Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Exactly.” I smiled and then got out of the car before I changed my mind. After grabbing the salad from the back seat, I tugged at the collar of my polo and followed Sean down the walkway.
The second we stepped onto the porch, the door jerked open. “I didn’t think you’d come.” Barbara cocked a brow.
“You doubted me?” I replied. “Well, that was your first mistake.” I’d be lying if I didn’t admit some of the tension in my gut loosened slightly. I liked Sean’s mom a lot.
“He’s even more cocky than I am, Mom,” Sean said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek before walking inside. I followed behind him.
“Good. Then he’ll fit right in with our family,” she replied, and my foot caught on something, I don’t even know what, and I stumbled. Sean turned, reached out his hand to catch me but I shook him off and straightened myself.
Good. Then he’ll fit right in with our family.…
There had never been a time in my life where someone had said something like that about me. Part of me wanted to turn around and walk out right then because fuck that. I didn’t need to fit in with anyone. I didn’t need anyone. But there was another part of me, one that clawed and scratched and fought to climb its way to the surface, that wanted to thank her. Fucking thank her.
“Mom…lay off him, okay?”
“Barbara, are you harassing these boys?” A man—Sean’s father, I assumed—stepped into the entryway.
“Me? No? I wouldn’t do such a thing,” she replied.
“You wouldn’t do such a thing, my ass,” he countered and then held his hand out to me. “Hi. I’m Johnnie. It’s nice to meet a young man of Sean’s. He never brings anyone around. I can’t imagine why.” And then he nodded toward Barbara as I attempted not to swallow my tongue.
I reached out and shook his hand as I replied to what he said…a young man of Sean’s…he never brings anyone around.…
I cleared my throat. “Ethan Harris. Nice to meet you. I made potato salad.” I made potato salad? What the fuck is wrong with me?
“I see that,” Johnnie replied as he took the bowl out of my hand.
“Okay, that’s enough, you two. You’re driving me crazy. We’ll be back.” Sean grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from them. We took the stairs and I tried to fight back the tension and nerves making my body go haywire. Sean continued to take me out of my comfort zone, continued to make me feel all these things that were so damn foreign to me.
“Do you wanna see my old room?” He winked at me. Playful. I can do playful. I’m a playful guy.
“I hope that’s not the only thing you plan to show me when we get there.”
Sean led me into a room and closed the door behind us. “I’m—” I silenced him with my mouth. I didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to think. It was a whole lot easier to focus on the taste of his mouth and the way his tongue tangled with mine than it was all the other shit. Sex I could handle. Families were another thing.
Sean groaned into my mouth and dug his blunt nails into my sides. He was hard and my dick was fucking aching. I couldn’t seem to get enough of him.
But then I pulled away because his crazy-ass parents were downstairs, and I was sort of afraid his mom would walk in on us. I didn’t pull away completely, leaning my forehead against his—though I didn’t really understand why.
“We can go at any time, you know? This is weird. I know it’s weird.”
But the thought of running made my skin feel too tight. I wasn’t a runner. “It’s fine. There’s food, and I’m hungry.”
Sean chuckled before he pressed another quick kiss to my lips. It was chaste…sweet…and made my pulse lose control, so I pulled away.
“If we don’t go down, your mom will come up here, won’t she?” I asked.
“You know her well.”
We stepped into the hallway again and I noticed the pictures lining the walls. Pictures I didn’t take the time to look at when we came up. There was one with a young Sean wrestling with another boy. “This is him? Your brother?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, his voice soft…melancholy.
I couldn’t get over how many pictures there were of them—school pictures and family pictures. Sporting events and vacations. They were a real family. What a family was supposed to be and Christ, I suddenly wondered how different my life would have been if I’d had that.
“There’s my Ninja,” I said when I spotted an image of Sean dressed for karate.
“That’s when I got my black belt,” he replied.
“That’s the biggest fucking smile I’ve ever seen on you,” I told him. “It’s cute.”