Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Astrid, Stevie, and I each took a turn adding a word onto a story that Stevie started. We’ve played the same game countless times before, but today it was especially hilarious because it centered on Stevie and I on the back of a whale while Astrid took pictures from the shoreline.
I start to close my eyes again when the same banging sound echoes through my apartment.
Someone is at the door.
Pushing my hair back from my face, I swing my legs over the side of the bed until my feet touch the cool hardwood.
I’m only wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of pink lace panties. I tugged both on after I took a shower before bed.
I glance at the screen of my phone on the bedside table to check the time. I wince.
“I’m coming,” I call to whoever is trying to break down the door to my apartment in the middle of the night.
The last time it happened, it was the building’s superintendent. He ran in to warn me that the water was being shut off because of a broken line down the block. I ended up camping out in an extra bedroom at Astrid’s brownstone for two nights.
It started as an inconvenience, but ended as a slumber party.
“What is it Norvin?” I ask as soon as I’m at the door.
I like Norvin, but the man doesn’t need to see me dressed like this, and the door is thin enough that you can carry on a full conversation through it.
“Who the fuck is Norvin?” A deep voice growls from the other side of the door. “Let me in.”
It’s Gaines.
It’s just past three a.m. and he’s essentially ghosted me for more than a week. Obviously, he had a good reason, but how much effort does it take to punch out a two letter text saying hi?
I need to play it cool, so I swing open the door, determined to not drop to my knees the second he’s inside.
Before I can do anything, he’s coming at me with solid steps.
I back up with each forward step he takes, until he’s slammed the door behind him with his shoe.
Since I turned on the hallway light on my way to the door, there’s enough light filtering into the foyer for me to see the agony in his expression.
It’s there in his eyes, too.
As desperately as I want the pain he’s feeling to be related to missing me, I instinctively know it’s not.
I want to ask what’s happened, but I sense he doesn’t want to answer any questions.
His arms are around me as soon as he’s close enough to make that happen. He folds himself over me, resting his chin on the top of my head. Only one hushed word leaves his lips. “Lamb.”
I let him hold me like that for moments on end. The harsh bite of the denim of his jeans brushes against a slice of my stomach that is now exposed. My feet ache because I’m perched on my tiptoes to embrace him.
He leans back slightly to gaze down into my eyes. “It’s freezing in here.”
I nod because I left a window open an inch to allow the sounds of the city to lull me to sleep.
He moves quickly, hauling me up by the hips, motioning for me to wrap my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist.
“Second door on the left in the hallway,” I tell him as I rest my cheek against his.
He nods in silence, carrying me through the quiet apartment to my bedroom.
As soon as we’re close enough to my bed, he lowers me gently, trailing kisses over my cheek until our lips meet for a chaste kiss.
He undresses quickly, tugging the T-shirt he’s wearing over his head before he toes out of his shoes. His jeans and boxer briefs are pushed to the floor.
I slide back my blanket enough to give him room to slide in. He does that, resting his head on the pillow I just had my head on. He grips it in his fist, inhaling deeply.
Still wearing my T-shirt and panties, I crawl in next to him, and nestle my body against his.
He tugs me closer. I can feel the steady beat of his heart thunder against my chest as he sucks in a long slow breath.
“I need you,” he whispers. “Fuck, do I need you.”
I press a kiss to his jaw and watch his eyes close until he finally drifts off to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Gaines
I wake Eloise with a leisurely kiss to her mouth.
Her eyes open slowly before they flutter closed as she tangles her hands in my hair.
I’m hard as stone, and aching to be inside of her.
“Good morning,” she whispers against my mouth.
I respond with a low growl, and a tug on the bottom of her T-shirt.
It’s cotton, and the fabric is thin enough that I could make out her perked nipples when I barged into her apartment four hours ago.