Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I nodded in agreement. “What can I say? This handsome face can only get me so far.”
“Yes, it’s your words that dry up a woman like the Sahara Desert.”
“You’d actually be impressed at my ability to take a woman who’s been in a drought to the wetlands within minutes.”
She blankly stared at me before shoving me out of the room. “I need sleep. Sleep, and to erase this conversation from my mind completely.”
“If you get lonely, my room is down the hall on your right. You are free to crawl into bed with me for roommate cuddles at any point.”
“Roommate cuddling isn’t a thing, Nathaniel.”
“Then what’s the point of having a roommate?”
She placed her hands against the edge of her door and gave me a small smile.
She smiled at me.
Damn…
Avery and her rare smiles.
“Good night, idiot,” she said.
There was a slight twitch in my crotch area. Maybe I did have a real shame kink when it came to Avery Kingsley. “Night. Oh wait, I have something for you.” I headed to my room and grabbed an item off my nightstand, then hurried back out toward Avery. “I know you said burn the dress, but I saw this stitched to it, and I figured you might want it back.”
Her eyes glassed over as she studied the ring in my hand with the blue jewel. “Mama’s wedding ring,” she murmured, taking it from me. “Oh my goodness. I can’t believe I almost lost this. My father would’ve been heartbroken. Thank you, Nathan. I’ll get it back to him.”
“Of course.”
She reached out and placed a hand on my arm. “No, really. Thank you. You have no clue what this means to me.” The flash of emotion in her eyes told me just how much it meant.
I smiled. “Good night, Coach.”
“Is it just me, or is that Avery Kingsley wandering around on the farm today?” River asked me a few days after Avery came to stay with me. I stood in the chicken coops with him, collecting eggs. The guys at the butcher shop always sold fresh eggs to customers, and River somehow pulled me into helping him collect them, seeing how Grant had come down with the mysterious flu that had been moving around the farmland. It had taken out a handful of employees, leaving us short-staffed. Luckily, somehow, River and I were still free from the illness. Easton recovered after a week and a half, which was good, seeing how he spent the past week or so being a pathetic crybaby.
I looked over at the horse stables, where Avery stood with Mom. Within seconds, my mind was transported back to the days we used to hang out beside those same stables.
“I love you, too, Nathaniel,” Avery whispered, brushing her lips against mine. “I love you more than I love breathing.”
Those words had been etched in my brain ever since she’d said them.
I shook my head back to reality as Avery and Mom walked into the stables. Tearing my gaze away from the area, I returned to collecting eggs. “Yeah. She’s staying with me for a while.”
River narrowed his eyes. “Staying with you? You hate roommates.”
“Since when have I ever said that?”
“Uh, when my house was being remodeled, and I crashed in your spare room. You said you hated it.”
“You were messy,” I countered. “Avery isn’t messy.”
“You’re messy, too!” he argued.
“I know. You can’t have two messy people living together. Might as well be living in the pigpens if that’s the case. Besides, I cleaned up my spot. It’s not messy anymore.”
“You cleaned for Avery?” He blew out a cloud of hot smoke. “I didn’t know you had the hots for Coach K, brother.”
I shot him a look. “I don’t have the hots for her.”
“Uh, you definitely do if you picked up your dirty boxers. You never clean when I come to visit.”
“That’s because I don’t care what you think of me.”
River smiled. “But you care what Avery thinks, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make this a thing. She needed a place to stay after her weekend from hell. I had a spare room. That’s all there is to it.”
River kept giving me that goofy-ass grin. “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, brother. Whatever you say.” He picked up three more eggs. “That blows that her wedding was called off, though. It’s been the trending story all over town.”
“Yeah. It sucks.” Screw Wesley and his “best friend.” I hope they rode off toward unhappily ever after together. If you asked me, Avery dodged a bullet.
“Well, at least you can continue sleeping with her and not feel guilty about it,” River commented.
“We aren’t sleeping with each other!” I spat out. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Just wanted to see your reaction.” He narrowed his eyes. “But you do want to sleep with her, right?”