Read Online Driving Me Mad by Lindsay Paige - Free Book Online Page A

disturbs me even more is Trace. He’s quiet, lost in his own
head, and most likely, he’s still worrying. So far, with this thing
we have going on, he’s never really pulled away from me. Although,
the opportunity hasn’t been there before either. That scares the
hell out of me. He’s my rock, always has been. How am I supposed to
stay steady and strong with him cracking?
    When we walk outside and he
goes to open the passenger door for me, I stop him. “Trace,” I
start, but no other words come.
    He sighs. The cold air is
making his breath visible. “I know, Britt. I know.” He pulls me
against him and wraps his arms around me. I’m glad he knows because
I sure don’t. My head rests on his chest, my arms firmly around
him, and I relish in the feel of his big, strong, sturdy body. We
stand there in silence for about a minute. “It’s going to be hard,
you know.”
    “Why?” Why does it have to be
hard? Why does everything have to be so damn hard all the
damn time ?
    “Because we’re both not quite
sane,” he says with a half-sigh and half-serious tone.
    I can’t help it; I laugh. I
turn my face inward to press my forehead against his jacket, and I
can’t stop freaking giggling. We’re not crazy; but he’s right.
We’re not quite sane either. With a large smile, I tilt my head
back to see Trace with one of his own.
    His head dips down and I lean
up on my tiptoes to at least try to meet him halfway. A flutter of
disappointment hits me when he only rests his forehead against
mine.
    “In a way, it’s a good
thing,” he adds.
    “It is?”
    “Yep. All the good stuff
never comes easy.”
    “But we will get to the good
stuff, right?”
    “We will,” he confirms.
    “Can we go ahead and get some
of the good stuff now? Like, say, a kiss, for example?” I grin.
    Trace grins, too, but he
doesn’t kiss me yet. “You could take a kiss,” he tells me.
    “Yeah, but I want you to give
it to me.” It hits me then just how much I want him to give me. I
want him to give me peace, comfort, his time, friendship, and
something more than friendship. I don’t want to take it. It’s so
much sweeter when he wants to give it to me. I take enough from him
during my moments of panic and depression.
    He studies me for a moment.
Then, he presses those lips to mine. It’s slow, reassuring almost.
There’s strength in the movements of his mouth and tongue. It’s a
leisurely kind of kiss that could go on for days while nursing the
growing and scorching fire between us. I lift higher on my toes, my
arms going around his neck as I try to meld him against me and
deepen the kiss, nipping on his lower lip. He groans low into my
mouth. Maybe I can take from him after all.
    Or not.
    Trace’s hold tightens, and he
places open-mouthed kisses along my jaw and down my neck. It’s such
a stark contrast between the cold air and then his hot mouth.
Making out in the winter has more perks than I realized. I don’t
know if I’m freezing or too warm.
    “Trace,” I breathe, thankful
for his hold because my entire body feels so light and
overwhelmed.
    “One more,” he mumbles before
taking my mouth again. I can barely breathe for how consuming and
demanding he is. When he pulls away, it takes everything I have not
to gasp for air with my already labored breathing. “Sure you want
to go back to campus?” I open my mouth to say no. Wait, yes. Yes, I
need to go back to campus. I have homework. Trace doesn’t give me
the chance to argue that point. “You can do it at my house and
spend tomorrow with me.”
    It’s tempting. Damn it all
to hell, it’s tempting. Trace, in and of himself, is a comfort.
I can relax just a little more when he’s around. I don’t have to
think so much if he’s there to distract me. Maybe it wouldn’t be so
terrible to stay again. I can definitely do my homework there just
as well as I can on campus.
    “Okay,” I give in, causing
Trace to steal my breath away with his grin.
    It’s not until after