Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. That made it impossible to be annoyed with him. I hugged him back.
I’d struggled with seeing him after Crosby’s death. Although it had always been the four of us—me, Gathe, Than, and Crosby—Than had been Crosby’s best friend. Gathe had been mine. Was mine. Seeing Than now reminded me of Crosby, but not the bad stuff. He reminded me of the good times. The ones when it had been all of us against the world. Before I had changed. Become someone I thought Crosby wanted. Tried to be perfect for him. Not caring about what it was that I wanted.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “My music was too loud. I didn’t hear my phone.”
He released me and looked at the building behind me. “Seems it survived just fine. The windows held up well. The roof was what I wasn’t sure about.”
“Father Jude put her in a closet with him, so she was extra safe,” Gathe said.
Than raised his eyebrows as he looked down at me. “Smart. Add Jesus for extra security.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, Jesus, nor God, was in there with them,” Gathe said. “I’m one hundred percent sure our Princess has led the man of God to sin.”
“Well, damn,” Than muttered.
Shoving away from him, annoyed once again, I stalked over to the Hummer. “Does anyone know where my car is?” I asked before climbing into the back seat. I refused to ride with Gathe.
“Down in front of the Baptist church,” Linc replied. “I’m guessing it’s totaled.”
I sighed heavily, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back on the seat while staring over at the church. Either I had to draw a line with Jude or accept this was always going to happen. He was going to shut me out. No matter what he said in the heat of the moment, he wouldn’t feel the same when it was over.
“Forgot your purse, computer, and phone,” Than said, sliding them inside on the seat.
“Thanks,” I replied, pulling them toward me.
“Why are you pouting?” Luther asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror. “The Bentley is insured. You get to pick out a new car.”
I shook my head and said nothing. The fact that he thought I was upset over my car just proved how shallow they all thought I was. Jude didn’t see me that way. I was different with him. I felt…alive.
If only being with me didn’t leave him feeling as if he had fallen from grace.
Eighteen
Jude
It could have been worse. The damage to the church had was nothing compared to some of the businesses that were completely destroyed. The rec hall would be closed down until the roof could be replaced and the water damage inside was fixed. We could work around it easily enough. The broken bathroom window in the rectory had already been replaced, and I’d cleaned up the glass, limbs, and trash that had blown inside the bathroom. If the tornado had moved over just a few more yards, the small house would have been taken out completely. I’d been lucky there.
Running my hand over my face, I groaned, thinking about how lucky the building that housed the clothes closet had been. I held my fingers to my nose and inhaled. I hadn’t washed my hand. I had started to several times, and I couldn’t do it. I’d never smelled anything like it, and it was messing me up. Worse than I already had been.
While I had picked up debris, talked to the insurance adjuster, made calls to the parishioners who had been in the path of either storm, set up meals to be provided to those without power, our time in the closet hadn’t left my thoughts once. She hadn’t left my thoughts.
I flexed my hand as I held it out and stared at it. I was jealous of my own hand.
If her family—I was assuming that was who those guys were—hadn’t shown up, I wasn’t sure I’d have let her leave the damn closet. It had smelled like her pussy. And that thing it had done, where it squirted—I hadn’t known about that. I was so tempted to google it.
My head fell back onto the sofa. Her family, those men—they’d known. I could see it in all their eyes as they looked at me. I hadn’t been sure for a moment that one or more wasn’t going to put their fist in my face. Which I would have deserved. Not only was I a priest, but I was also eight years older than her. Those two things should have been enough to stop this.
But I was starting to think nothing was.
King David had sinned, and then came Solomon. I mean, if God could use the two of them, he could still use me. I was a man. One who hadn’t known his own needs when I took my celibacy vow.