Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
I didn’t expect her to be here after having to drag her back to my bed last night. I thought she’d be gone at first light. To be fair, it’s still early. Too fucking early to be awake, so I wrap my arm around her, pulling her in closer, and shut my eyes. Waking up to Valen in my bed feels equal parts foreign and…good. Right. The post-fuck regret is once again noticeably absent. The only thing that would make this better is if she was still naked. And sitting on my dick.
She stirs, her legs stretching before her eyelids flutter open. I see the moment the confusion clears, her eyes growing wide.
“Shit, what time is it?” She sits up impressively fast for just waking up.
“Good morning to you, too,” I say, stretching out my dead arm and massaging my shoulder as I roll onto my back.
“For some more than others,” she mutters, giving a pointed look at my dick. I laugh, rolling her underneath me, nestling between her warm thighs.
“It is a good morning. Because of you.” She stares up at me, looking slightly bewildered. She probably expects me to go for round two, which I’m not opposed to. “Thank you,” I add. Feeling weirdly exposed, I dip down to kiss the corner of her jaw and roll off her.
She doesn’t say anything. Just clears her throat as she stands, taming her wild hair with her fingers. “I have to go.”
I nod. I’d offer to walk her across the hall, but I don’t think she’d appreciate Shayne seeing us doing the walk of shame. I do walk her to the door, though.
Just before she leaves, she pauses in the hall outside my door, turning to face me. “Where’d you find my earring, by the way?”
I frown, not knowing what the hell she’s talking about. She notices my confusion and elaborates.
“My earring. It fell out on New Year’s when we were—”
“Having hot secret sexy time?” I finish for her.
She rolls her eyes, but she can’t hide the blush that blooms on her cheeks. “Yeah, that. Maybe next time don’t sneak into my room to return it, though. Kinda creepy.” The last part is laced with enough humor to let me know she’s halfway joking, but I freeze when my mind finally catches up.
I didn’t return her earring. I didn’t even know it was missing. There’s only one explanation. Rage bubbles up inside of me at the thought of him being in her room. Was she home at the time? Did he make his move the day he tried—and failed—to scare me into backing down? I don’t know if he’d actually hurt her, or if it’s one of his intimidation tactics, and to be honest, I don’t give a fuck. I’m going to make sure he never tries it again.
“Holden?” Valen asks, concern etched in her pretty features.
I try to force a smile that probably looks more like a grimace. I don’t want to scare her. Not until I know the facts. “I’ll call you later,” is all I can think to say before I shut the door on her stunned expression. I pace back and forth, fingers lacing together at the back of my neck as I try to figure out my next move. Thayer’s taking Shayne to her dad’s today, so I’ll have to fill him in when he gets back. Instead, I pick up the phone and call the last person on this earth that would ever expect to hear from me.
“What do you want?” he asks, skipping the pleasantries. Fine with me.
“How would you like a chance to piss off your sperm donor and the judge at the same time?”
“Not interested in whatever fucked-up game you’re playing with your family,” he says in a bored tone of voice.
“It involves Shayne.”
There’s a pause followed by a curse, and I know I have his attention. “I’m listening.”
“Meet me in the parking lot closest to Shayne’s dorm.”
A couple hours later, I’m approaching my uncle’s house for the second time in a week’s time with Grey charging up the steps right behind me.
“So, do you have a plan?” he asks, clearly not overly confident in me. “Or are we going in half-cocked and full of piss and vinegar?”
“Yeah. First, we fuck him up, then we threaten him with the video from the day at The Falls. We’ll be back by dinner.” The video that shows my brother’s last moments alive. The video I had to delete from my phone because I watched it on repeat. Not that it helped. It still replays on a loop in my brain. Luckily, like Thayer, Grey is also a masochist and held on to it for safekeeping. Or, more likely, blackmail. Can’t say I blame him, especially since he was our prime suspect until we found out the truth.