Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“No way. You’re way too picky. I’m not risking messing up your order and having you whine in my ear all night.”
“Fine. What do you want?”
“I’m easy. I’ll eat anything.”
We were about forty minutes into the movie when the pizza arrived. Ryder jumped up and headed to the door. He came back balancing two pizza boxes on one arm with a bottle of soda wedged under his other.
“Top one,” he said, nodding towards the boxes. I took the top box, placed it on the table in front of us and slowly raised the cardboard lid.
“Holy fuck!”
“You said you’d eat anything,” he said cockily, trying to stem his laughter. There must have been every single kind of chili and pepper known to man covering the base and as I started plucking them off, more seemed to materialize out of nowhere.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…” Beneath the layer of chilies and peppers were… “M&M’s. How the fuck did you get them to put M&M’s on a pizza?”
“I’m a paying customer. I can get whatever I like,” he said, grinning wildly as he brought a slice of pepperoni pizza to his lips. “For a few extra dollars,” he added around a mouthful of food. The way he raised one of his perfectly pruned eyebrows at me while I poked and prodded my pizza led me to pick up the first slice. His eyes were gleaming with silent challenge and, much to his surprise, I accepted. “Fuck, you’re not actually going to…” he trailed off as I took a sizeable bite of my M&M pizza. Despite removing most of the chilies, the second I swallowed it still felt like a firework had just exploded in my mouth. Reaching forward I unscrewed the cap on the bottle of soda, wincing as I swished it around my mouth. “You’re fucking crazy.”
Not one to give up on a challenge, I took another bite. I found if I ate it with my mouth open, it wasn’t nearly as bad.
“Mate, stop it.” Ryder snickered. “Just share mine.”
“You bought me food and I’m gonna eat it,” I said, trying not to breathe.
“It was a joke! I got mine big enough to share!”
Turned out laughing and trying to hold your breath at the same time is pretty much impossible. The second air passed through my nose I almost choked on the urge to vomit.
“Waaater,” I choked out, holding out my hand. My eyes were burning, tears pouring down my cheeks. When Ryder jumped up to get me a drink I wafted my hand in front of my mouth as if that would make the slightest bit of difference. Within seconds an open bottle of beer appeared in front of my face and I grabbed it immediately, chugging it down without hesitation. “Okay, okay, you win. I can’t eat that shit.”
“In fairness, you did say you wanted to eat M&M’s until you were sick.”
“I’m pretty sure I don’t ever want to eat another one as long as I live.”
“Here,” Ryder said, sliding his pizza box to the middle of the table. “Share this.”
“I’m good,” I objected, pushing the pizza away from me. “I’ll take another beer though.”
“Fridge,” was all he said, before stuffing another slice into his mouth.
We spent the next few hours drinking beer and talking about random shit. We never did get around to finishing Iron Man. It played on in the background but neither of us took any notice. By three AM I was giving Ryder lessons on pole dancing, improvising with the doorframe.
“Hey, I think I’ve got it!” he practically sang as he slid down one handed.
“Um, yeah,” I agreed lamely, scratching my head as I laughed at his efforts. “We need to get you on a real pole.”
“Hey I’m totally up for that. I need to drag your arse down to Bend,” he said, smiling as he followed me over to the couch. I stole a quick glance at him before he sat down. He was shirtless, exposing his slight but toned frame and the intricate blossoming flowers tattooed onto his chest. Beads of sweat trickled down his torso, his cheeks were flushed from both the alcohol and the doorframe dancing and his green eyes were glowing with juvenile excitement. “Best. Club. Ever.”
I flopped backwards onto the couch and Ryder lay across it, draping his legs over my knees.
“You excited about your shoot with Will next week?” he asked me. I got a call from Ivan today and next Tuesday I’d be shooting a scene with Will – ‘Chase Gold’ – Fernand. Will was a top and only a top. I knew this was coming but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous as shit about it. I mean sure I could’ve said no, but I figured it’d be best to get it the hell over with.