet library, and I’d turn tail to avoid entangling myself in their drama. Most girls don’t make me smile by simply walking into a room. Most girls don’t know what it’s like to fall asleep in my arms. And if all of that’s not enough, most girls don’t know and probably wouldn’t like the guy I am when you strip away the wealth and connections my last name provides. You are the furthest thing from most girls, Aspen Sullivan.”

“Aspen, you are the gift.”

“You changed my life in a way I never saw coming. I don’t want to go back to being the man I was before you tore down my walls, brick by brick, and saw value in the person I hid behind them. You’re the only one I feel comfortable being my true self with, and I can trust that you’ll continue to keep me grounded.”

“You—this town—are everything I never knew I always wanted.” Voice thick with emotion, he whispered, “I’m home.”