Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
While Scottie did eventually let go of Josh’s sack, he re-wrapped his arm around his neck and proceeded to wrestle him until he had Josh pinned. Josh was a big guy, but Scottie was even bigger.
After Josh finally managed to break free, he stood up from the bed, his hair all messed up.
“So much for being a big, strong man who can handle him, huh?” I cracked.
Josh shot me a death stare.
Carly: One.
Josh: Zero.
CHAPTER 3
* * *
CARLY
WITH NO HEAT currently on, the house was growing more frigid than the vibe between me and my apparent new roommate. So, Josh ventured out to the store to get wooden pellets for the pellet stove.
While he was handling that, I struggled to give Scottie a bath, which left me looking like I’d won a wet-T-shirt contest. Scottie seemed to think the bathtub was a waterslide. He kept gliding his body from the back of the tub to the front, and each time he did it, a deluge of water hit me and the floor. We won’t mention the stiffy he got while I was washing his nether regions, either.
It took a while to get Scottie to calm down enough to go to bed, too. It now made sense why he had a mattress on the floor rather than on a bedframe. He would’ve broken the bed, considering all the jumping he liked to do.
I exited Scottie’s bedroom after getting him settled and plopped down on the couch, exhausted already and feeling overwhelmed. Not only was my first night an epic failure, but it seemed Josh would be here to witness this disaster moving forward. Is he really staying? Even though it might be helpful to have a second set of hands, the idea of him being here made me uneasy. Although, maybe he wasn’t planning on sleeping here? I decided to corner him to clarify his plans. I could see he’d gotten the pellet stove going, but he was nowhere to be found. Had he left the premises again? Could I be that lucky?
A minute later, though, Josh came in from outside, smelling like cigarettes.
I stood and got straight to the point. “So…” I rubbed my hands together. “What’s the deal? There’s only one bedroom besides Scottie’s. So…”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I’ll take the couch—until you decide to go back home. Which I still think would be wise, since you’re out of your element.”
“I told you, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Come on, Carly. You’re a virtual stranger to him. You don’t belong here.”
“A virtual stranger is better than a bad influence,” I spat.
“You think I’m a bad influence on Scottie? What…am I gonna bring women over and get him drunk? Get your head out of your ass, Miss Righteous. I wouldn’t do anything to put him in harm’s way.” He looked down at my shirt. “You take a bath with him or something? Why are you all wet?”
“If you knew as much about him as you claim to, you’d know the answer to that. He thinks the bathtub is a Slip ’N Slide.” I sniffed the air. “You reek of cigarettes. I hope you don’t think you’re gonna be smoking around him.”
Josh squinted. “You do know Wayne smoked, right?”
“Well, I don’t care. No one should be breathing that stuff in.”
“I’m trying to quit,” he muttered. “I was doing great until coming home. The second I landed in New Hampshire, I just…” He sighed rather than finish his sentence.
“Well, try to quit outside—not in this house or around Scottie.”
“Did you not see that I was just outside?”
“Keep it that way,” I scolded.
Josh feigned a smile. “You know where you won’t have to worry about my smoking?”
“Where?”
He gritted his teeth. “Back in California.”
“You think you’re funny?”
“I’m not trying to be.” He cocked his head. “Are you saying I am?”
“How do you think Brad would feel about you making a mockery of this situation?”
“I’m making a mockery? You look like you escaped the Titanic. And as for Brad, he was too polite to have told you that you’re out of your league. He would be secretly thanking me for attempting to give you a ticket out.”
The sound of Scottie screeching from his bedroom interrupted our bickering.
We ran in there to find he’d taken the stuffing out of one of his pillows. Feathers were flying everywhere. Scottie laughed hysterically, as if it was the best thing in the world.
What a mess that’s going to be to clean up. “He probably heard us arguing and got upset,” I said.
“That shows how much you know about him,” Josh retorted. “He does shit like this all the time for no damn reason.”
This man was getting on my last nerve. The more he annoyed me, the more I was determined to prove him wrong about me being the better caretaker.
“Nothing happens without a trigger,” I muttered, disappointed in myself for letting this guy get to me so badly.