Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Get to the apartment and get your homework going,” Kai ordered Mano. “I put food in the crock pot, so dinner should be done by now.”
Mano grabbed his backpack after he downed his Coca-Cola through a straw. “It better not be that pot roast again. That tasted like ass.”
“How do you know what ass tastes like?” Kai asked.
Mano smirked widely and winked at his brother. “Unlike you, I don’t spend my free time reading books, big brother.”
I snickered to myself. Kai and Mano were like Felix and Oscar from The Odd Couple. They were complete opposites, which made them the perfect balance.
Kai flipped off his younger brother, and Mano scurried away, tossing a goodbye greeting toward me.
“How long have you lived in the apartments?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him leaving the building before until our meet-ugly, but then again, I was a professional at staying in my world and hardly noticed the people coming and going. Author brain, I supposed. My mind was always spinning a story, or I was busy reading another’s novel. I lived too much in my thoughts to sometimes notice my surroundings.
“Been there for a few months now. Apartment 2419.”
“I’m apartment 2509. I’ve never noticed you.”
“That’s because your head is always in a book when walking around.”
Fair enough.
“And it’s just you and Mano living up there?”
“Yup.”
“You’re raising your brother? I thought you mentioned your parents in Hawaii and—”
“And you’re asking a lot of questions that are none of your business,” he mentioned, cutting me off. It was clear that I was approaching a touchy subject, so I tossed my hands up in defeat.
“Noted, noted. I better get back to Grandma anyway. The old lady gets lonely. I’ll see you later, Coach.” I snapped my finger and pointed at him. “But not too soon. You know, quality-quantity blah, blah, blah.”
Kai almost smiled.
Just kidding. That would’ve been amusing, though.
HOLLY
“When I casually mentioned my apartment number to you, I didn’t think you’d end up at my door pounding on it,” Kai said a full week after we made our dating contract. I’d become desperate for his feedback on what I was doing wrong after not one single man who I was interested in asked me out for a first date.
“I’m drowning, Coach!” I dramatically sighed as I slammed my hand to my forehead. “This dating with intention thing is a drag, and frankly, if I keep at your dos and don’ts list, there’s a very big chance I will end up alone for the remainder of my days.”
“Are you always this dramatic?”
“Yes, it’s what my brother despises about me.”
“Your brother seems like a smart guy.”
“He’s the leading cause of my therapy bill.”
He brushed his thumb beneath his nose. “Enough small talk. What do you want?”
“I want you to know that your dating rules are complete crap and aren’t working.”
“It’s only been a week. How do you know it’s not working?”
“Because it’s not working! I haven’t been asked out once by a decent guy.”
“Good. You shouldn’t be in a rush.”
I narrowed my eyes, annoyed. “But I am in a rush. The holidays are right around the corner, and I need someone to take home by Christmas. I don’t have time to waste.”
“You sound like a spoiled five-year-old who’s not getting their way.”
“Are you always this negative?” I asked him.
“Yes, it’s what my brother despises about me,” he mocked.
Whenever he mocked me, I couldn’t help but smile. He was a coldhearted jerk, and for some reason, that tickled me pink. Just like the grumpy heroes in my romance novels, I was going to work on softening up that hardened pumpkin of a man. I was determined to see the mush of his heart that lived inside his chest.
I pushed out my bottom lip and pouted. “Kai. What do I do? I need help, Coach.”
“It’s one in the afternoon. Shouldn’t you be off working or something?”
“I work from home. I’m a romance author.”
Kai arched an eyebrow. “You write romance novels?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re published?”
“Yeah. Under the name H.C. Harvey. There are about fifty novels.”
“You’re prolific. That’s amazing.”
I smiled. “Is that a compliment? I didn’t know you gave those out.”
“Only when deserved.”
I blushed. Kai didn’t seem to notice.
He looked down at the floor, and half smirked as he shook his head.
What was that?
A half-smirk?
Did Kai smirk?
Well, he slightly smirked, but still.
“What is it?” I asked, confused by the new look on his face. It appeared like an expression that oddly landed against the wrong human—a foreign experience.
“Nothing. It’s just ironic, you know. A romance author who struggles with finding love.”
“What can I say? God has a funny sense of humor.”
He smiled fully.
Oh my gosh, Kai smiled at me! A full-grown, toothy grin. And what a sight it was. It felt like I had just stepped through an old wardrobe and landed in Narnia. A mystical place filled with unreal beauty. But then, I realized why he was smiling at me—because he was mocking me, the jerk!