Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty-Two
Parker
I wake up to a picture of the sun rising over the ocean—not out my window. I just missed it there. But Javi took a picture of it. He must have been on the beach early this morning, so he sent me the beautiful picture without a single word.
Peace fills me at the sight of it. I don’t know if it’s the picture so much as the message. The fact that he was thinking of me practically as soon as his eyes opened.
I was thinking of him until I went to sleep. I didn’t message him because I wasn’t sure of the dating rules. I thought about googling them, but I know it won’t be that simple. I don’t care about following rules for the sake of following rules, but rules usually exist for a reason. In this case, I imagine any particular rule I might follow would have more to do with not coming on too strong too fast and scaring him off. After all, I don’t know him well yet, so I don’t know how he operates.
“That’s so pretty. Thanks for sharing,” I text as soon as I wake up.
I lie there with my phone on my chest for a few minutes before he responds. “You finally wake up, bookworm?”
My stupid, impossible to tame smile immediately emerges. “Yeah, I know, I’m such a slacker. Didn’t even start my day on the beach.”
“Lame.”
“Do you live by the beach?”
“Yeah, pretty close. Sometimes I like to come down here for a morning run.”
“Oooh. I only run if something is chasing me.”
“Noted,” he replies with a wink. “You get chased often?”
More often than you’d expect.
Along with that sobering thought of my own evil stepbrother, I get an actual wake-up call. My phone alarm goes off. I silence it quickly, but that means it’s time to start getting ready for another day of school.
I put my phone down and stretch, then, reluctantly, pull myself from the comfy sanctuary of bed.
“I don’t want to wake up,” I text Javi. “Are you a morning person?”
“Nah, I just don’t sleep much. I stay up late, too.”
“That’s not healthy.”
“The run makes up for it,” he teases.
I laugh, walking into my bathroom. “No, it does not.”
My phone lights up again when I’m brushing my teeth. “You know, I sent you a picture of my view…”
“Mine’s nothing to get excited about,” I assure him. “I’m brushing my teeth.”
“Maybe I’m really into teeth.”
I laugh again, then decide what the hell. I am certain whatever introductory dating rules exist, this violates each and every one of them, but I aim my phone at the mirror and take the least sexy picture of myself ever: me literally brushing my teeth. I shake my head at the dumb picture, but I push send before I can overthink it.
“Sexy, right?” I joke.
“I can think of a few other things I’d like to put in that mouth.”
My stomach drops, but it’s more with excitement than fear—which is a nice change. “A few? How many dicks do you have?”
“Four. I hope that’s not a dealbreaker.”
I shake my head, sighing once I’m done laughing as I rinse out my toothbrush. I expected Javi would be smart and funny from the few interactions we’ve had, but I think he’s even better than I thought he’d be.
I’m light as a cloud as I float downstairs. Smiling is so easy, I can’t really stop.
It would be nice if Mom were in the kitchen when I get there so she could witness me being so happy, but she must still be upstairs getting ready. I am downstairs a little earlier than usual since I woke up before my alarm and I was extra energized from texting Javi.
Speaking of…
Since I’m the only one in the kitchen, I sit down at the island counter and drop my backpack on the floor by my feet. I pull out my phone and open my text with Javi, smiling fondly at the text on the screen. I start to type out another message, but before I can finish it, Landon appears so close behind me, I can feel the heat rolling off his chest when he leans in to whisper, “Who are you texting?”
Fear jumpstarts my heart. I drop the phone, startled, then fumble to pick it back up and darken the screen before he can see. “What? No one. Nothing. Hannah. Mind your business,” I blurt, feeling heat explode beneath my skin.
Landon looks at me oddly, his dark brows pulled together as he drops onto the seat beside me. “Yeah, that sounded like the truth.”
I glare at him and shove my phone into my backpack. “It’s none of your business who I’m texting. Nothing I do is any of your business.”
He shrugs. “Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”
I roll my eyes, utterly uninterested in his bullshit. I’m not going to sit here at the counter with him, though, so I get up and start making myself a smoothie.