Total pages in book: 200
Estimated words: 189898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 949(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 189898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 949(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
With a mock gasp, Braxton slapped her palm to her forehead. “How could I forget? Naturally, my gender means I’m perpetually confused and don’t know my own mind. Have mercy, big man. Tell me what I really want.”
Loren threw his head back and made a frustrated sound in his throat. “Are we really going to fight about this again?” he mumbled, referring to her demand to be treated like our equal.
I’m sure we were beyond that now since it started to feel like we worshiped the ground she walked on. Either she couldn’t see that because she was stubborn, or we were still shit at this boyfriend thing.
“No, because I’m done talking to you.”
She started for the door and the steps that led back inside, and Loren was hot on her heels. Though not as closely, Rich and I followed, and I was once again wondering why neither of us was stopping Loren while he was ahead.
I didn’t have to tell him that he could never force Braxton to do something she didn’t want to do. He already knew. The problem was that people don’t just change overnight, and Loren was too used to getting his way.
Even if Braxton did want to move in, I knew she wasn’t sure she could handle that yet. It meant leaving her friends, moving to a strange place, sinking deeper into our web, and abandoning the independence that had taken every ounce of her courage to build in the first place.
“Loren,” I called out, making him glance over his shoulder at me.
I knew the moment he read the look in my eyes and realized what he was doing and how bad he was fucking up. His footsteps reluctantly slowed, but by then, Braxton had reached the room we’d given her last night, and we were still right on her heels.
We already shared a house. Obviously, the three of us had never considered or needed to share a room as well, so we each had our own. Until we could think of a better arrangement, it just made sense to give Braxton her own space while she was here.
Thanks to Loren and his “superior” finessing skills, it was already coming in handy.
I could tell Braxton was still pissed when she turned to face us once she was over the threshold. Even during the longer-than-necessary walk that it took to reach her bedroom since she kept getting lost, she hadn’t cooled down one bit.
None of us got a chance to say a word or maybe even apologize before she pushed the door shut, making the sound reverberate throughout the house, and we were left staring at the wood we’d painted black.
“Damn,” Loren mumbled after he’d turned to face us. “She’s been here less than a day, and we’re already getting doors slammed in our faces.”
There was a loud thump on Braxton’s door that came from the inside, telling us that she’d heard him, and I sighed. It was only noon, and I was weary.
“If I don’t get laid tonight, I’m making you suck my dick,” Rich spat as he turned and walked away.
Loren snorted but didn’t say more about it before he went off in a different direction.
I stared at Braxton’s door for a moment, but when nothing smart came to mind that would get us back in her good graces, I decided to leave it alone.
For now.
We were sitting in our practice room, attempting to piece together a new song, when she ambled in after spending the last twenty-four hours hiding in her room.
“Oh, shit,” Loren whispered once he noticed her. Braxton, wearing a blue spaghetti-strapped dress that only reached her thighs and her hair pinned in a ponytail at her crown, wandered the far edge of the room. She looked over our awards and photos hanging on the red wall as if she hadn’t seen them already. “No one make any sudden movements. We don’t want to scare her off.”
Braxton’s head swiveled toward us at that exact moment, and…those two idiots actually froze.
She gave them an exasperated look before her curious gaze met mine. I nodded my head to the empty seat on the leather sofa next to me since Loren and Rich occupied the armchairs on the other side of the black trunk we used as a table.
After only a moment’s hesitation, which I still didn’t care for, she came.
I’d texted her an hour ago to let her know where we were and what we were up to, hoping she’d come. I had just begun to fear we’d lose another day when she showed up.
It wasn’t until she dropped down onto the sofa, and I got a whiff of her brown sugar body wash and saw that her red hair was still damp, that I realized what had held her up. It was still early in the afternoon, so I figured she must have just woken up.