Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
His “yes” came a lot faster than I would have expected.
But I braced myself anyway. “It’s kind of personal.”
“Ask.”
“Why doesn’t anyone call you Tobias other than your dad?”
He let out a soft, soft breath. “My mom called me that.”
Could I have asked a worse question? I doubted it. “I’m sorry I brought it up. I was just curious. It’s a nice name.”
“It’s all right,” he replied softly.
I had to fix this. “Just so you know… I really like you. More than I probably should too.”
He said one thing and one thing only, “Good.”
I bit my lip again. “Hey, can I ask you one last thing?”
I was pretty sure I hadn’t ruined the night when I heard a lazy grunt. “Yes.”
“Were you being serious about there being a bat or…?”
His sleepy chuckle made me smile. “’Night, angel face.”
Chapter 26
I woke up warm.
Very, very warm.
Mostly because I was cuddled up against Rhodes’s back. My arms were crossed, my forehead was tucked between his shoulder blades, and my toes were hiding under his calves. Rhodes, thankfully, was oblivious.
The memory of our conversation last night had me eyeing the smooth skin in front of my eyes. The urge to stroke those sleek muscles was right there. But I kept my hands to myself. Because he was right. I wanted more time. For all my big talk last night, I didn’t want to rush into anything yet. I wasn’t going anywhere, and from what he had said, he wasn’t either.
Not that I wouldn’t mind seeing him naked. Because I would sign up for that in a heartbeat.
Carefully, so that I wouldn’t wake him, I scooted away slowly and exhaled. Then I rolled out of bed and peeked at the sleeping figure some more. On his side, that smooth skin of his peeked out from where the heavy comforter lay tucked right beneath his armpits. He was breathing deeply.
You know… I was pretty sure I was in love with him.
And I was pretty sure he might be a little in love with me too.
I opened the door as quietly as possible and snuck out of the room, closing it behind me with the softest click. Creeping down the stairs, I stopped right at the bottom.
Amos was in his pajamas, sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. He gave me a sleepy look. I lifted my hand and tipped up my head.
“Your dad told me to sleep up there,” I muttered as I made my way to get a glass for some water.
The kid gave me a sleepy but funny look as he muttered, “Uh-huh,” just as my phone started vibrating. “It’s done that like three times in the last ten minutes.” He sighed, sounding disgruntled.
Picking it up from where I’d left it charging on the counter last night, I peeked at the unknown number calling. It was seven in the morning. Who could it be? Only about twenty people had my number, and I had every person’s contact information stored on it. The area code was local too.
I answered. “Hello?”
“Aurora?” the familiar voice replied.
My whole body jerked in place. “Mrs. Jones?”
The Antichrist barreled on like she went through everything in her life: with no regard for anyone but herself and her children. “Look here, I know how stubborn you’re being about all this—”
“What?” It was too early for this shit. It was way too early. What was she doing contacting me? “How the hell did you get my number? Why are you calling?” I spat in sheer disbelief this was happening.
Her pause was too short. “I really need to speak to you if you won’t respond to Kaden.”
I remembered then. I remembered right in that moment that I didn’t need to take her bullshit anymore. So I hung up.
And I smirked.
And Amos asked in his sleepy voice, “Why do you look like that?”
“I forgot how much I like hanging up on people,” I answered him, feeling pretty damn pleased with myself as I processed what I’d done. Damn, did that feel good.
He frowned like he thought I was nuts just as my phone started vibrating again. The same number flashed on the screen. I hit ignore.
“Who is that?”
“Did you know the devil is really a woman?” I asked.
My phone started vibrating again, and I cursed. She wasn’t going to let this go. Why would I expect otherwise from someone who thought we were all around to serve her? The urge to keep playing this game—ignoring her calls—pulsed deeply in my chest… but the urge to never have this shit happen again was even stronger once I thought about it. That surprised me a lot.
I didn’t actually want to keep doing this with her. With any of them, really. I didn’t even want to waste my time thinking about them anymore.
I knew damn well I needed to end this once and for all, and there was only one way to do that.