Winter Untold (Summer Unplugged) Read Free

are numb and my neck hurts from my strained position of hovering over him, I relax and rest my head on his chest. “I miss you more every time I see you.”
    He sighs. “I know the feeling.”
    He turns to face me, gripping my cheek in his hand. His eyes trail from my eyes to my lips and back up again. “You look ridiculously beautiful today,” he says, ending his compliment with a light kiss on my forehead.
    I smile and stare into his bloodshot eyes. Now that I’m paying attention to him up close, it looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
    “No offence babe but you look like shit.”
    He laughs. “I’d say I feel like shit, but seeing you makes up for it.”
    “Were you really busy in Anaheim?” I ask.
    He nods. “You have no idea. I spent hours on the track and when I finally finished with lessons, some Team Yamaha high roller would take me to dinner and expect me to drive their drunk ass home at midnight. The best sleep I had all week was on the plane ride here.”
    I snuggle up closer to him. “I’m sorry. Let’s take a nap.”
    “Sounds like a great idea.” Jace stretches out his arms and relaxes on my bed. He winces in pain and then lifts up on his side and shoves his hand in his pocket. “Forgot about this.” He hands me a round metal magnet, pink with glitter encased in resin. It says Hollywood Princess with a rhinestone crown on top.
    “ Nice,” I tell him as I take the magnet and place it on my nightstand.
    Jace closes his eyes and buries his head into my pillow. “I know you’re not big on princesses,” he mumbles, wrapping his fingers around mine, “But you love glitter and pink…” His voice trails off and becomes a wave of steady breathing as he falls asleep.
    It’s only seven in the evening and I’m not even a little bit tired but I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of him. I’d rather go to see a movie or get ice cream or just sit around and watch TV, but if the only quality time I can get with him between his business trips involves sleeping, I’ll take it.
     
    Jace’s iPhone has an alarm ring that could wake the dead. The sound of it, going off at four-fifteen in the morning, startles me out of my dreams. Jace doesn’t budge. I shake him a little bit, hoping he’ll wake up from his deep sleep and turn off the freaking alarm. The sound blares from his pocket so I reach inside and run my fingers over the phone until it finally shuts off.
    Jace yawns. “What’s going on?”
    “Your alarm just went off.”
    He opens his eyes, blinking a few times. “It did?”
    I roll my eyes and lay back down. “You were sleeping like a freaking zombie. That thing was loud. I bet it woke up the whole house.”
    He stretches out his arm and wraps it around my shoulders. “Sorry, babe. Guess I was passed out.”
    I tilt my head up for a kiss and Jace kisses me back but doesn’t pursue it much farther than a quick peck on my forehead. Which I guess is fine because I’m sure we both have morning breath. That logic doesn’t stop me from getting my feelings a little hurt.
    The hurt feelings only intensifies when Jace stands up a few minutes later, running his hands over his clothes and then through his hair. He checks the time on his phone and then glances at me, sliding his lips to the side. “ Whelp, I’m out of here.”
    I practically jump off my bed. “What? It’s four-thirty in the morning!”
    “And I have a six a.m. flight to catch,” he says with a frown that looks a little bit forced.
    I feel like stomping my feel like a child but I hold back my bratty behavior just enough to say, “Why did you bother coming here if you could only stay a few hours?”
    “Because I had a few hours. Why wouldn’t I spend them with you?”
    Damn him. Always saying the right thing when all I want to do is be mad at him.
    His arms slide around my waist a second later, warm and strong as they pull me close. He rests his chin on top of my head and I close my eyes, pretending that just for a few