Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Just as he was about to pull the garage door open, it slammed into him, and he hissed a curse, grabbing his throbbing chin.
“Oh, my! I am so sorry, Vars, I didn’t see you,” Laurent said in that cute accent of his. Still, Vars was not in the mood for pretty boys and their sweet faces.
Beast was right behind Laurent though, so there was no way around this meeting.
“Why are the two of you wet?” Beast asked. To the point as always.
Vars bit the inside of his cheek. “We had a little issue with the water hose. We sorted it out already.”
Beast looked between the two of them, slowly moving his hand to rest on Laurent’s shoulder. The boy’s eyes glinted, and he leaned into Beast as if it were the most natural thing to do.
Vars stared at the two of them, slowly sinking into the well of permanent disappointment. When he’d first met Damon, he was at a point in his life when he decided he didn’t want to keep playing with new partners every time. His bed had felt empty at night, and the itch for company had grown too insistent to contain. He’d wanted someone of his own, someone to take care of and love. How could it have gone so horribly wrong?
He stiffened when Beast snapped his fingers.
“Earth to Vars. I asked if you could look into the papers once you’re dry?”
Vars relaxed. “Yes. Of course.”
Laurent smiled at him widely, showing off his pretty white teeth. He was such a pretty thing. And yet all Vars could think about was the young man standing behind him, with his tanned skin and well-developed muscles. Complicated. Immature. Inexperienced. In need of help Vars shouldn’t want to provide.
“Beast will teach me to drive as my wedding gift. I am so terribly excited. Jake, can you wash the green one for me?” Laurent walked into the garage, and it instantly irked Vars that Laurent treated Jake as his personal servant. But he wouldn’t mention it to Beast. It was Jake’s own damn choice that he let everyone, including the prez’s doll-like boyfriend, walk all over him.
“Yeah, sure, I mean… I was washing them anyway.”
Vars offered Beast the best smile he could muster and left.
Chapter 9 - Jake
Gray was freakishly fast. Out of all the Kings of Hell, he was most proficient at hand-on-hand combat and a skilled shooter. His compact size and relative shortness were an advantage, as they tempted people to underestimate him. Lacking an interest in parties, Gray was content spending his days quietly—reading or playing games, but it was when he fought that his eyes lit up and his movements became sharper. Jake liked to think it was because sparring brought back memories of Mike, Gray’s twin, who died two years back, only months into Jake’s time as a prospect.
Gray and Mike had been like yin and yang, despite sharing the same genes. Where Gray was calm and rather quiet, Mike used to be a party monster to rival Knight. When Mike was still around, Gray had been an active participant in whatever was going on, always following his brother, but once Mike was gone, Gray’s reclusive nature had come to the forefront of his personality.
He was still a good friend and a loyal member of the club, but the flame that used to be so bright in him had cooled down and never blazed the same again. Jake instinctively knew Gray was lonely despite the crowd of people in the clubhouse, and he wanted to help in his own way, to become a partner for Gray even if he still had so much to learn. He could never replace Gray’s twin brother, of course, but as the youngest in the club, both of them gay, they could surely forge a bond, become a team so that Gray wouldn’t have to work alone all the time.
If only Jake could ever land a punch, which he hadn’t managed since he and Gray had met.
He groaned when his back hit the mat, rolling his head to check if nothing was broken.
The foam dipped next to his head, and he opened his eyes, watching Gray scoot down next to him. At least there was a bit of a flush to his face this time. Tiring Gray out counted for something in Jake’s book.
“Do you need a break?” Gray asked.
Jake’s gaze met Gray’s and all of a sudden the question sounded like an innuendo. He smiled and reached to Gray’s wrist. “Do you need a break?”
It had been over a week since the both glorious and disastrous fuck with Vars, and Jake avoided the man (and vice-versa). Instead of being a satisfying, one-time thing, it had left a void inside of Jake, which he had no idea how to deal with. An emptiness, and yet full of that itchy, sensitive feeling that makes every shirt too scratchy, and all pants fit too closely.