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)
I was his babe. I was his.
“Did you used to come to Manny’s back in high school and sit in my section because it was my section?” I’d forgotten all about those times until Heather brought it up. Now, it was suddenly real important for me to know.
He frowned a little but jerked his head in a nod. “Yeah. I told you that I used to see you too.”
I remembered a time in Roussou. “I thought you were laughing at me.”
He went still, quieting his voice. “When?”
“When you and Blaise came to the pizza place in Roussou, to pick up a pizza for Aspen. You laughed at me.”
“I wasn’t laughing at you.”
I frowned. “You weren’t?”
“I was laughing at Blaise. You asked if he was Aspen’s boyfriend, and I thought that was the funniest thing ever because no one asked Blaise random questions like that.”
“They didn’t?”
“Most were scared of that hothead. I liked that you were asking about Aspen. It made him feel off-balance, just a bit. I wanted you to ask him more questions.”
“Right.” I was remembering the rest. “He got into a fight.”
“Yep.” The pride coming from him was…well, that was just Zeke by now. “That’s my boy. I miss that piece of hothead shit. Wish he’d decide to play over here in the US.” He took a deep breath, sat down behind his desk, and began by pulling up the internet. “The way I see it, you have three choices right now.”
“What are they?”
He looked at me, and there was no cockiness, no smart joke, no teasing, no sexual innuendo. Nothing like that. It was just Zeke looking back at me. “I’m going to do this, so you can either pretend you don’t know what I’m doing, and I’d suggest heading out for the night so you can claim you didn’t know. The second option, call and report me. I know it’s wrong, but I’m going to do it anyways.”
My mouth was dry again, and my heart was beating hard. “What’s the third option?”
“Pull up a chair and keep me company.”
I was wrong. It wasn’t just Zeke looking at me. It was my Zeke looking at me. Mine.
I was his babe, and he was just mine.
I went over to him and laid a kiss on him. “Kick some ass.”
He was adorable when he hacked.
He was quiet the whole time, but hunched over, and squinting. Randomly he’d reach for something to drink or eat, and he kept going. I knew the basics from college. Computers weren’t my forte. If I ever decided to pursue a more specialized degree, I’d need to learn, but so far, I enjoyed doing things with my hands. Zeke seemed in a whole different league, and I knew this wasn’t the first time I’d thought it. But it was the first time I wasn’t scared about it or felt small because of it. I was proud of it. I wasn’t proud of what he was doing, but in this day and age, it kinda felt nice knowing he had these skills.
It was scary what people could do in the cyber world.
My phone kept buzzing through the night, so I laid back on his couch and typed back to people.
Tasmin: Checking in on you. You okay?
Me: I’m good. With Zeke.
Tasmin: Good! Back home, and I’m drunk, but had such a good time. You’re officially in the fold now. Do you want to do drinks sometime? Or lunch? Or coffee?
This was different. Then again, since Zeke and I became Zeke and I, everything was different.
Me: Lunch would be fun sometime.
Tasmin: Great! I’ll reach out later in the week. I wouldn’t worry about Zeke. The guys always get into trouble, but they always get themselves out of trouble too.
Me: That helps to hear. Thank you. Have a nice night.
The other person was Bren.
Bren: Hey — sorry if I came across as stern and overbearing. I was just worried, but I know Zeke’s a changed guy.
I looked at him, as he was currently breaking the law a few feet away from me, then read the rest of her text.
Bren: I’ve never seen him in love before. Just, I’m here if you ever need anything. I really am here. I don’t usually reach out like this to people so yeah.
And that was major because I knew she didn’t. Bren was like me. She didn’t have a lot of female friends, or I didn’t think she did. Her crew. Her guy. Her family. Her job. That was Bren to me, but I wasn’t lying when I texted her back.
Me: I know you care. I’ve always considered myself lucky to get that from you because I know you’re not like that with just anyone. And second, thank you. I really and truly mean it. Having friends is new to me so please excuse me if I’m a bit awkward in this text.