Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“We’ve got this,” Jonah said. “Hopefully we don’t have to prove our black-belt skills again, though.” He cocked his head. “Although I guess it worked out since I don’t think you believed me.”
I laughed at that. “I did believe you!”
“Mhmm.” Jonah crossed his arms. “Well, I didn’t believe you, so…”
“Oh, you didn’t?”
“No. No, I didn’t.” Jonah was holding back a laugh. “Yeah, right, of course I believed you. Look at you. You look like you can take someone out with a pinky finger alone.”
I lifted my pinky finger and wiggled it menacingly. “Don’t try me.”
“I won’t.” Jonah raised his hand. “Pinky promise.” His smile cracked, laughs coming from the both of us.
We joked a little longer, enjoying the warmth of the water mixed with the warmth of the moment. I didn’t think I’d felt this relaxed around anyone in a long-ass time, which was weird considering that a couple of hours ago I was pistol-whipping two thugs in a warehouse graveyard.
But that was what happened with Jonah. Being around him transported me; it lifted me out of all the other bullshit going on in life and put me in a different mindset.
“You know,” I said, after a moment of comfortable quiet between us, the hypnotizing song of the ocean playing in the background, “I keep forgetting you and I met literally the other day. It’s crazy.”
Jonah was floating on his back, his eyes shut, his smile lazy. “It is crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like you, Fox. And the fact that we met when we did. I don’t know. Like you said: crazy.”
He looked so relaxed, hands out at his sides, his legs open, and his toes bobbing up and down. Jonah’s black briefs weren’t see-through, but they were still tight and clung to every part of him.
I tried not to stare. I swear. I tried.
“Sorry about taking over your bed by the way.” His eyes were still shut, but I could see the genuine feeling of apology in his wrinkled brow.
“Are you kidding? I sleep like a rock on any kind of surface. You can sleep on my bed for however long it takes you to find a new place.”
“No, no. Seriously, I’ll stay at a hotel until I do.”
“Don’t spend money on a shitty hotel when you can crash at mine. Trust me, it’s fine. Actually, you know what, this gives me a good excuse to clean up the guest room. I should have done it a while ago. Just never needed that room except to hold a workout machine and a couple of boxes of old books.”
Jonah stopped floating and stood up, blue eyes open and set on mine. “Again, I’m not making you go out of your way to host my wreck of a self. It’s fine. I’ll find a hotel.”
I didn’t respond, just kept our stares locked together.
“Or… I mean, I guess I can help clean the guest room out… I… you sure?”
“A hundred percent.” I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. “Trust me.”
“All right,” Jonah said. He looked apprehensive, but that quickly gave way to relief, made clear in his growing grin and glowing eyes. “All right.”
I dug my toes into the sand. It felt good, being reminded that I was still on earth and not floating off somewhere in space.
What was I doing? Anyone else and I would have been fine with them posting up at a hotel for a week or so until they got their feet back under them. But with Jonah, I didn’t want him going through any kind of bullshit. And if that meant undergoing a full-on room-makeover situation, then so be it.
“I have to stop by my old place sometime today. I’ve got to pack up all my shit. Chibby, my iguana, needs rescuing, too. You don’t mind…”
“Hosting a scaly little reptile? Absolutely not.”
“Thanks, and you’ll take my iguana, too?”
That got me laughing. “You’re definitely not comparable to a lizard. I’d peg you more as a majestic, eh, let’s see… a majestic phoenix. You rise up from the ashes, looking fucking fierce as you do it.”
It was Jonah’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, okay… I was talking about Wendy, but…”
My jaw dropped. “Gah! Of course, that’s what I—“
Jonah was laughing harder now, causing me to join in. “It’s ok,” he said, still laughing. “I get what you mean, Fox, it was a dumb joke on my part… although I don’t think I’m all that ‘majestic,’ but I’ll take it, I guess. Sometimes I feel more like phoenix poop on someone’s windshield, instead of the actual bird.”
His shoulders slumped, eyes drooped with them, the laughter gone. Jonah’s self-confidence was lacking, that was obvious, and I hated it. How could he not see what I saw? Whatever everyone else must have seen when they looked into those riveting blue eyes of his?