Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
When I reached the end of the hallway, I peeked around the corner and spotted Ghost sitting at one of the large tables with a stack of cards in his hand. Around him were Goose and several of the guys, along with Bridget and a few club girls. The girls were draped over the guys with loose smiles and glittering eyes, and they were clearly having a good time.
Sadie, one of the younger club girls, let out a high-pitched squeal as she leaned against Ghost and checked out his cards. Her fingers traced the ink on his arm, but he didn’t seem to notice her touch. In fact, he didn’t seem to notice her at all. His focus was more on the play he was about to make, but seeing the way she was pawing all over him made my stomach turn.
I had no idea why it bothered me so much. I had no claim to Ghost. We weren’t a thing—not even slightly, but there was something about seeing the girls flirt with him that got to me.
I watched as Ghost lifted his shot glass and quickly downed it. He immediately reached for the bottle and had just started to pour them another round when Bella, another one of the club girls, wound her arm around his neck, giggling flirtatiously as she whispered something in his ear. The sight had my entire body humming with a mix of anger and jealousy and hurt.
I’d seen enough.
I needed to get the hell out of there.
And I planned to do exactly that, but when I turned, I tripped over my own two feet and almost fell flat on my face. My stumble caught the attention of Goose. He was all smiles as he called out, “Hey! It’s Whitney!”
“Hey,” I muttered, quickly adjusting my stance.
“Come play a round with us.”
Bella was practically glued to Ghost when his eyes locked on mine. He held my gaze until I said, “I’m good. You guys have fun.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Ghost pushed Bella to the side and stood. “Hey! Whitney! Hold up!”
I didn’t want to talk to him, so I hurried back to my room. I could hear him calling out to me, but I didn’t stop. I just kept going, and as soon as I reached my door, I opened it and slipped inside, praying that he would take the hint and go away.
He didn’t.
“Whitney,” he whispered. “Open the door.”
I didn’t answer, but sadly, that didn’t stop him.
“I’m not leaving,” he warned. “Whitney, open the door.”
Again, I remained silent.
“I know Toby’s asleep. I don’t want to wake him, but...”
With that, I swung the door open and stepped out into the hall. Trying my best to seem unbothered, I forced a smile and said, “What?”
“You okay?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. You just seemed kind of upset back there.”
“Nope. I was just fine.”
“You sure about that?” he pushed. “’Cause if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were pretty bothered. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were still pretty bothered.”
I pressed my lips together as I mumbled, “Nnn-nope. I’m juuu-st fine.”
“You’re mad,” he continued like I hadn’t said a word. “But what do you have to be mad about?”
“I’m not mad.”
“The girls? Were you mad that they were hanging out with us? Ah, damn. Were you jealous?”
“Of course not.”
“I don’t know. I think maybe you were.”
“Well, I think you had one too many shots.”
“Baby, I could’ve had that entire fifth and could still see that fire in your eyes.”
He was right.
I was a little jealous that he was with the women.
But there was no way I was going to let him know that. “You need to stop.”
“I will as soon as you admit it.”
“There’s nothing to admit.” I eased my door open and started back into the room. “I’m going to bed.”
“Hold up.” He reached for the door, blocking me from closing it. “Just so we’re clear, you got nothing to be jealous about. We were just playing cards. None of us were looking for anything to happen, especially me.”
“Thanks for clearing that up.” I tried pushing the door closed, but Ghost held it open. “Goodnight, Ghost.”
He moved his hand, but he didn’t leave.
He just stood there, staring at me with that sexy little smirk as I closed the door.
Damn.
Ghost
“I talked to Antonia.”
“And?”
“She was pretty torn up,” Memphis answered. “You know how she loves Mom. It got her all torn up to hear about her losing the house. It was even harder knowing that her father was the reason she’d lost it. She feels all kinds of guilty about it.”
Preacher folded his arms with a scowl. “But it didn’t have anything to do with her.”
“I know that. You know that. And I think deep down she knows that, but the guilt is still there.”