Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
“Maybe I didn’t do a good enough job.” I throw the covers over my head and slide down.
“No!” She giggles and tugs on my arms. “Get back here. Give me a few minutes to recover.”
I kiss my way up her body again and pull her against me. “Talk to me.”
She’s silent for a few minutes, but I’m patient when I need to be.
“We’ve never been away from each other for so long,” she whispers.
“That’s not true. I was at Castle Correctional for longer than two months,” I remind her. Although, comparing the reality show to the time I spent in kiddie prison isn’t exactly making me feel better about the situation I’ve put myself in.
“That was different. You didn’t have a choice then. And at least I could write you letters.” She squints at me. “Sometimes you even wrote me back.”
I squeeze her tighter. “I didn’t write much because there wasn’t anything good to share. But I loved every letter from you.”
She’s silent for a minute. “I want to support you. I do support you. I can’t help being sad, though.”
“I need to make it to the finals.” I run my hand over her hair. “But I’d really like to win. It might be enough for a down payment on a house for us and for me to buy into the garage.”
“You’re sure you want to be a mechanic more than a fighter?”
“I can’t fight forever. Not the underground fights.” One day, it might get me killed. But I don’t dare say that to Molly. “I want to have something more substantial to support you with.”
“I told you, I’ll have a decent job. It’s not all your responsibility to support us.”
I squeeze her again. “So, we’ll work at jobs we love all day long. Then come home and make love all night.”
Her soft laughter vibrates up my arms, warming my heart. “Sounds like a plan.” She nuzzles my neck, kissing me.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” I warn her.
“Who says I can’t finish?”
I run my hand under her shirt, gripping her hip. “Are you sore?”
“A little.”
I press a kiss to her forehead and snuggle her closer.
“Griff?”
“Hmm?”
“Was I…was it good for you, too?”
“How can you ask me that?” I pull away and stare at her face. “I thought I was going to blow the second I squeezed inside you.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t ever doubt that.” I kiss her cheek. “You’re exactly what I want. In every way.”
The way Molly sounds and feels when she comes is forever carved into my brain.
I’ll need to hold onto every one of those memories to survive an entire summer without her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Griff
Sweet vanilla tickles my nose. My eyes blink open. Sunlight stretches through the curtains, highlighting the empty space next to me.
“Molly?” I rasp.
Music drifts from somewhere in my apartment. Something upbeat. A clink and sizzle. Power must’ve come back on sometime in the middle of the night.
What’s Molly doing?
Why isn’t she in bed with me?
I toss the covers back, make a quick stop in the bathroom, then stumble into the kitchen. My sleepy brain slowly processes the scene in front of me. Molly’s curvy body swallowed whole in one of my T-shirts. A gadget I don’t recognize on my counter that she’s pouring batter onto. Bowls of fruit, a carton of eggs, and a box of waffle mix lined up next to where she’s working.
Molly twitches her hips in time to the music as she sprinkles blueberries onto the batter, then closes the waffle maker. A red light glows on the front, and it lets off a quick muted beep.
If this is a dream, I’d rather not wake up, but I have to ask, “Where did you find waffle supplies in my kitchen?”
Molly jumps and turns. Then the smile that sets my whole body on fire slowly spreads over her face.
“I brought them over last time I was here.” She laughs and points to the mint-green waffle maker. Steam pours out of the sides, and batter drips over the edge. “How’d you miss it?”
“Must’ve been too happy you were at my place to notice anything else.”
“Well, I knew you’d have plenty of eggs—”
I return her grin. “Eggs are nature’s—”
“Perfect protein.” She flicks her gaze to the ceiling, a teasing smile playing over her lips. “You and Remy with your eggs.”
“Hey, it’s a cheap meal.” The total from my last grocery bill flashes in front of my eyes. “Or at least it used to be.”
“Well, I brought vanilla and cinnamon last time.” She points to one of the cabinets. “And left them up there.”
“I never noticed.” I sniff the air. “Is that why it smells so good in here?”
“Yes.”
I glance at the washer/dryer combo in the corner of my kitchen. It rocks slightly and hums in a steady rhythm. “You did laundry too?”
“No choice. Our stuff was still wet and kinda smelly from sitting in the dryer all night.” She tugs the shirt away from her body. “I had a waffle maker stashed here, but no clothes.”