Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
That’s fucking that.
Chapter Sixteen
Davis
My job is a godsend, truly. It’s easy enough and keeps me busy for hours upon hours. The last three days, I was able to come in before ten in the morning and didn’t leave a minute before seven a single one of them. Don’t plan to today either, not when I have no homework or exams to study for. I only have two classes left I have to show up in and both are not until next Thursday, when the semester officially comes to an end.
My college career will also officially come to an end.
What a trip.
I’m two hours into my early shift, this fine Saturday morning, when a familiar voice shouts, a little too loudly, from the entrance.
“Davis ‘Middle Name’ Franco, your services are requested.”
Topping a customer’s coffee cup off, I stand and carry the pot back to the station and smile at Xavier and his friend, Neo, I think his name was, as they saunter over.
“Hey, guys. The place is like a graveyard this morning, so sit anywhere you want.”
Xavier leans in, hugging me, and Neo says his hello.
“I was coming to steal you, actually. What time you get off?”
“Oh. Why, what did you have in mind?” I wipe my hands on a rag and toss it in the basket beneath the counter.
“We’re headed to the water park.” Xavier hooks his thumb over his shoulder, and I look out the window to find a handful of people standing outside a couple of jeeps.
As if they were waiting, the group all lifts their hands, or holds them out, their shouts muffled by the closed windows of the building.
Laughing, I look to Xavier. “Looks like you already have quite a few people who can go.”
“True, but we want you to go.” Neo steps up. “My sister’s meeting us there. I think you’ll like her. She’s obsessed with peach-ring candies.”
My smile spreads. “So your sister’s favorite snack makes you think we’ll get along?”
“One, I’m pretty sure you get along with everyone. Two, Crew says you love all things sweet, which is why you’ll probably fall in love with me, but we can worry about that later.” Neo’s smirk is mischievous.
I can’t help the chuckles that escape. “Where is Crew?”
I haven’t seen him in three days. I heard him come and go a few times, but our schedules have been opposite. Maybe he’s with a woman.
Does he have one of those? A booty call on speed dial?
He’s a man made of more testosterone than a teenage training camp, so yeah, I’d bet he does.
A pang hits my chest, and I look off.
I hate the thought of him being with someone, I always have. Watching him with his future wife has been one of my fears for years, the irrational kind you think about, play out in your head, getting gray hairs over when you should simply wait for it to happen rather than make yourself crazy waiting for it.
What happens when he finds the one woman he refuses to let go? Can I handle that?
Will she allow our friendship?
Of course she would, right? What threat am I?
“Who knows, that man stays busy.” Xavier’s voice draws me out of my head, and he shrugs. “So, what do you say?”
Aw, so he didn’t send them here to invite me. They thought of me on their own.
Rachel comes around the corner then and I face the boys once more, surprised by the regret that follows. “Sorry, guys. I can’t leave.”
“Grab your stuff, Davis. You’re fine.” Rachel walks over, replacing the tub of wrapped silverware. “You said it yourself, we’re dead, and Marla’s shift starts in twenty. Go, have some fun for once.”
“Yeah, have fun for once.” Neo wiggles his brows, swiping his tongue over his lip when he looks at Rachel.
She scoffs, shaking her head. “Honey, please. I would eat you up and spit you out.”
“I would be oh so okay with that,” he plays along.
Rachel tries to hide her smile, but I catch it as she walks away.
Rachel is gorgeous and has that rockabilly vibe going. Deep-red lipstick and a septum piercing that shines off her golden skin. She always wears a bandanna of sorts and pins her curls perfectly in place. I’ve never seen her in anything but black pants and bright yellow or red tops. Her ears are stretched, and she has no less than six piercings on each lobe.
She’s also got about ten years on Neo, who can’t be any older than me.
I turn to Xavier. “I’ll need to run home and get a swimsuit.”
“So long as it’s a bikini.”
Rolling my eyes, I grab my keys and follow them out the door.
They introduce me to their friends, we stop for my things, and not fifteen minutes later, we’re headed for the water park.
The second we hit the highway, my phone dings in my bag. I find a text from Crew.