Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
“Okay!” She throws her hands out, dropping her chin as her blonde curls curtain her face. “Are you always like this or are you just busting my balls in some sibling rivalry initiation?”
“If anyone’s balls are getting busted here, it’s mine. You’re making them ache there little bit.” I snap my tongue in my cheek as she rolls her eyes, but the pink on her cheeks turns crimson and I want to see how that looks all over her naked body. “I’m just playing with you. You look like you could use a little playtime.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Dead. Mom said you’re an only child, older brothers are a pain the ass. I hate to say this, sis, but you may be off limits, but my dick doesn’t seem to care. That handful of your ass I got a few minutes ago woke him from the dead.”
Her sparkling, dazzling blue eyes zero in on me, trying to puzzle out what my game is. “Is that so?” She glances at my lap. “I don’t see anything waking up from here.”
Atta girl. Give it back.
She furrows her cute as fuck brow, giving me a dead-eyed stare, but I see the fire behind her eyes. She’s a little off balance, a little confused, and I love it. I want her right here in that place that has her only thinking of me. Even if she is just thinking about what an asshole her new brother is.
“Can we talk about something other than what affects you below the waist? It’s…” She shrugs. “It’s a character you play. I’ve seen it on the internet. That look you have…” She jabs two fingers at her eyes then across toward mine. “It’s an act.”
I cock an eyebrow, watching her tug at her fingers with a solid set of her jaw as she studies me. Her chest rises under the enormous black sweatshirt, and I note the hint of her hard nipples pressing out.
“I’ll give you half a point for your observation.”
“Half a point? Can you score half a goal in hockey?”
I shake my head, palming the wheel as I turn down the main drag out of Spokane toward Liberty Park where my mom has her house. “No half anything in hockey, baby. You go balls out all in, or you get the fuck out. We don’t tolerate half anything.”
“You ever get half a hard-on?”
This girl.
This. Fucking. Girl.
“Now who’s talking about things below my waist?”
We both let out a laugh as I slow to a stop at a red light and she wiggles, looking into the back seat where I tossed the four bags she had packed up in her VW with the cat carrier sitting on top.
“Nice pussy,” I murmur when the cat meows from its bag giving her a smirk as she rolls her eyes to the ceiling.
“That was funny, but I still think you’re a bit of a cocky asshole. And it’s Taylor, my friend’s cat actually, but now mine.”
She’s not wrong about me being cocky. Or an asshole. But for once, I care what someone thinks. A part of me likes this back and forth dance we’re doing, but she’s roused something new inside me and I don’t want her dismissing me as a cocky hockey bastard so fast.
I spent enough years being dismissed.
My heart is knocking around in my chest and something inside me wants things from her I’ve never felt before.
Ask her something about herself. Change course.
“What’s with all the stuff? You going on a trip?”
Her chest softens as the light flips to green and I accelerate, taking an unnecessary turn, wanting more time with her to myself before we get to the house and I have to share her with our parents.
“Not really?” She sounds tense and it ignites something protective inside of me. “I sort of was moving, I guess.”
“You’re doing a lot of guessing there, little bit. Do you not have a place to go? Be honest.”
She lets out a breath like she’s been holding it in for a year and I want to reach over and tug her next to me and tell her whatever it is, I’ll fucking fix it. I want to fix it.
“It’s complicated.”
“Go on.”
“See, my friend, Mason. I was working for him and living in a unit at the Staton Lofts, but he sort of…”
I raise my fingers from the steering wheel. “I know. Sorry, I think my mom mentioned you were his…assistant or something? Fucker, screwed over a lot of people. Including you, it sounds like. I’d like to get a few minutes alone with him and make sure he knows never to mess with you again.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “He’s not bad. He was taking care of me, but yeah, he made mistakes. He tried to get them to let me stay, but they seized all his assets. I have a week to get the rest of my stuff out of the loft, but honestly…” She looks in the back seat again. “This is about it. Four shitty bags and Taylor. My life. Right there.”