Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“What?”
His grin was crooked. “I am a very lonely lonely guy.”
I started laughing. “You’re right. You are.”
“I so am. So you moving in is like doing me a favor.”
The tightness in my chest began loosening up. Just a bit. “Well, when you put it like that…” My head was clearing a bit and I could think more clearly. This was my baggage. Accepting help. I was starting to get that. I lifted my head until I could touch my forehead to his. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
His smile turned soft. “Of course. Like I said, it’s no problem.”
For him, it was no problem. He didn’t get it, didn’t know how I had grown up, but I didn’t want him to get it. That would bring extra concern for him, worrying about me, and I didn’t want to be anyone’s bother. “We’re really doing this, huh?”
His hand moved up under my shirt, spreading out over my back. “Fuck yeah, we’re doing this. I called all your workplaces and they said you could have tomorrow off too. I was thinking to celebrate, let’s do a party tonight?”
“Party?” I stiffened.
He responded right away. “How about a small one? We gotta celebrate you moving in, and my boy is here. He gets like a month off, and with how his family is, I don’t know how much time we’ll get with him.”
But a party? With all his friends?
“What’s this about?” He gestured to my face, my frown.
“I don’t know who to invite. I don’t have a lot of friends.”
Zeke started laughing.
“Hey.” I scowled at him.
“No. It’s—Ava, if only you would realize that you have a lot of friends. You don’t know they’re your friends, but they consider you a friend.”
“Oh.”
“Leave the party planning to me?”
I nodded. If anything, I could slip away and hide. That was more a me thing to do, but it was his house. Zeke wanted a party. I’d try for him. “That sounds a lot easier.”
He started eyeing my shirt, his free hand moving from my leg to pulling it down an inch. “Hmmm. What are your thoughts on quickies?”
My heart sped up. “I’ve actually never had one.”
His eyes lit, and he picked me up. “Never?”
He carried me over, locking the door.
I shook my head. “Nope.” I had a feeling that was about to change as he hit the fan. He moved me so I was sitting on top of my desk, and he stepped between my legs. His eyes were all dark, and his mouth lowered to mine.
That was when I also learned that Zeke really enjoyed making me scream when I was in a situation where I couldn’t scream. He was half laughing with his hand covering my mouth as he kept moving inside of me.
I’d say by the end, I was going to enjoy more quickies.
14
ZEKE
It was party time, and the small gathering was…more than small. I stopped counting when it hit in the fifties. Ava looked ready to faint. Which was cute to watch because her eyes had these little crinkle lines around them, and her mouth somewhat turned into fish-lips, which was fucking adorable. Her cheeks got a little pink at the top and pale in the middle. And then there was the whole thing where she didn’t know what to say or do, and she stood there, like she was frozen in the middle of oncoming traffic.
I could watch her all day long, like right now as she was on the other side of the living room. She got backed into a corner when Blaise’s woman and Blaise’s brother’s woman arrived. They made a beeline for Ava and hadn’t left her side.
There was another in that group, but I hadn’t seen Blaise’s sister show up.
Ava was drinking and kept wetting her lips, which meant she was nervous.
“She’s not a big socializer, huh?” Blaise asked, coming behind the bar and leaning against the counter with me. I’d decided to tend bar outside on the patio, with the doors pulled all the way open so the living room and kitchen was free flowing onto the backyard and pool area.
I’d not done much bartending, to be honest. I’d been more fascinated watching Ava. She was like a reality show just for me. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but I also knew a better hunch was not to tell anyone. No one could judge me, and I couldn’t stop watching her.
“She thinks she has no friends.” We’d gone over this already.
I could feel my bro watch me. I gave him a sideways grin, still not taking my gaze off Ava.
He asked, “And your idea to convince her otherwise was to throw a party?”
“It’s a roommate-warming party.”
“You stupid.”
Now I looked at him, and half-glared, but also half-smirked because that was funny. “You dumb.”