Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“Exactly.” Rocco grinned. “And then we can tell Mayor Hamilton to kiss our fucking asses.”
“Pretty sure G beat us to it.”
“It never hurts to remind these assholes who’s really in charge.”
I couldn’t argue there. We were silent for a while before he spoke again.
“I went by the location we talked about the other night.”
“And?” I glanced over at him.
“I think we should do it.”
I smiled. “Good.”
We’d been talking about opening up a secret bar for a while now. The kind that you needed to pay a membership fee and use a password to get in. I’d been on board from the beginning. The other guys agreed to pitch in as well, but Rocco was still thinking about it, mostly because he’d be the primary owner. I’d help, of course, but the space was owned by his father, and following his death, by him and Mikey. Mikey agreed from the get-go to sign over the property. He said he’d go have drinks when we opened up, but he wanted no part in the actual business. Their father used it as a meet-up for him and the old bosses. It was meant to be handed down to us for the same purpose, but because everyone knew about the location, we’d moved our meetings elsewhere. Because of the reputation built around the original location, we knew that we’d get enough memberships within the first five minutes of launching the website to pay for the renovations it needed. It helped that we had tour buses pointing out the location and adding to its mystique.
I looked outside and thought about Rosie again, wishing like hell that I could turn this car around. I’d get out, walk into that place, and pull her to dance with me. I wasn’t much of a dancer, but for her, I’d dance to anything. Everything. After the other night, I’d been trying not to think too much about the future. Whenever I did, I felt like I was slowly losing her, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with myself if she really walked away from me.
24
ROSIE
I remembered the moment I felt myself drifting into sleep but made no move to go to the room. Part of me wanted to catch a glimpse of Dominic, but the main reason I stayed on the couch is that I was really, really exhausted. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sleeping before I felt myself being scooped up off the couch. My eyes popped open and suddenly Dominic’s face was right beside mine. I shut my eyes again as I held onto his neck and set my cheek against his beating heart. I could’ve sworn he kissed my head as he walked upstairs, but I doubted it. I was sure he was still mad at me for the other night. He probably hated me and wanted me out of this place but was tolerating me for the sake of the promise he’d made his brother. I hated that thought more than anything. When he stopped in front of the guest bedroom, I tightened my grip around his neck. He pulled back and looked at me, questioning.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?”
He stared at me for so long, I was sure he’d say no. So many thoughts had muddled my mind since the other night, and at the forefront, the fact that we’d never even kissed. We’d had amazing sex. He’d kissed my entire body, but never my mouth, and even though I hadn’t kissed anyone in well over a year, it was just as well since the only man who’d been all up in my business for the last year was Anthony, and the thought of his mouth anywhere on me made me want to vomit. No kissing never bothered me, but for some wild reason, I wanted to be kissed by Dominic. He didn’t say a word, but after a long, silent moment, he continued to his room, shut the door behind him with his foot, walked over to the bed, pulled the comforter back, and set me down on the right side of it. I pulled the comforter over myself as he walked away and settled into the pillow.
He disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I heard the water switch on in the shower and felt myself drift into sleep again. When the bed dipped beside me, I opened my eyes again. He’d switched the television on but had it muted. When I turned on my side, I found him already turned to his, watching me. My pulse raced at the sight of him. I didn’t understand why I felt nervous suddenly. Maybe deep down, I knew whatever happened next would make or break whatever this thing was between us, and even though I knew it was a terrible idea and definitely not something I could do long-term, I didn’t want it to end just yet.