Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“Not you, Cosmos. Kieran.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want me to leave?” Kieran turned to Dylan. “I won’t if you don’t want me to.”
She nodded. “It’s okay. I can take him down. I’ll aim for his balls.” She curled her fists. But once Kieran had scurried back to the table on the other side of the aquarium and it was just me and her, she dropped the charade and pressed her forehead to the cool fish tank, closing her eyes and blowing out a breath. “Oh God.”
“Is he still hitting on you?” I leaned a shoulder against the marine wall, studying her.
“No.” A wry chuckle left her mouth. “Even if he did, you and I made a promise to each other we’d be exclusive for the length of this arrangement.”
Her eyes were still closed. Maybe it was time I stopped worrying so much about her porking other people and more about the fact that she seemed upset. I was still new to this “giving a shit” business.
I pinched my lower lip between my fingers. “You know Row was only trying to be helpful in his own backward, ooga-booga, me-a-tough-big-ape, you-a-small-cute-ape kinda way, right?”
She pushed off the aquarium with a sigh, her forehead leaving a smudge on the glass. “Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t change the fact that I still feel fourteen sometimes. Like I’m not fully in charge of my own life.”
“Because Row is an overbearing prick?” I frowned.
“Because my family doesn’t trust me to do the right thing by myself and by my daughter. I’m like a fish in a tank.” Her finger traced the path of a bright orange discus fish over the thick glass. “Swimming aimlessly, pretending to be free, but very much a prisoner in my own beautiful golden cage.”
“Well, you know, that’s just like, uh, your opinion, man,” I blurted, bringing my palms to rest atop my head.
She turned to give me a funny look.
“Are you Big Lebowski-ing me after my big emotional speech?” Her eyes widened.
“Are you getting a reference from a nineties movie?” I lit up. “Impressive.”
“I’m Calla Casablancas’s best friend. I know everything about the nineties.”
“What I mean to say is you might feel like a fish in a tank, but trust me, you’re more like…a shark in a pool.”
“Meaning?” She slanted her head to study me.
“Yeah, your brother is domineering, but you’re just as stubborn and opinionated as he is. You don’t let him push you around. You’re made of the same cloth, so it’s not like he has the upper hand. You guys are just butting heads. You always end up doing whatever you want anyway.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Her lips twitched with a small smile. “I am just as stubborn and bossy.”
“You could use someone to boss you around. It’ll give you a chance to let go a little. I bet you’d like that.” I studied her intently. “Being a little more submissive in bed.”
From the color in her cheeks, I knew I was heading in the right direction. My pulse drummed its way up to my throat.
“Come here.” I curled a finger her way.
She did, pushing off the aquarium and erasing the gap between us in three strides. She stopped, waiting for more directions. My dick twitched. I slipped my hands inside my front pockets, clinging to my nonchalance as if it were a goddamn anchor.
“Are you wet?”
She snorted. “You wish.”
I tsked, giving her a slow once-over. “Flip your dress up, and show me your panties.”
Her satisfied smirk disappeared, and she looked at me with uncertainty. I knew she was wet.
“What will I get if I do it?” she bargained.
“The orgasm I denied you back there, when you made up a whole story about me sobbing to take you out.” I jerked my thumb behind my shoulder.
She gulped. Grabbed the hem of her dress, slowly hiking it up a millimeter at a time. Didn’t matter, because by the time her pink satin undies were on full display, I could see the stain of her arousal where the slit was. Her eyes traveled up to meet mine, her blush deepening.
“God, you are gorgeous.” I grabbed the back of her head, tilted it up by fisting her hair, and kissed the fuck out of her.
We were in the corridor. The only thing standing between us and our group of friends was the half-see-through aquarium wall. It was risky and illicit, and I found myself throwing caution to the wind. At the end of the day, what were humans if not mere animals—impulsive, egotistical, and emotional? I took an AP class in psychology before college, so I knew damn well I was rationalizing to myself an excuse for why my thumb was currently brushing the junction between my best friend’s baby sister’s inner thigh and underwear. Even before I made it to the center—to the slit, the main event—I could feel her wetness. Every fiber of my body and soul wanted to take a knee, dunk my head under her pretty rose dress, and feast on her pussy like a starved man.