Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
"Yes," she whispers against my lips.
Her affirmation sends another bolt of desire through me. I kiss her again, unable to stop myself.
"I'll never get tired of you," I tell her a few minutes later, breaking away from her lips. "But you won't have to stalk me. I'll be so busy following you around that you'll never have to wonder what I'm doing."
"I'm okay with that plan," she says with another happy smile reflecting in her eyes.
I'm still staring at her with a goofy grin on my face when Titan opens the front door a few minutes later and stalks inside. He peeks over at us, grunts, and then shakes his head before slamming the door.
January crawls off my lap and settles beside me.
"Hey, stranger," she says to her brother. "Guess what?"
"What?" he demands, not even looking at her.
I grit my teeth when January visibly shrinks at his annoyed tone.
"I got good news today," she says, trying to draw him into a conversation with her.
"That's nice." He rips his shirt off over his head and tosses it toward the laundry room. He toes his boots off and leaves them in front of the door. "I gotta get a shower. I'm late."
"I got into UCLA," January whispers. Her happy smile is long gone now, replaced by sadness.
I wrap my arm around her, trying to offer her a little strength. What I really want to do is knock Titan to the floor and kick his ass for upsetting her.
He freezes halfway across the living room. He stands so still I'm not even sure he's breathing. A cloud passes through his expression before he blinks it away, slamming a disinterested mask into place. "Congrats, kid," he mumbles after a minute. "Glad you got what you wanted."
January sighs sadly when he takes off toward his room. She ducks her head, hiding her face behind her hair. "I used to think I missed him when we were little, and he was chasing after Mandy," she whispers, a sad tremor in her voice. "But now I wish we were back there. At least then, he still talked to me, even if it was just to be mean to me. He barely speaks to me at all now. I hate it."
"I'll talk to him," I promise, pissed that his attitude ruined something so big for her. She doesn't deserve that, especially not from him. He's been her hero since she was a baby. Maybe he's okay with breaking her heart because he thinks she's going to leave him behind, but I'm not. She deserves better from him.
"It's okay," she lies, offering me a sad smile. "At least you're happy for me. I know my mom will be too."
When Jana gets home an hour later, she's just as excited as January said she would be. The two of them disappear into the kitchen to cook January's favorite foods. Jana doesn't even ask if I'm staying. She already knows I'm not going to pass up her cooking. She's not home to do it much, but she is an incredible cook.
"I'll be right back," I tell January, following her into the kitchen to kiss her on the cheek. "I've gotta run an errand."
"You want me to come with you?"
"No, baby girl. Stay and help your mom. I'll be back soon," I promise, brushing my lips across her forehead.
"Okay." She smiles up at me.
I tug on a strand of her hair, grin at Jana, and then head outside. Titan left fifteen minutes before Jana got home, but there aren't too many places he'd be going. He's a creature of habit, preferring to stick close to home, to places he knows and places that know him. In neighborhoods like ours, you learn pretty quickly that wandering too far has repercussions. Kaleo's gang isn't the only crew working South Central. Not even close. His is the closest to our block but not the most dangerous by any means.
I hop in my car and start driving around to all the places Titan could be hiding out. My stomach sinks when I see that someone from our crew spray-painted Kratos, a Greek word for strength, across a street sign at the end of the block, claiming this territory as ours. Seeing it there has me clenching my jaw as anger courses through me. We don't deface or vandalize our property to declare it ours. This area is ours to protect, not to destroy.
Whoever did it will be cleaning that shit up as soon as I find out who it was.
It takes half an hour to check all of Titan's usual haunts, but he's nowhere to be found.
Concern whispers through me.
What is he doing?
I grit my teeth and start toward Kaleo's territory, ice growing in my veins the closer I get. I tell myself over and over there's no way he'd be over here. He hates Kaleo as much as I do.