Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“What’s wrong with the art?” I asked, glancing around. Granted, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. I’d found the prints at some shop I’d popped into for paint. They, you know, matched the decor. That was all the thought that went into it.
“It’s bad, man,” he said, shaking his head at me. “I knew guys on the inside who did better work with pencils down to the nub on the backs of letters from their families.”
“Feel free to put something better up while you’re here.”
“While I’m here?” Bass asked. “This place is mine.”
“Where the fuck am I going?” I asked.
“I give it six months, ten max.”
“Until what?”
“You’re condo-hunting. Something with a few extra bedrooms. Bigger kitchen. His-and-hers closets…”
“It’s not like that,” I insisted, but even I heard the lack of emphasis in my voice.
“Sure sure. Out of curiosity,” he said, shooting me a smile, “did Renzo, Dav, and Elian say the same thing when they were in your shoes?”
“None of them were in my shoes. Renzo was securing a truce.”
“But fell in love with his wife.”
“Dav has always had this weird will-they-won’t-they with Cinna.”
“And then the two fully fell in love and are raising their teenagers together.”
“Elian, well, Elian always wanted a wife and kids. So that wasn’t surprising at all.”
“Let me ask you something,” Bass said, leaning forward so his forearms were on his thighs.
“Alright…”
“What the fuck makes you think you’re so different?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“All your closest friends, guys you see as family, they’re all settled down and it’s good for them, right?”
“Yeah.”
“The fuck makes you so different?” he asked, then got to his feet and walked off to his room.
Well, that wasn’t nearly as distracting as I would have liked.
Though, he did have a point, didn’t he?
Why did I think I couldn’t have what Renzo, Dav, and Elian had? If it was just because I never saw myself settling down, then I only needed to look at work-obsessed Renzo or only-down-for-a-fuck Dav to see that not looking for it didn’t mean you couldn’t latch onto it when it came your way.
Yeah, the one difference was that Kick was working for me. But it wasn’t like this was some dream job of hers that, if things got weird, she would feel really depressed to leave. It was just a way to pay bills. If things didn’t work out, she could find another job. Or, hell, keep working for me.
Why was I trying so hard to make it be a one-time thing? When, clearly, I wanted more than that.
Suddenly, I wished I’d stayed the night.
I imagined Kick would wake up—for her sake, hopefully after many hours of sleep—to find me gone. Then she’d likely sweat it for the whole morning, wondering if it was going to be awkward to come in to work. Maybe not coming in at all.
My gut twisted at that.
But, hell, if she decided not to show, I knew where to find her. I could track her down, tell her I was being a fucking idiot, and that I wanted to give this thing between us a chance.
Chance for what, I honestly didn’t know.
All I did know was that I liked what we had going on. And I wasn’t ready to let it go yet.
Even with that plan in play, though, I barely got any sleep myself. Then, deciding it was useless to keep trying, I got myself showered and dressed and dragged my ass in to work.
Where I drank too much coffee and kept checking to see if Kick had shown up yet. When she finally did, it was one minute before her shift started, and there was already a line around the block. Everyone wanted to order their meat for the holidays coming up. So it was impossible to try to catch her alone to talk to her.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t look at her, though.
And she looked better.
Sleep had done wonders for the dark circles and bags under her eyes. Her eyes were brighter. Even her skin looked more glowing. Though, whether that was sleep or orgasms was anyone’s guess.
“Kick,” I called after the worst of the rush had finally slowed down. “Can I see you for a minute?” I asked.
That, of course, got a chorus of Ooohs and Uh-ohs from her coworkers as she gave me a tight nod before following me silently back into my office.
“Look, we don’t have to talk about—“ she started, gaze averted.
“Good,” I cut her off, grabbing the back of her neck. “Because I really didn’t have talking in mind.” Then my lips were on hers.
Fine, I had.
But then there she was.
And all my thoughts flew out of my head.
All the tension that had worked its way into Kick’s shoulders on the walk back to my office left her body in a rush as she melted into me.