Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
I blamed the edible.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said after a beat.
I slowly turned to him, but he kept his eyes on the roof, his knees bent and elbows balancing on them.
“With the candles,” he clarified, still not looking at me. “I overstepped.”
I sighed, and tried once again to blame the weed when I said, “You don’t need to be sorry. It was me being a brat. You did something nice and I…”
“Didn’t know how to accept it?”
I swallowed, cracking my neck in lieu of an answer.
“I’m sorry I barged into your room and screamed at you like a psycho,” I said. “It’s just… been a weird night, I guess.”
“I kind of liked you screaming at me,” Leo said, arching a brow and finally looking at me. “It was hot.”
I tongued my cheek before shoving him hard enough to knock him down the roof if he hadn’t been braced for it. He laughed, steadying himself, and then we both fell quiet again.
“What happened?”
“Hmm?” I asked.
“You said it’s been a weird night. Why?”
I sighed at that. “Well, my parents called, which is never a good thing. And I’m pretty sure my boss hit on me tonight, so now I’m questioning if the past year of my life has been a waste.”
I chuckled with the admission, trying to make light of it, but when I looked at Leo, his expression was stone cold, jaw tense, brows in a firm line over his eyes.
“What did he do?”
I blinked, then barked out a laugh when I realized he was serious. “Calm down, Mr. Chivalrous. It wasn’t anything overt. I’m sure I’m overthinking it,” I said, even though I felt the ickiness of that lie sliding into my gut as I turned back to the garden. “And I can handle it.”
Leo didn’t seem happy with that response, but to his credit, he left it alone, brooding to himself instead of saying whatever it was he wanted to say.
”I also got a call from Margie earlier,” I said after a while.
Leo’s expression softened. “And?”
“And on top of the water issue, they found mold.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you can stay here as long as—”
“We both know this room isn’t going to be vacant for much longer,” I said, meeting his eyes.
He swallowed, not confirming but not denying, either. Fall camp would start soon for the team, which meant whoever was taking Holden’s old room would be moving in — probably within a week or two.
“It’s fine, I’ll figure something out,” I said. “Like I said, I can handle myself.”
A strong wind whipped over the top of the house and down over us, making me shiver as I tucked my knees into my chest. This was what I loved most about living in New England, how the summers could bring blistering heat but also nights that felt like fall.
“Fuck, hermosa, you’ve gotta be cold in that,” Leo said, as if he just noticed I was wearing a t-shirt. To be honest, I’d just realized I was only wearing a t-shirt, sans bra, because of course. I folded my arms over my chest in an effort to hide my piercings, though I wasn’t sure why.
Then, without another word or a chance for me to respond, Leo ripped his sweater overhead and handed it to me.
I looked at it, at him, back at the sweater, and then laughed.
“What?”
“Are you seriously offering your sweater to me right now?”
His mouth flattened. “Are you seriously being so stubborn you won’t take it even though you’re clearly freezing?”
“I’m fine,” I said, internally cursing the goosebumps that broke on my arms at the exact moment that lie found its way into the night. “And besides, it wouldn’t fit me.”
“What are you talking about?”
I gestured to my body. “Have you seen me? I’d stretch it out.”
“Shut the fuck up and put on my sweater.”
My mouth popped open. “How da—”
“Woman,” he seethed, cutting me off, and then his hand shot out and grabbed me by the wrist. He shoved my hand through one of the arm holes before doing the same to my other, all while I struggled to break free without flailing so much that I pitched myself off the roof.
When I wouldn’t sit still, he hastily yanked the thing over my head and then grabbed the neck hole and pulled me so close I could smell the sweet, heady notes of tequila on his breath when he said, “You can either wear this sweater or I’ll use it to tie you down and warm you up with my body heat, instead.”
There was a challenge in his eyes, one punctuated with that cocky smirk I hated so much. But I found it impossible to fight back with his hands on me like that, with his breath whispering over my lips.
I swallowed, shoving him away and relenting as I tugged the sweater the rest of the way on. “There. Happy?”