Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I was halfway to the door when my phone dinged in my back pocket. I fished it out and found a text from my other roommate, Blaire.
Whitt is at our house?
“Piper,” I growled.
I’d been living with the girls since our friend Jennifer had moved out…and I’d been evicted from my last property. Word of advice: never move into a property your boyfriend owns without signing a lease.
But even though I’d been living with the girls for a year, I still wasn’t used to the way they gossiped. I’d never had girlfriends to gossip with…only be gossiped about. And so having Piper tell Blaire I was with Whitt triggered something deep within the pit of my stomach.
Spill! I want to know what’s going on. Piper wouldn’t tell me anything!
I blew out a breath of relief. This wasn’t gossip. This was how girlfriends spoke to each other. They wanted to know all the juicy details. Blaire and Piper were excited for me rather than talking shit about me. I needed to get used to the distinction, but it was hard to break the fear from twenty-five years of backstabbing.
He just drove me home. My car wouldn’t start. He’s giving me a jump.
Is that a sexual innuendo?
I snorted.
No. He’s jumping the battery in my car.
Are either of you naked in this scenario?
Blaire!
Don’t act prudish now!
I’m not prudish. I’m just not a horny teenager!
Please, we’re all horny teenagers.
Blaire was one of those girl-power people. She’d started a successful influencing program for women to achieve their dreams and move past their insecurities. She was constantly using her therapist speak on me about embracing my inherent identity and releasing shame. But I didn’t know what shame she had. She was with the hottest rockstar on the planet and picking up PR gigs all over the country. Girl practically had a fairy godmother waving a wand over her head and giving her the perfect life. I wouldn’t mind one of those.
Whitt is a thirst trap.
He’s probably just thirsty right now. I left him outside in the heat.
I sent her a picture of me holding the bottles of water.
You mean, he’s thirsty for you. 🥵
I left her on Read and stuffed my phone back in my pocket. I couldn’t justify a response. Because the way Whitt had been looking at me, he did look thirsty. And, fuck, so was I.
With both bottles in one hand, I opened the front door and headed outside. Cables were connected to our two cars. Whitt sat on my driver’s side and was revving the engine. It sounded like it was going to turn over, a ticking noise came from one side, but then it stopped. That didn’t look like a good sign.
Whitt stepped out of my 4Runner. He’d already shed his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, revealing powerful forearms. My eyes traveled over him as he strode to the engine. His eyes roved over the parts. I had a rudimentary understanding of how things worked. I could change a tire and jump a car. Though I knew how to change the oil, I opted for one of those fifteen-minute places instead. The only things I knew beyond that were the parts that I’d had to replace.
I’d had a radiator blow up on me at a Sonic drive-in. Smoke billowed out of the engine like a small bomb. An oil leak had come and gone for months with little patch repairs before more extensive work. I’d gone the summer before college without air-conditioning before I scrounged up enough to cover the repair. My brake pads had been burned into the ground before I had the money to make that replacement. And all that didn’t include the dead battery, a few flat tires, and a Check Engine light that still flared to life every time I started the car. I’d never gotten up the courage to figure out what that was all about. I liked to live on the wild side and hope for the best.
“How’s it going?” I asked as I strode toward him.
“Not great,” he admitted.
He hadn’t looked up yet. His fingers were currently working their way down the buttons of his shirt. My steps slowed as I watched inch after inch of toned skin appear on his chest. He slid the shirt off his shoulders and tossed it inside the car before leaning into the hood of the car and getting his hands dirty.
Literally.
My mouth went dry. Those shoulders flexed as he reached deeper into the car. His back muscles rippled as he spread his legs wider for balance. The sharp angles of his body formed a V as his torso tapered to his trim waist and into his suit pants. His impressive ass pushed backward. I tilted my head to get a better look. For a second, all I wanted to do was pour the entire bottle of water over my head.