Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
It wouldn’t be June until next week, but it was already hot outside, and like everyone else, she wore shorts—except hers were so much better than all the other girls’. Hers were barely there, and I could see the bottom of her pockets peeking out from beneath the shredded hem of the denim cutoffs.
It meant every curve of her toned legs was on display before ending in black low-top Converse sneakers. The outfit on its own was innocent, but when this girl was poured into it?
Hot.
I studied her pretty face, and a tinge of familiarity washed through me.
Wait a minute. Colin filmed with a bunch of people besides Madison, and while I didn’t watch his stuff, I did consume a lot of porn. Had I seen some of this girl’s work before? I scanned her with an evaluating eye, imagining what she’d look like if her tank top and sexy cutoffs suddenly vanished.
Well, then . . .
She’d be even hotter. Sweat dampened my back, making my cotton t-shirt stick awkwardly to it. I pictured her bare tits that were sized to perfect handfuls, and what the rest of her sexy body would look like naked.
My dick twitched.
Shit, I had to clear the visual from my mind immediately and took a sip of my beer to distract.
Had she sensed I was looking at her? The brunette’s head turned in my direction, and her gaze slid over to me, locking onto my face. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, and even though I was standing on the other side of the pool, I’d swear I heard her sharp intake of breath.
Her eyes heated as they evaluated. Like me, the girl liked what she saw.
Normally, I would have smirked back, but my lips refused to move. Neither of us did; neither of us even blinked. The connection of our mutual stare grew intense and magnetic, to the point it was so deep it was almost uncomfortable. But I wasn’t going to stop looking at her.
I was competitive, and I didn’t want to come off as weak. She needed to break first.
There was a tightness in my chest I hadn’t noticed until her gaze dropped and the tension inside me released. On the surface, I was glad she’d let me win, but it weirdly didn’t feel like a victory. In fact, it bothered me I didn’t have her attention anymore.
There was no game plan as I stalked toward her. I didn’t bother coming up with a clever line or a good opening. All I did was let my feet carry me swiftly across the concrete surrounding the shallow end of the pool, shortening the space between us.
I flashed my best smile as I approached. “Hey, Madison. Who’s your friend?”
Madison made a face, and I found her expression strange. She peered at me with confusion. “You two haven’t met before?”
I swung my gaze to the new girl, who . . . maybe wasn’t new to me?
Oh, crap. Had Madison done this introduction already and I’d forgotten? I wracked my brain, trying to recall the last time we went out as a big group. We’d gone to the bars once over spring break when our friend Troy was in town, but there was no way I hadn’t noticed this girl then.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
The girl’s mouth dropped open with surprise, and her eyes screamed a single word at me. Really?
Abruptly, she closed her mouth, straightened, and thrust her hand out, offering a handshake. I closed my hand around hers, finding it warm and soft, but her tone was dry.
“Hey, Preston. I’m Sydney Novak,” she announced.
My other hand clenched so tightly on my plastic cup, the sides caved in, and beer flowed over my fist. The crunch of it drew both girls’ attention, and when Sydney’s focus returned to my face, amusement flooded her eyes.
“Well,” I squeezed out a sheepish smile, “this is awkward.”
And to make matters worse, I was still shaking her hand like a fucking idiot. I dropped my hold, switched my crinkled cup into my free hand, and shook the beer from my drenched fingers. I needed a moment to reconcile the girl in front of me with the one I’d known years ago.
How the fuck was this Colin’s little sister?
“Sorry I didn’t recognize you. It’s been a long time,” I said in my defense, “and you, uh, look different.”
“Yeah,” she said simply. Like it wasn’t a big deal she’d grown up certifiably hot.
“When was the last time we saw each other?”
It felt like at least a decade. Sydney was four years younger than her brother, and they hadn’t seemed all that close. It wasn’t possible, really. Her parents had kicked Colin out when he was still in high school, and even though they’d reconciled for a while, he’d been off at college.