Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
The tension in Jamie’s body releases and her warm smile is back. She and Gemma chatter about PMU in the fall. How they’re trying to talk Nathan into letting her live on campus. Gemma’s major. Etc. Etc. I’m still processing the fact she thought something gross was happening between me and Dempsey.
Hell no.
He’s a kid.
Well, not exactly a kid anymore considering he’s eighteen and has more tattoos than I can count, but he’ll always be the little troublemaker to me.
“I was going to text you today,” Jamie reveals as she motions for me to follow her into the kitchen. “One of Hugo’s colleagues, Oliver, just went through a divorce. He’s been dating a bunch of women who are only interested in him for his money. Oliver is pretty cute and has a great personality. How do you feel about me setting up a blind date for you two?”
The thought of going on a date with some rich lawyer sounds nauseating. But what’s worse is having Jamie think I have the hots for her son.
“Really? Oh, uh, yeah. I’d like that.” I force a smile. “Truly. Thank you.”
I can think of a million other things I’d rather be doing than going on a date with this guy, but I walked myself into that trap. And who knows, maybe I might connect with the guy. The few dates I’ve been on over the years have fallen flat. Most guys get bored with my no-nonsense personality and want to skip straight to the sex. I’m not interested in having sex with someone I have zero connection with. Disappointment on all fronts for everyone involved.
Sorry, Oliver, but you’re going to have to really be something special or this will be another dud date.
Jamie puts Gemma to work on chopping veggies for a salad. I excuse myself to go check on Kaden. When I make my way to the game room, I find Kaden listening, a Coke in hand, to everything Dempsey says. It’s cute how taken he is with Dempsey.
Dempsey grabs a cue stick from the wall and then hands it to Kaden, exchanging it for Kaden’s Coke. “Hold it like I showed you.”
I sneak into the game room and watch them interact. Dempsey is patient with Kaden, showing him little tips and tricks. Compared to Kaden, Dempsey isn’t a boy any longer. I’m realizing he’s tall, lean with muscle, and carries himself like a man.
No wonder Jamie was worried.
Dempsey grew up overnight and he’s turning into one of the Park men who turn all the heads in this town. This family ate up all the good genes, that’s for sure.
He must feel me staring because he glances my way. The small smile he shares with me feels private and just for me.
Why?
Why does it feel that way?
I try to think about this Oliver guy and what he looks like. Jamie wouldn’t lie to me and set me up with a toad or some weirdo. I’ve always trusted her, especially with something like this.
But thinking of someone I don’t know doesn’t work. I’m fixated again on the way Dempsey’s black T-shirt stretches across his back and shoulders, revealing sculpted muscles underneath. Probably tattooed muscles. Just when the hell did he get muscles?
Stop.
Dempsey’s electric blue eyes land on me once more, but all playfulness is gone. He searches my gaze like one might size up their prey. As if he’s just now realizing he’s not a cub but a grown-ass lion and I’m the gazelle just standing there waiting to get eaten.
His lips curl into a devilish grin that makes me break into a sweat.
What the hell, Sloane?
This weird thing between us ends now.
Bad decisions are for my parents and my sisters. Allowing myself to think of Dempsey as a man rather than the troublemaker kid I’ve known all his life is dangerous. It’s reckless and something my family would do.
I am not like them.
I. Am. Not. Like. Them.
Dempsey
“Are you ready, honey?” Mom asks from the doorway of my bedroom. “You know your father doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Ever since last night, I’ve been trying to sketch the expression on Sloane’s face. It was something different—unlike anything I’ve ever seen on her pretty face.
Surprise? Anger? Embarrassment?
“Do I have to go?” I grumble, snapping my iPad shut. “He already knows how I feel about this.”
She gives me a sympathetic smile, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. When it comes to Dad, she always, always chooses his side. It’s so fucking annoying.
“You’re going. Put on something presentable and preferably without holes in it.”
Drawing Sloane will have to wait. Apparently, I’ve been summoned to go with my parents and sister for a private tour of Park Mountain University. It’s like they still don’t get the fact I’m not going. No matter how much they try, it’s not happening.