Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Since the kiss – or before, when I first laid eyes on her – everything has been slightly Hallie-colored. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Hello,” I say, answering.
“Hi, Hayden,” she says, her voice clipped. “Sorry to call. It’s hectic here today, so I wanted a quick answer. Couldn’t wait on a text.”
A cool sense of resignation drifts through me. So this is it, then.
Janine knows something’s going on.
It’s the tightness in her voice that makes me think it. And the fact she rarely calls me.
“It’s not a problem,” I tell her. “What’s up?”
“Would you be able to swing by? I need to speak to you about something. I don’t really want to discuss it over the phone.”
I swallow, but my resolve grows harder and becomes a rock.
If this is how it has to be – if I’m forced into revealing the truth – I’ll do it with as much class and tact as I can.
And then I almost laugh.
Class and tact.
Sure, that’s me, Mr. Classy and Tactful, rubbing my best friend’s daughter’s hot, eager pussy while he sleeps upstairs.
Fuck.
“Sure,” I say after a pause. “What time?”
“Does three work for you?”
I glance at the clock. It’s midday now.
“Yes,” I tell her, though I would much prefer to go over there now, to get there as quickly as possible, so I don’t have to spend the time between thinking about it.
She further adds to my suspicions when she hangs up.
Janine is normally polite and friendly. We’ve always got on well over the years, we never had any issues.
I can’t remember a time when she’s bluntly hung up the phone like that before, but then we’ve hardly ever spoken on the phone, so how could I?
Sitting back, I warn myself to relax. I don’t know anything yet.
But what I do know is that never, not once, has Janine asked me to meet her in private without Graham there.
My phone buzzes again, a text.
From Hallie.
Are you busy?
I wonder if this is what it felt like for Graham at the beginning, that every time Janine contacted him, this fluttering of the heart, thoughts instantly birthing and spiraling into the future, into tempting dreams of what might be.
I remember how Graham used to smile every time she called him. He would wear a big grin as he quickly answered.
But I’ve never asked him if he knew straight away.
Part of me wants to ask him if he was imagining a future together this soon, but then it could lead to a conversation about Hallie.
Right now, I want to tell him. This second. Get it over with, deal with the consequences, then pursue my woman without the cloud of guilt.
But I’d never do it without my woman’s approval. I won’t make that decision for us both.
I’m supposed to be, I reply.
I was going to text Hallie this morning, but the second I thought about it, my body started responding like a true savage.
My cock is solid right away, my balls feeling like they were expanding with seed, my muscles tight.
The article isn’t going well.
It’s difficult to focus, I send, knowing she’ll understand what I mean. What about you?
It takes her only a few moments to respond. I find myself smirking, thinking of her hunched over her phone, her thumbs moving quickly, as eager as I am.
I’m video editing. Or trying to…Can you talk?
I swallow, my thoughts going to last night, to how breathy she sounded as she started to moan. Toward the end, when she was reaching her orgasm, I remember how her voice changed like she was drowning in pleasure.
She wanted me to save her, but only to throw her into that ocean of ecstasy again.
Instead of replying to the text, I click the call button.
All the while, I’m telling myself I can’t let this phone call become more.
I have to try and be strong, stand firm.
At least she’s not right in front of me, I reflect, even if it’s the thing I want most. If she were here, nothing would be able to stop me from kissing her, touching her, bringing her to another mind-blowing orgasm.
Nothing would be able to stop me from claiming my woman.
“Hey,” she says, answering the phone. “I need to tell you something.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hallie
“What’s up?” he asks.
I look around the garden, the sun shining despite the slight late-summer chill in the air. Insects buzz around, a butterfly landing on the chair across from me before quickly fluttering away.
It’s like my heart fluttering when I think about what Lila said last night…and this morning.
“Lila knows about us,” I tell him, deciding to get it out there right away.
Part of me wants to ask him outright where this is going and if it has a future, all those questions Lila raised last night. But I can’t bring myself to do it when I speak to him.