Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Goddamn, that’s good.
Thatch: Oh shit. I think that’s Gunnar’s math teacher. He fucking loves her.
Me: She’s a really good teacher.
Thatch: But she hates you.
Me: Pretty much.
Thatch: I like her already.
I snort and hold the donut between my teeth while I type out a response.
Me: Of course you do.
Thatch: You know, this is really giving me forced-proximity, enemies-to-lovers vibes…
Me: What the fuck are you talking about?
Thatch: Rom-coms, dumbass. This feels like a rom-com in the making.
Me: Big fan of rom-com movies, bro?
Thatch: Big fan of rom-com BOOKS. The movies can never compare.
Me: Sometimes, I really, truly struggle to understand you.
Thatch: Well, understand this. The meeting’s Monday, 5 p.m. Don’t change your flight.
I stand up straighter against the counter.
Me: What? But you said I needed to get my ass on a plane.
Thatch: That was before I knew the full situation.
Me: What situation? There’s no situation.
Thatch: Oh, there’s a situation, and it’s a-brewing, baby.
I still don’t really know what in the hell he’s talking about, but that’s not uncommon with Thatch. The best thing anyone can do when it comes to him is to avoid asking too many questions and just roll with the punches. At least now I get to have my meeting and my vacation.
I toss my phone on the counter and polish off the last bite in my fingers, just as I spot the still-open box on the counter. I didn’t just eat one donut… I ate two donuts.
Ah fuck. And now I can’t even soften the blow with the news of my departure.
Quickly, I make a concerted effort to clean up my donut mess so I can get my keys and head out to replace them pronto, but just as I’m setting my plate in the sink, the front door of the condo opens and Katy appears. She’s clad in a white linen beach dress, and her hair is in loose waves on her shoulders.
She looks beautiful.
Unfortunately for me, while I’m staring at her, she’s looking directly at the spot where the missing donuts should be.
“Are you eating my donuts?”
“No.” I already ate them.
She stomps over to the kitchen island to look more closely at the inside of the donut box. It’s easy access since I accidentally left the lid open too.
Her body stiffens and her shoulders rise toward her ears, and all I can do is brace.
Uh-oh…
Like a whip, her head snaps to me, and she narrows her eyes. “There are only four donuts here. I had six.”
“What? Really? That’s horrible,” I comment, giving my best impression of shock and awe. “You think they screwed you over?”
“No, they didn’t screw me over,” she snaps. “You ate two of my flipping donuts.” She stomps over to the sink and holds up a plate that unfortunately for me has a few pieces of leftover bacon on it. “And here’s the proof.”
Shit.
“So…I…might’ve eaten some of your donuts,” I admit with a cringe. “But I swear, I was already planning on replacing them right now…” I hold up my keys as evidence. “And I only meant to eat one.”
“First my wine, now my donuts.” She lets out a deep sigh. “I was going to cut them all in half and share them with you, by the way, but looks like you took it upon yourself to take what you wanted. Now I don’t even get a taste of two of the flavors.”
Double shit.
“Katy, I am really sorry. I was texting with my cousin, and I was hungry and… Yeah… I guess I got a little out of control. In my defense, those donuts are like fucking crack,” I say, offering my most apologetic, please-don’t-be-mad-at-me smile that always works on my sister Lizzy.
But Katy lets out another deep sigh, lifts her hand up in the air and does something with her other hand behind it while glaring at me the entire time.
“What are you…?” I start to ask, but then I swear I see the tip of her middle finger peeking out above her hand. “Wait…are you flipping me off behind your hand?”
She ignores me completely and turns on her heel to grab a glazed donut from the box.
A whole ten seconds later, she’s heading back for the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“To the beach,” she responds and tosses her bag over her shoulder.
And then, with a slam of the front door, she’s gone.
Nice work, bro. So much for getting on her good side…
Katy
Anger seeps out of my pores alongside my sweat as I try to settle into the beach chair I dragged like a corpse all the way from the supply closet, and sand sticks to every orifice of my body.
The Shadow Brothers trilogy is normally engaging enough to overcome almost anything, but for as much as my body is trying to purge my rage, the SPF seems to be keeping it locked in.