Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Livie and Dame laugh. Will laughs and shakes his head, but it’s the sound coming from Finn—somewhere between a laugh and a cough—that makes me smile harder.
“I’ll get a table,” I announce.
“I’ll come with,” Livie says.
“Fletcher, get me a lemonade,” Finn says as Will and Dame walk to the pretzel stand.
“Don’t forget my water,” I add, and he nods.
Livie, Finn, and I make a beeline for the first large empty booth we see. Livie sits across from me, and of course, Finn slides in beside me. He scoots closer and crowds me with his large body and amazing smell. Even the way he breathes is sexy, which is ridiculous but true. When his arm brushes up against mine, I tense, feeling like my heart might just beat out of my damn chest.
“Dad’s sent me five texts mansplaining inflation to me,” Livie says, laughing as she looks at her phone. “Oh god. Now he’s sending me links to articles in the NASDAQ.”
I laugh. “He would.”
“You’re almost done with college and you don’t know what inflation is?” Finn asks, frowning slightly.
“She took an edible and has been philosophizing about man-made constructs,” I explain, my eyes flicking from his to Liv. “What’d you ask Papa Nas?”
The sound of Finn’s laugh makes my heart skip. “I bet Dr. Nassir just loves that nickname.”
“He actually does,” I say, grinning. My heart skips again when I glance over and catch him staring at my lips. I look away so fast I almost give myself whiplash.
“I asked him what would happen if they printed more money,” Livie says and laughs again. “Oh my god. He just sent another article.” She looks at Finn. “I’m not even going to ask you what you think would happen if they printed more money.”
That makes me laugh. “I don’t think that’s a good question to ask a billionaire trust-fund baby.” I look over at Finn again. “Especially one who buys his underwear at expensive department stores.”
His mouth twitches. “Did you also take an edible?”
“Nope. I’m the chauffeur.”
“She’s for hire,” Livie says. “As long as you buy her sneakers. That’s the price I paid.”
I laugh. “You are such a liar! You bought me sneakers because you lost the ones you borrowed from me last fall.”
“Still for hire,” she quips.
“I’d hire you,” Finn says, his voice dropping as he moves closer.
I feel like I'm going to die—from the proximity, his delicious scent, and the way he's acting with me in public. His gaze drops to my mouth and I instinctively lick my lips.
“Fuck,” he says. It’s a breath, barely a sound.
Everything around us disappears as he moves his face closer to mine. He brushes his nose against mine and the butterflies in my stomach riot.
“Finn,” I say quietly, a warning, a plea.
As if remembering where we are, he pulls back and looks around. Only then do I let out the breath I was holding. I clear my throat and glance at Livie, who’s looking at us with a shocked expression on her face, but quickly goes back to her phone. I start drumming on the table and stare at my white nails. I’m dying to check my phone, but I don’t want to do it in front of him.
All day I’ve been expecting a text from Scarlet at Onyx—which is exactly how she’s saved on my phone—and I’d rather Finn not see it. Knowing him, he’ll jump to conclusions and call me a liar again, which … I guess I technically am. The thought makes my stomach coil. Mallory’s no longer with us, and she’s still a pain in the ass. God, I miss her.
“I’ll be right back,” Livie says, standing and walking away.
I watch her go, knowing I’m going to get such an earful about this later.
“Whose shirt are you wearing today, Josie?” Finn asks, his voice deeper than it was before and his eyes so dark my heart skips another beat.
“Don’t call me that,” I whisper, swallowing. “And it’s Damian’s.”
He makes a low grunting noise. “Do you need me to take you shopping for clothes?”
My brows rise. “I have clothes.”
“Why do you keep wearing other men’s shirts then?”
My mouth twists. “Okay, first of all, you can’t tell me what I can—”
“I would never tell you what to wear.”
“—and can’t wear.” I shoot him a look. “Secondly, this is my stepbrother’s shirt, so—”
“I don’t like seeing it on you.”
I blink. “—you can’t possibly be jealous.”
“Seeing you in other men’s clothes is fucking maddening, Josslyn,” he growls.
My heart stops, but I don’t take my eyes away from his, and the longer we stare, the hotter the fire in his eyes burns into me. I resist the urge to ask why, but it’s clear Finn doesn’t even know what he’s feeling. Suddenly, he pulls back and straightens. When I look forward, I see my stepbrother and Will grabbing pretzels and cheese and turning to walk over. We spend the next hour talking shit and eating pretzels, and even though we’re not alone, it feels like we are in our own bubble as we joke back and forth. If I completely tune out the other three people with us, I can almost pretend it’s a date.