Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Is there anything my man does that doesn’t make my heart flutter?
He tips his head up. Our eyes meet. His gaze shifts toward Torch. The smile on Dex’s face fades.
“Uh,” Torch shifts a few inches away from me. “Who’d you say your boyfriend was?”
“I didn’t.”
“He’s a Lost King?” He curses under his breath.
“Yep.”
“Emily, did you see me?” Libby asks, running up to us. She briefly glances at Torch, then returns her attention to me. “That’s harder than I thought.”
“You did good, pudding.” I lean over to give her a quick hug.
“Em,” Dex greets. His frosty glare settles on Torch.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Libby, do you remember Torch?” I ask, ignoring the waves of possessiveness rolling off of Dex. “We went to high school together. He gave us rides home a couple times after I picked you up from school.”
She squints up at him. “Kinda. Hi!” She waves at him.
“And now you’re learning to drive. I feel old,” he jokes.
Libby shrugs as if she agrees. “I’m staaarving after all that hard work. I’m going to grab a burger.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” I say.
“Are you coming, Dex?” Libby asks.
“Yup. Be there in a minute.”
Torch’s mouth tilts to the side, like he has a feeling Dex has some words for him, but he doesn’t want to tuck tail and run, either.
Torch holds out his hand. “Dex, right? I’m—”
“Standing too close to my girl,” Dex finishes for him.
Torch pulls a yikes face and withdraws his hand.
“Dex,” I say, using my most patient tone. “Torch is a friend from high school.”
Movement behind Dex catches my eye. Rooster and Murphy. Coming to back up their brother, no doubt. This just keeps getting worse.
“I’m also Eraser’s cousin,” Torch says.
“Right,” Dex growls.
“Well, then, I’ll see you at the barbeque.” Torch tilts his head toward the pavilion area where everyone else seems to be congregating. He reaches out and squeezes the top of my arm. “Good to see you.”
“You too.” I flash a quick smile and once Torch turns away, shoot my glare at Dex.
Since the fireworks fizzled fast, Rooster and Murphy leave without checking in with Dex.
I hold out my hand to my boyfriend. “Dex, darling, come take a walk with me. Tell me all about the driving lesson.”
He shoots a wry and unapologetic smirk at my saccharine tone. My feet want to kick him but my lady bits kind of want to strangle his cock.
He wraps his hand around mine. “Sure, lead the way, firecracker.”
I glance over my shoulder toward the grill and picnic tables. Libby’s at a table with Shelby, Heidi, and Ella, devouring a cheeseburger. Rooster and Murphy are sitting on a low stone wall behind the grill talking to Eraser and Griff. Still, I keep walking until we round the corner of the bleachers where we’re out of sight.
I drop Dex’s hand and spin to face him.
“Are you kidding me?” I bite out through clenched teeth, quickly sweeping my gaze around the area. Still clear. “You hang out with some dancer you used to bang—who still has feelings for you and tried to ride your dick not that long ago, by the way. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that. But I run into someone I haven’t seen since high school and you’re ready to stuff him in an oil drum and seal the lid?”
His jaw tightens and I think it has more to do with me bringing up Swan than talking about Torch, but come on.
“It’s pretty obvious he wouldn’t mind you riding his dick now,” Dex seethes. “And you didn’t bother to tell him to get his hands off you.”
I flick my gaze to the sky, contemplating kicking him in the shins, but blow out a long, irritated breath instead.
“The first thing I said to him was that my boyfriend was giving my sister a driving lesson.”
“And yet he was hugging you and practically slobbering all over you.”
I lift my chin. “Really, Dex? What do you need to do to make it better? Take a piss on my leg to let all the boys know I belong to you?”
His lips curl into a tight smile. “Careful, firecracker.” He leans in closer. “I’m dying to toss you over my shoulder, slap your ass, take you under those bleachers, and fuck you into oblivion.”
For some unfathomable reason, my breathing picks up. His threat offends me on a surface level. In every other way, it excites the hell out of me.
A satisfied smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth but otherwise his battle-ready posture relaxes. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“I’d rather not scar my sister for life.” There. Statement sidestepped.
The last traces of his amped-up caveman demeanor vanish. “I didn’t like seeing you two so close and so friendly. But I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” He glances over his shoulder toward the track. “I should’ve snapped him in half.”