Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Oh no!
I pressed tight and whispered, “Cap.”
“I pushed him off, ran out of my room, to her—”
“Honey.”
“And the bitch said, ‘What’s your problem? Suck it up. I do.’”
“Oh my fucking God,” I breathed.
“Yeah. That night, grabbed some of my shit and got out and never went back, and then I met Park and—”
“Oh my fucking God,” I repeated.
But the way I did, Cleo popped onto her feet and woofed.
“Raye.”
I tore from his hold to sit up so I could screech, “Oh my fucking God! Seriously?”
Cleo woofed louder.
Cap sat up too and put both hands to my neck. “Baby, it was a long time ago. I barely even remember what she looks like. Honestly.”
“Holy shit, that’s fucking lunacy.”
“Calm down, Raye, look at me. I’m okay. I’m good. I got a good life. A big family.”
“Okay, but still,” I snapped.
“My sister wasn’t snatched, and my mom didn’t commit suicide, and my dad didn’t bury himself in his own shit and forget to take care of me—”
I shook my head and slapped a hand on his chest, then fisted his shirt in my fingers.
“Oh no. We’re not playing that game of who had it worse, Cap. We both had it bad, and I like you. You’re hot and have a beautiful laugh and like dogs, and I am one hundred percent not okay with your birth mom being such a goddamned cunt.”
For a second, he stilled.
Okay, maybe I took that a shade (or a hundred of them) too far.
Then he started laughing.
My head fixed to explode.
“You think this is funny?” I shouted.
“I haven’t seen the woman in nearly two decades. She does not factor in my life.”
“Do you know where she lives?”
“No. Why?”
“Because I wanna go there and cut a bitch.”
He started laughing again.
Cleo snuffled us.
“Stop laughing!” I yelled at Cap.
Cleo scooted away as I landed on my back with Cap’s chest pressed to mine.
His face in my face, he said, “She’s not worth the effort.”
“I hate her,” I declared.
“She’s not worth that emotion.”
“I still hate her.”
His lips were twitching as he replied, “Right. Go for it. The hating her bit. But I don’t know where she lives, and I don’t give enough fucks to find out. Even for you.”
Ugh.
Moving on.
“Is my makeup ruined?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad we missed Vincent’s?”
“No.”
“Are you mad you’re gonna lose your booking deposit for Platform 18?”
“No, again.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I can cook, and I like to cook, but I’m unprepared to craft the first meal I’ll ever serve you, which has to be an occasion. It has to have a wow factor. No way I’m blowing that. But I’m hell on wheels with DoorDash. So what do you want?”
I did not pay for the DoorDash, Cap did.
He took off his blazer and shoes, I took off my shoes, we ate in my bed while we talked, and Cleo stared at us with pleading eyes and failed in not slobbering (I felt for her, we’d ordered Raising Cane’s, and that fried chicken smell was probably torture for the poor pooch). In the end, I asked him to spend the night, and he said yes.
So I did my nighttime prep and showed in the room in my nightie to find Cap in my bed, covers up to his waist, shoulders to my padded headboard, his glorious chest on display (it was tan too, and glorious didn’t quite cut it as a descriptive word, I’d have to ask Luna how to describe it, maybe sublime or divine or awe-inspiring or transcendent, but you get the picture).
I crawled in beside him. We cuddled, kept talking, and I fell asleep while doing that.
It was the shittiest first date on record.
Yet it was the best I’d ever had.
I threw the covers off me, went to the bathroom, did my business, brushed my teeth, hit the kitchen, started coffee, grabbed my phone and went back to bed.
There, I called Luna.
“Yo, how was the date?” she answered.
“I lost it after seeing Elsie Fay. Cap brought me home. I cried in his arms for maybe twenty minutes, but probably more like an entire hour. I then bared all about Macy. And Dad. And Mom. He told me some shitty stuff about his life. We ordered DoorDash. He spent the night platonically, and that isn’t just about the fact I’m on my period. And now he’s out walking Cleo for me. Though, he liked the outfit you picked out so much he kissed me about two seconds after he saw me in it, and the man knows how to use his tongue. I didn’t have an orgasm, and still, my clit was completely satisfied.”
“Holy crap.”
“I know.”
“You told him about Macy?”
“Yep.”
Her voice was rising. “On the first date?”
“He already knew the basics. He’d researched me. But, outside sharing about my Citadel, I gave him it all. He held me and listened to me then gave as good as he got. Completely open. Seemingly adjusted. Not daunted by my drama. Not fucked up about his. Not even a little bit, on either, Loon.”