Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Dante: I’m ready for my bedtime story. Can you sneak out?
Me: Let me grab my shoes and coat.
I feel like both an asshole and thrilled to sneak away to see Dante. Tonight, once we all started drinking, Kian and I both loosened up. It was good to hang out like old times, but it was like before. When he was just my friend and not my lover.
Once I’m bundled up, I slip out the front door and make my way across the parking lot to Dante’s waiting Range Rover. It’s cold as fuck and snowing a little. I’m half frozen by the time I make it to his vehicle. I climb into the passenger seat, shivering against the cold.
“You came,” I say, grinning at him.
“Not yet.” He smirks. “Someone interrupted me by texting.”
“Maybe that someone should make it up to you.”
He leans over the console and I meet him halfway, eager to taste him. Our lips crash together, both of us groaning in relief. His fingers curl around my neck, drawing me closer as my own find his hair. It’s a desperate, long and needy kiss where we both try to inhale the other. I can chalk up my neediness to the alcohol, but something’s off with him. As much as I want to make good on my offer to get him off, I need to find out what’s upsetting him first. Reluctantly, I pull away so I can look at him.
With only the dash lights illuminating his face, shadows darken the skin under his eyes, making him seem tired. Not just in a sleepy kind of way either.
“What happened?” I ask, my voice soft as I continue to stroke my fingers through his hair.
His brows pinch together and his eyes close. “Long day.”
“Hey,” I murmur. “Talk to me.”
I kiss him again, hoping to encourage him to open up. After he relaxes some, I break away and nod at him.
“You promised me a story first,” he says, a teasing grin forming on his lips.
“I’ll tell you if you sit in the back with me. I can’t touch you like I want from up here.”
He chuckles but nods. “Fine.”
Once we’re settled in the back, I straddle his lap, wrapping my arms around him so I can give him the hug he clearly needs. His amusement fades and he grows quiet, clinging to me in such a vulnerable way.
“Cato, being the meddler he is,” I grumble, “thought it’d be a great idea to invite Kian and play matchmaker.”
I pull back so I can see his face. Dante smiles as though my words entertain him greatly. Asshole.
“It was awkward as fuck,” I complain. “You should have seen Kian’s face. He wasn’t pleased with Cato either.”
“And yet, here you are. You survived.”
“Barely,” I tease. “Had to get drunk as hell to endure it.”
He smirks at me. “Poor you.”
“Yes, poor me.” My smile falls as I regard him with a serious expression. “After spending the night watching my ex prance around in a pair of skintight briefs, it made me realize something.”
“You wanted him back?” Dante is teasing me, but I don’t miss the flash of vulnerability in his eyes.
“No.” I frown and shrug my shoulders. “I realized I don’t want him back.”
Our eyes meet and I tell him silently my other realization.
I want you instead.
Rather than joking it off, Dante runs his palms up over my thighs. His fingers massage my legs through my sweatpants, the move a tender, affectionate one that has my heart squeezing inside my chest.
“I called my ex tonight,” he blurts out, his features crumpling into a heartbroken one.
I’m assaulted by a mixture of feelings. Hurt. Jealously. Anger. Fear. The last one is because the idea of losing something this good is a terrifying one. I’ve drifted for so long in my mediocre life. Finally, I have something worth waking up for. Something I can look forward to. The thought of it being stolen from me has me wanting to puke up all the liquor I’ve consumed tonight.
“You did?” I ask slowly. “What did you talk about?”
He leans his head back, closing his eyes. “Nothing. He talked a lot while I wondered why in the hell I called him in the first place.”
I start to slide off his lap because it feels awkward sitting on him while we discuss this. Like I’m no longer a part of his world but trying to be anyway. His fingers bite into my thighs and his eyes snap open.
“Stay,” he begs, his voice cracking.
I nod, stroking my fingers through his hair. “Okay.”
“He’s engaged again.” Dante’s eyes water. “Toby.”
Toby.
I’ve never hated a name until tonight.
“Again?”
He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “First time was with me. He, uh, broke it off a few days before the wedding.” He flinches as though he’s reliving the moment. “He wasn’t in love with me anymore.”