Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
No matter how irrational it was, he couldn’t stand seeing Leo flirting. Who did this guy think he was, waving his straightness in front of Zolt like a massive flag to announce that his mouth wasn’t available for dick-sucking.
Which only made Zolt want him more. “Hey Sweetheart, could you help us out?” Zolt asked, taking the ring out of the man’s hand and showing it to her. If he couldn’t have Leo off the property, he’d at least end the flirting.
She was reluctant to turn away from Leo, but had a wide smile for Zolt when she walked over. “Sure, what’s up?”
Zolt nodded at the male customer, who avoided meeting her gaze, as if he were embarrassed by her presence. It made Zolt wonder what kind of woman he wanted to marry, but that wasn’t his problem. “This nice gentleman here wants to propose to his girlfriend. Could you model the ring, so he can see how nice it looks on a female hand?”
The girl smiled and extended her hand to Zolt with a wink. “I’m not ready to get married yet, but I sure can model.” Her fingers were long, slim, with manicured nails which made Zolt already taste cash. He might have called her over for petty reasons, but the jewelry would look wonderful on her hand, and it wasn’t below him to use that as a money-making opportunity.
As he slid the ring on one of her digits, his gaze darted to Leo. The guy wasn’t smiling anymore and shook his head with a brooding pout. Served him right. Trying to pick up chicks in Zolt’s store. Un-fucking-believable.
The male customer gave an awkward laugh and nodded in the end. “It’s good. Beautiful. I’ll take it.”
Zolt’s victory couldn’t have been any more complete. He took the ring off the girl’s finger and kissed the air above her hand in appreciation before ushering the cash cow of the day to the counter. He sure hoped the ring would be to the girlfriend’s liking, because the poor bastard couldn’t have won her over with poise or personality.
Feeling generous, he gave the ‘model’ a small discount on the car radio she’d come to buy back. All around good day, if it wasn’t for Leo’s presence. The guy wouldn’t even say anything and just hovered around the shop, spending a lot of time by car models until Zolt finally got to close for the day.
Unsure what to do about the uncomfortable silence yet, Zolt took his time and spent twenty minutes watching Atilla and the other male betta, Dante, squabble over a female fish. No matter how hard he tried, Dante would never out-alpha Atilla, which Zolt found both amusing and weirdly similar to human relationships.
He only entered his apartment once he couldn’t ignore the passing time anymore. If he was to help Leo settle in before his friends arrived, he needed to deal with it right away.
A small backpack leaned shyly against the doorway to the living room, as if Leo hadn’t dared to take up any of Zolt’s space.
“So where do you want me? Do I get a shelf in the fridge?”
Zolt had thought a great deal about Leo all day, but hadn’t really given much of his attention to such practicalities. “I suppose you could have the top shelf. And I think it’s best if you sleep on the sofa. Unless you want to share my bed,” he added in the end, not sure if he wanted to once again embarrass Leo or test him.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Nice try. The couch will do. I know this isn’t ideal, but I’ve shared rooms with siblings. We’ll be fine.”
Zolt rested his hands on his hips, tensing his muscular torso as he faced Leo. “No hook-ups while you’re here. I’m not sure if that rule applied when you and the other Heller brothers share rooms.”
Leo sucked his lips in, as if this was such a difficult concept to understand. “You neither.”
“It’s my house.”
Leo spread his arms. “It would be awkward!”
Zolt clenched his teeth. So maybe it would be, but he wasn’t sure if he cared. “I can think of situations that feel way more awkward than that,” he said, waving his hand between them.
“I guess I’ll just put a pillow over my head then. So… do you have, like, a snack cupboard?”
Zolt squinted. “A what?”
“You know, a place for snacks. There’s these chocolate marshmallows I really like, so I need to have them available—”
Zolt raised his hands to stop him. “No one needs marshmallows, okay? They’re disgusting.”
Leo groaned and dropped on the leather sofa. “Fine. Whatever. I was just wondering though… you wouldn’t have found the briefs I wore that night anywhere, would you?” His face once again got a flush under the stubble. “It’s just that I washed the blood in them, so the DNA—”