Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
And from the way Rhodes smiled at me, he didn’t care either.
I’d been surprised by how patient of a teacher he’d been. He’d never raised his voice or rolled his eyes, other than the one time he used his Navy Voice on a teenage boy who knocked me over. But he had laughed a couple times when I’d lost control, freaked out, and bailed, which had then resulted in me busting my ass. But he’d also been the one to tug me up to sitting, wipe my goggles off with his gloved hand, and then help me to stand.
“I need a break,” I told him, rubbing my hip with my glove. “I have to pee.”
Rhodes nodded before bending over to release his boots from the snowboard.
I bent over and did the same.
Finished, I picked up my board and followed after him. There was a small building I’d seen when we’d arrived with a sign for restrooms and concessions. Leaving our boards in one of the racks, I headed toward the bathrooms, used it, and by the time I got done, I found Rhodes sitting at one of the tables on the small deck surrounding the concession stand with two cups in front of him. Music played softly through small speakers.
But it was the woman sitting in the chair opposite of him that had me pausing.
She was pretty, about my age if not younger . . . and from the smile on her face, flirting her ass off.
Jealousy—pure-blooded jealousy—sprang out of nowhere inside of my stomach, and honestly, it surprised the shit out of me. My chest went tight. Even my throat felt a little funny. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’d ever been jealous while I’d been with Kaden. One of those times had been when he’d gone on his fake date; another time had been right after we’d split up and he’d gone on a date a month later. And the other two occasions had been when his high school girlfriend had shown up at his shows, and that was only because Mrs. Jones had liked her, I’d determined one day.
But right then, as I took in the woman talking to my landlord, that sensation came at me like a damn hurricane.
He wasn’t smiling at her. It didn’t even look like he was talking to her by the way his lips were pressed together, but . . . none of that changed anything.
I was jealous.
Aunt Carolina and Yuki would be shocked because I sure as hell was.
He wasn’t my boyfriend. We weren’t even dating. He could—
She touched his arm, and my throat muscles had to work extra hard to get me to swallow.
Holding my breath a little, I put one foot in front of the other and got myself to move toward them just as the woman smiled brighter and touched Rhodes once more. I was only a few feet away when those gray eyes I knew too well moved in my direction, and then, then, a small smile came over his mouth. And as I kept making my way over, I watched as he pulled out the chair beside him, a little at an angle and closer to his.
I could hear the woman talking in a nice, clear voice even as her gaze flicked over her shoulder to try and figure out who Rhodes was looking at. “. . . if you have time,” she said at just about the same time her smile wilted a little.
I smiled at her and carefully took the seat that he’d pulled out, my gaze going from him to her and then the steaming cup on the table.
He pushed it toward me as he said, “Thank you for the invitation, Ms. Maldonado, but I’m going to be in Colorado Springs at that time.”
I picked up the cup and brought it to my mouth, peeking at the woman as discreetly as possible. She was looking back and forth between Rhodes and me, trying to figure out . . . what? If we were together or not? “I can possibly work some things around if you have time once you get back,” she offered, apparently deciding that we weren’t. Maybe because I wasn’t shooting her eye daggers.
I couldn’t exactly blame her.
I’d be hitting on him too.
That thought alone made me feel petty. Of course women flirted with him. He was gorgeous, and his crabby little attitude just made him more attractive to some people more than likely. I was probably the only sucker who had been drawn in by how good of a dad he was.
Or maybe not.
“I appreciate the offer,” Rhodes replied in that tight voice that reminded me of what our relationship had been like months ago. “I won’t have time then either, but I’ll make sure to tell Amos you asked about him, and if you have any questions, you can call the office, and someone should be able to help you out.”