Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
“Semus has been peeing in my shoes to make a point ever since I got back.” She sighed, not even a little self-conscious.
“Semus is your cat?” I clarified. Please let it be the fucking cat. If it’s a stalker, I’ll get a life sentence.
“If he were a human, would I be so calm about it?” She pinned me with a look. I stifled a smile, just barely. She made not-smiling impossible. “Anyway, can you give me two minutes to talk you out of making a ginormous mistake?”
“No.”
“Then I quit, and I’m taking my expertise and ten-ton bucket of charm with me.” She was blinking hard, a tic that told me she was nervous. I didn’t have the fucking heart to deny her.
I groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Here’s hoping.” She crossed her fingers. “How would you like me to kill you?”
A chain of three hundred orgasms while buried inside you.
“Let me smoke however much I want and shut up about it.”
“No can do. You mean the world to Dylan, and she means the world to me. So can I have two minutes?”
“You can have one. Make it quick.” We were both looking at an oblivious Randy and Lyle through the diner window. Cal’s profile was a vision. Cute, pert nose. Bee-stung lips. A dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks. Even the curve of her eyebrow held grace.
“Look, I get it. They don’t understand you.” Her shoulder brushed mine and for one second, I forgot how to fucking breathe. “You’re a mythical creature, Casablancas. Too big for this world. I spent my entire childhood watching you, and I still don’t think I’ve figured you out.” Her voice sounded like it came from the bottom of her soul. “It’s aggravating, seeing someone treat this world like it’s their personal oyster. And it’s frightening when that someone takes something you know so well and decides to turn it into something else entirely. Give them time to adjust. They’re not bad people.”
“Are you fucking Fuckface?” I blurted out. Jesus. Had I caught her verbal diarrhea virus? I knew the answer to that question. But I still needed the reassurance.
She whipped her head toward me. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. It’s a yes or no question.”
“He’s my friend.”
So? I’d had plenty of “friends” who could recognize my dick in a thirty-cock lineup. “That wasn’t what I was asking.”
“Well, that’s the answer you’re getting, so deal with it.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near him. He’s a bad influence.” I recognized that was rich coming from me, a man whose entire existence was deplorable.
“And Allison?” Her eyebrows shot up. “What kind of influence is she?”
It was pathetic, how pleased I was she had fallen into the trap I’d set up for her.
“You knew I disliked her.” Cal’s throat rolled with a swallow. “Yet you still went and dated her.”
“That was a feature, not a bug,” I admitted, my voice coming out harsh and hot.
I had wanted to hurt Cal. Dig under her skin. Team up with her enemy. So long as she hadn’t known it, as long as it was all in my messed-up head, it had felt good. But now that she did know, I couldn’t bear being the one to make her feel bad.
I turned around and walked back to my truck. She trailed behind me.
“Holy shit, did I just manage to talk you out of beating an elderly person?” She giggled, a bounce in her step as she chased me. “Does it mean that I earned my place in heaven?”
“Hope so, for your sake. If we’re neighbors in hell, I’m stealing your trash can.”
“I’ll egg your house,” she retorted, catching up with my step.
“I’ll butter your floor.”
“I’ll send embarrassing deliveries to your doorstep. You’ll be a social pariah.” She evil-laughed before her smile dropped. “Fine, maybe not. You’d probably like that.”
“How come you’re so comfortable around me?” I asked. I always found her no-filter prattling adorable. “You barely have tics. And you don’t mind us standing close together.”
“It’s less prominent when I’m around someone I know,” Cal explained. “When I’m around someone…” She trailed off. “I, uhm, trust.”
“You trust me?” I asked. My heart picked up speed. Probably a minor heart attack. Nothing to worry about.
“Not to kill me, I guess.”
We were headed toward Mom, Dylan, and Kieran, who were still loitering by the Silverado, pointing at faulty street cameras and making some calls. Bystanders were bracketing them, gasping and taking pictures. Great. More humans. Wasn’t I lucky.
“Have you started running again?” I asked.
“Next question.”
I pierced her with a look. She reddened, picking up an orange leaf from the street and twisting it between her fingers by the stem. “Ugh. It’s hard, okay?”
“Anything worth doing is.” I stopped by my truck, fighting the urge to kick it in frustration. I also wanted a cigarette, but I didn’t want another lecture. Cal shoved the leaf into her hair, like it was a feather in a cap.