Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 119152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“Well, you came here to apologize, and I accept. So, go out with me.”
“How did you know I was—?”
“Were you?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“All’s forgiven. I’m between shifts. Let me take you to lunch. You can tell me how you’ve been beating yourself up since the other night.” My cock twitches at the fire brewing in her eyes. But it’s not because she’s angry. It’s because she’s been thinking about me.
“I really haven’t put much thought into it.” God, I want to put her over my knee and spank the shit out of her for fibbing. Her bottom lip disappears between her teeth, and I take a step closer, needing the space between us gone. My boots press against her heels, and her breasts barely graze my shirt as her chest expands with each quick breath she takes. “Okay, fine. Maybe I have. But only because you showed me an okay time, and I felt bad. I should have at least made you help clean up the mess we made before I kicked you out.”
My breath skates along her flushed cheek as I chuckle. “You always have something to say. Never how you truly feel. Still hiding, are we?”
Her lips part, and it takes everything in me not to kiss the shit out of her. “What are you talking about?” she asks, her voice just above a whisper.
“Tell you over lunch. Do you like Thai food? There’s a great place a block over.” I’ve never wanted to shove someone and fuck them like a crazed animal against the fire engine like I do right now. Her beautiful catlike eyes cast a spell over me, making it hard to be normal around her—to act like a gentleman when all I want to do is tear her clothes off and make her mine. “If you don’t, we can try—”
“No, Thai’s fine.”
My lips curl into a winning smile. If it weren’t for an incoming fire engine, we probably could have stood there staring all day. I excuse myself quickly and let Brady know I’m taking off for a bit and to cover me. When I return, I press my hand to her lower back and guide her to the sidewalk. We don’t talk on the walk over, but I’m fine with it. “Remember when I used to walk you home at night from the Matthews’?” I say, breaking the silence.
“I wouldn’t call it walking me home. More like tormenting me and ruining my only peace and quiet.”
I chuckle. “More like saving your ass. You shouldn’t have been walking home alone at night. Anyone could have snatched you up.”
Her shoulders slowly roll back. “Sometimes, I wish someone had.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugs. “Nothing. Just that maybe it would have been easier.”
“Oh, come on. I wasn’t that bad. If anything, you were the one with the sharper fangs.”
“I don’t mean you. Well, not really. You were a royal jerk.”
I did it to force you to open up to me. “Says the one who put crickets in my backpack without realizing it until I got to school.”
She covers her mouth to conceal her giggle. “I forgot about that. And it wasn’t actually me. That one was Hannah and Kip. Hannah wanted to put raw meat in there, but Kip caught her. Said he wasn’t a party pooper, so he jumped on board, drove us to the pet store, and bought us two dozen crickets.”
That motherfucker. “You’re kidding me?”
“Nope,” she snickers. “Made us both swear to take it to our grave that he was never involved.”
“That asshole told me he was going to make you pay for that shit.”
“More like came home and gave us his pool day. Said he’d never laughed so hard than when you opened your bag and shrieked like a little girl when they started jumping out.”
It all makes sense now. Only Kip knew I was deathly afraid of crickets. Some people had phobias of water or giant snakes. Mine was goddamn crickets. “He’s gonna pay for this.”
“Oh, let it be. It was over fifteen years ago. Plus, he was just trying to help.”
“Help me shit my pants in public? One jumped out and stuck to my face!” She almost trips while laughing. I grab her arm to steady her. “And how was he helping? That shit gave me nightmares for months.”
She wipes the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Just Kip being Kip. Always wanted to bring happiness to people when they needed it. Is this it?”
She cuts the conversation short, stopping at the neon sign. I want to drill her more. Why would Kip think she needed happiness? Did he know her secrets? I spent those last couple of months fighting to get past that damn layer, and he already knew?
“Smells good. Are you going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to treat me to lunch? I would have never agreed if food wasn’t involved.”