Page 16 of The Cheerleader is Off Limits

“I am seventeen years older than you.”Nineteen.I correct myself in my mind and blanche at the thought of deceiving him about that. “I told myself no more women in their early twenties. We just want different things. The nights are fun, but I want more, and I know you don’t want what I want.”

“Three to four kids and a house in the suburbs?” I joke.

“You’re not ready for that, and hell, I don’t know if I am either.”

“Then how about we just have some fun in the meantime?” I trace my finger along his skin, barely grazing it with the tip of my nail along the lines of his tattoos. His eyes drop to my finger and then lazily move up to my eyes.

A tiny smile finds his face. “Don’t you want to have fun with someone your own age?” His voice is deep but raspier like fatigue is catching up with him, and I can tell he’s fading fast.

“Why should I?Youclearly don’t.” I snort, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Yeah, but I’m trying to do better. You’re closer to my niece’s age, and apparently that makes me kind of a creep.” He rubs a hand over his face. “I’m not good for you, Sloane.” His eyes flutter closed, and just as we level off, I think he’s asleep.

Not wanting to give up on the idea that I’ll see this man again after tonight, I grab my backpack that I’d slid under the seat in front of me and pull out a notebook, ripping out a piece of paper.

If you ever change your mind

Xo, Sloane

I jot down my phone number and lean forward, sliding it into his backpack in front of him, hoping that when he finds it, he’ll change his mind.

CHAPTER 4

RIVER

I’m jostled awake by the wheels hitting the ground, and I realize that not only have we landed but I’ve been asleep for the entire flight, making me wonder just how strong those edibles are, because I rarely sleep on flights. I rub my neck and turn my attention to Sloane immediately and notice she’s reading on her phone. She must feel my gaze on her because she looks up at me and gives me a sweet smile. “Have a nice nap?”

“I do not remember falling asleep. I’m sorry. I hope we weren’t in the middle of a conversation?” I vaguely remember something about three kids, but I’m struggling to remember what came after that.

Fuck, I’m never this disoriented. I guess it's been a while, and I am definitely not in my twenties or even early thirties anymore.

She tilts her head to the side, and a smirk pulls at her lips. “Something about wanting to see me again, but I’m too young for you,” she tells me as we slowly taxi toward our gate.

A nervous laugh comes out of me that I wasn’t expecting because I’m rarely at a loss for words when it comes to women.Hell, anyone.And I’ve got nothing. I don’t say anything while wedeplane and it isn’t until I notice her walking away from me that I decide to say something.

“Do you have someone picking you up?”

“My cousin and probably my aunt.” She nods. “It was nice meeting you, River. Who knows, maybe we’ll cross paths again when I’m older.” She giggles, and I mentally curse my sister-in-law for convincing me that I’m too old for a woman in her twenties,I know, very early twenties,who is clearly interested.

“What’s your last name?” I ask her, and when she raises a suspicious eyebrow at me, I immediately add, “You know mine.”

“Hunter,” she says just as we make it to the luggage carousel.

“Well, Sloane Hunter, I don’t have any luggage to grab, but I don’t want to leave you until you’re with your family—” I start when she cuts me off.

“Oh my God, I’m fine. Plus, I don’t need to explain to my family who you are because we’re never going to see each other again,” she says, and while I know I initiated that, I actually hate the thought of it now.

“Right,” I tell her.

Ask her for her number.The part of my subconscious controlled by my dick practically screams at me.

She picks up her phone without another word. “Hi, are you guys here?” she asks whoever is on the other line. She gives me a smile and a wave, and I realize that I’m actually being dismissed. I’m irritated as hell that I’m still feeling the effects of the marijuana because I am normally much smoother at all of this, and under normal circumstances, I would have found a way to get her number even after I told her she was too young for me. I begin to walk away from her, glancing over my shoulder once before walking out of the airport and toward the rideshare area.

“Uncle River!!!” I hear squealing the second I walk through the door, and then Isla is barreling toward me in what looks like her pajamas, but I’m thrown off by the bright pink tutu and tiara she's wearing with it.

I drop to one knee to greet her, and she wraps her arms around me tight and squeezes. That familiar feeling begins to claw at me: this is what I want. Children of my own who are always this excited to see me when I get home. “You are up late, Isles,” I say in shock, because it was almost ten thirty and I’ve never known her to be up this late. I straighten her slightly tilted tiara and press a kiss to her forehead.

“It’s summertime!” she says as she lets me go and begins skipping toward the kitchen like she’s got all the energy in the world and not like it’s almost two hours past her bedtime. I follow her and see Rowan sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, his laptop open. My brother is a lawyer at a large firm in DC, so I’m not surprised that he’s working at ten thirty on a Sunday, but I am surprised he’s not holed up in his office.