Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“I haven’t forgotten.” I’ll never forget. “I just didn’t need them anymore.”
“Why?” His question this time around is loud enough for three blocks over to hear.
After silently warning him to shut his trap before I shut it for him, I murmur, “If you don’t get to come, I don’t get to come.”
“Jessie…” I can’t do nicknames when I’m happy. They make me horny. “Fuck. We need to—”
“Fuck. That’s what we need to do. We need to fuck, Caleb. That’s it. That is all we need to do. Then I can prove whatever you think you see when you look at me isn’t true.”
My words shock Caleb but not enough for him not to keep his head screwed on straight. “We need to talk. We need to…” His words trial off when I remove the chips from his lap so I can use his thighs as a seat. “Jesus—”
“Nuh-uh,” I interrupt as my hands move for the buttons on my dress. “There are far more creative words for you to use than that.”
My boldness gets a boost when the quickest flash of the lacy material of my bra secures his attention, he groans, then bites on his lower lip before dropping his eyes to my now-exposed cleavage.
I give him a couple of seconds to drink in the splendor before asking, “What do you see?”
“I see tits. Really fucking nice tits,” he murmurs on a groan, his hips naturally rocking.
His eyes snap to mine when I ask, “And?”
His lust-filled yet still-sheltered eyes bounce between mine for several long seconds before he eventually murmurs, “You, Jessie. I see you.”
I think I’ve hit the jackpot, then the world is pulled out from beneath me.
“But…”
The pain his eyes forever hold is brighter than lust, and they tell me this ‘but’ has nothing to do with the rowdy chants coming from the street below.
“I can’t.” Caleb removes me from his lap and places me back onto my side of the outdoor sofa before muttering, “I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
I hide the quiver of my jaw by faintly bobbing my head before shifting my focus to a rowdy group of college students milling on the sidewalk. One of the frat houses must be hosting a themed party because the group is wearing a range of church-related clothes—slutty nuns, naughty angels, and even one of the guys is dressed as a priest.
Air rushes from my lungs when the truth smacks into me. A priest.
My neck snaps to the side so fast I mentally book an appointment with my chiropractor, but regretfully, I’m too late.
Caleb has already fled.
CHAPTER 36
CALEB
“I thought the bathroom was a no-go zone?” Since my heart is as pissed as my cock about my cowardly exit from Jess’s apartment last night, my question comes out rougher than intended. Despite being locked out of my apartment for hours and only gaining access when I scaled the fire escape on the balcony, I’m not angry at Octavia. I’m mad at myself.
I wasn’t lying last night when I said all I could see was Jess.
She was right there, ready for the taking, then I glanced over her shoulder to make sure I was the only one witnessing the splendor of her gorgeous tits, and it all came tumbling down.
One glance at a white collar and the truth smacked into me all over again.
Her father is a priest.
I don’t think that’s something I will ever get over.
Guilt mars Octavia's face as she steps closer to me, but it’s hard to see past her happiness. “It is.”
“Then why did it reek of raunchy sex this morning?”
Like a missile honing in on its target, Octavia’s eyes dilate during my confession that I didn’t return home until this morning. “You first,” I demand since I need time to formulate a response to my fucked-up head’s way of thinking. “From what Jess told me last night, you had some pompous event to attend with stiffs in suits yesterday, yet here you are, looking like you hit the jackpot only hours later.”
She swivels on the spot like she didn’t just use the bathroom. “I did have a pompous event to attend… but not everyone there was a stiff in a suit.”
“It wasn’t Roach from advertising, was it?”
“No.” Her gag is authentic enough for me to step to the side “He’s called Roach for a reason.” She pokes me in the stomach to soften the lines grooved between my brows before asking, “And when have your dates with Jess been an overnight affair? You usually have her tucked in bed by ten o’clock.”
“Don’t even go there, Tivy. That’s not a conversation we’re going to have this week much less after realizing there’s a partially naked man in your room.” Desperate to bury my shameful head into my pillow, I saunter back to my bed while saying, “Keep your theatrics out of the bathroom.” It took me almost an hour to use the bathroom last night, and only a small portion of that issue was the fake rosary beads wrapped around a college boy’s hand. “Every other piece of furniture is up for negotiation, but not the one place we’re meant to get clean of controversy.”