Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 119680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
He turns to me and Rose. “Hey, I’m Cooper, and you are?”
“I’m Winter, and this is Rose.”
Rose waves and takes a sip from her drink, looking anywhere but at the beefy guy.
“I haven’t seen either of you around before. You freshmen?”
“Sophomore. I’m a transfer,” Rose says, like she’s bored and he’s the reason.
“Same.” I take another sip of my overly sweet cooler. I make a mental note to drink a bunch of water and take ibuprofen before bed.
“Oh yeah?” His attention returns to me. “Transfer from where?”
Two more guys join him. There’s another round of introductions. I forget their names two seconds later. They look like dude-bros—thick, like they spend a lot of time at the gym doing bench presses and not much else. They all have gelled hair and straight teeth. If I run into them on campus, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to tell one from the other.
“Winter plays hockey for the college team,” Lovey offers.
“Really?” One of the new guys looks me over. “I play rugby.”
“Mm, that’s a rough sport.”
“I like it rough.” He winks.
“Oh my God.” Rose is in the middle of a sip, and she cough-chokes.
I pat her back, and she coughs into her elbow. “Sorry. Went down the wrong way.”
I glance to the right, where BJ is standing with Quinn and a couple of girls. One of the girls is fully focused on Quinn, but his attention is on us. The other one is touching BJ’s arm, probably asking about his tattoos. I smirk when I remember how I drove him crazy by tracing the one on his hip with my tongue earlier this afternoon. BJ’s eyes flare when they find me, and his gaze flicks back and forth between me and the guys. He abandons Quinn and the girls and heads for the pool.
He steps off the edge, barely making a splash. He wades across the pool, skirts around the dude-bros, and makes a beeline for me.
“Mission fucking accomplished,” Rose mutters, having recovered from her coughing fit.
“Hey, hey. You disappeared for a while. Where’d you go?” One side of BJ’s mouth curves up in a knowing smile. He sets his drink behind me, then settles his hands on my knees and uses his hip to nudge his way between my thighs.
The guys who were chatting us up see someone else they know and move on.
“I changed and got a refill.” I’m going for nonchalant, but fighting a grin. Mostly I find this whole thing somewhere between funny, because it’s transparent, and irritating, because it’s effective.
BJ bites his lip, hands sliding up my thighs. “When’d you get this bikini? I haven’t seen it before.”
“It’s mine,” Rose says.
“Maybe don’t give it back.” BJ doesn’t break eye contact with me.
“We’re going shopping this week,” Lacey tells him.
“Excellent news. I look forward to the fashion show.”
“Okay, job well done, girls.” Rose clinks her travel mug against Lovey’s over my head, and Lacey holds hers up in acknowledgment. “Let’s leave these two to the poolside foreplay.”
I purse my lips as BJ’s grin widens, and the three of them get to their feet and abandon me. The dude-bros call after them, but they wave them off.
“Did I just fall into a trap?” BJ brushes my hair over my shoulders, skimming my arms with his fingertips.
“It was more of an experiment than a trap.”
“What kind of experiment?” He takes my drink, sniffs it, and sets it aside.
“The successful kind.” I drape my arms over his shoulders and link my fingers behind his neck.
“Does that mean I’m a good test subject?”
“The perfect one, actually.”
“Oh yeah?” His hands smooth over the outside of my thighs. “Well, if you need to test other theories, I’m always a willing guinea pig.” When he reaches my knees, he hooks his hands behind them and urges me to wrap my legs around his waist.
“We’re not alone, BJ. There’s a backyard full of your friends.”
“Mm… Only a small handful count as friends. Maybe I should shout cops and make everyone leave.” He brushes his nose against mine and pulls me into the pool with him. He cups my ass and lowers me enough that I can feel him hard between my thighs.
I unhook my legs and find the bottom of the pool. “Looks like you have to stay in here for a while.” I step back, but he winds his arm around my waist, keeping me close.
“Whoa, whoa. You got my attention, now you’re gonna leave me here?” He pulls me back into him. “That’s what you wanted, right? My attention?”
We’ve been in a bubble, surrounded by his friends and family, cocooned in the comfort of the people he’s closest to. This is the other side of his world, the one filled with parties and flirty girls. I suddenly feel out of my depth and out of his league.