Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“I’m no princess,” I say, leaning into him.
“Oh yeah? What are you?”
“I’m a Hoodlum, Hoodlum.”
“Damn straight.”
He pulls me to a dark corner of the yard, away from the twinkling lights, to kiss me until I’m dizzy. “A Hoodlum can still sweep a girl off her feet,” he murmurs against my mouth. “A Hoodlum can still be romantic.”
I let out a shriek when he scoops me in his arms and starts for Roan and Hollis’s garage apartment. We make it to the stairs, but Cal stops abruptly.
“What? What is it?” I ask, craning my neck to see what has him stopped.
“Can I help you?” Cal demands, slowly setting me to my feet.
“Just came to see Charlotte,” a familiar, deep voice mutters.
“Loden!” I rush over to him, throwing my arms around his neck. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now, baby.”
I expect Cal to explode, but he remains quiet. I give Loden another squeeze before pulling away.
“Loden, this is Cal, my—”
“Boyfriend,” Cal interjects. “Her extremely possessive boyfriend. So help me you better still be gay because I’m seconds from giving you a black eye for calling my fucking girl baby.”
Lo barks out a laugh. “Still love dick, man. Speaking of, I hear yours is pierced. Can I see?”
I smack Loden’s arm. “Stop, brat.”
“I had to try, baby,” Lo taunts. Then, to Cal, he offers his hand. “Don’t worry. Vaginas are sweaty and gross. Charlotte just gets me. I don’t have many people who do.”
The vulnerability in his voice has worry niggling at me. Cal shakes Loden’s hand and then tugs me back over to him.
“I’m going to go steal a dance with Roux to see if I can get Jordy to lose his shit,” Cal says, kissing the top of my head. “Come find me when you’re done.”
I gape at my boyfriend as he saunters away, looking all too yummy in his suit.
“You have it so bad for him,” Loden states. “I don’t blame you. He’s fucking hot.”
Turning back toward him, I frown. “What’s going on? Under all those jokes, you’re upset. What happened?”
He walks over to the steps and sits down. “I told the label I quit.”
“What?” I rush over to him and sit next to him. “Why? Can you even do that?”
A ragged sigh escapes him as his tattooed hands cover his face. He shrugs. “I don’t know. Everyone’s pissed at me. The band, the record label, the band manager, Dad.”
“What about Mena?”
He moves his hands and looks my way. “She told me to come here.”
Smart girl.
“Let’s be logical about this,” I say, clutching his knee. “What happens if you quit? Do you want to quit? Really?”
“I’ll be in breach of contract, which will really fucking suck.” He buries his face in his hands again. “I’ll owe them a shit ton of money.”
“But…”
“But, I’ll be free.”
“I wasn’t chained to a label, but I was chained to something else,” I say slowly, “and breaking free of that very thing I hated was the turning point in my life.”
“I hate my life,” he whispers, his voice breaking. “So fucking much.”
“What about your music?”
“I’ll always have music. Music is my only friend when I’m alone at night, overwhelmed by life.”
“What makes you not feel so overwhelmed?”
He throws a hand up in the air. “This place. It’s quiet. No one knows me. I can just be me and fucking breathe, baby. I need to breathe.”
I lean my head against his shoulder. “Then do it. I’ll be here. We’ll figure it out together.”
We remain quiet for a while, listening to the sounds of the reception not far away. They’ve been failing miserably at karaoke for a while now. The music stops and a loud voice booms over the speaker.
“Five minutes, English, and I’m coming for you.”
Loden laughs. “Guess we know whose wedding will be next.”
“Stop,” I say, swatting at him.
“We should make out and see if he’ll join.”
“Try it and I’ll rip your tongue out,” Cal states, sauntering over to us, the moonlight illuminating his devious features.
“Five minutes, huh?” I tease, holding out my hand to him. “More like five seconds.”
“I’m a liar, loser. You know this.” He tugs me into his arms and kisses me hard. “Besides, I couldn’t wait five more minutes to kiss your pretty mouth.”
“An insult wrapped in romance,” Loden says, laughing. “You really know how to choose ’em, Charlotte.”
“I chose you for a friend,” I argue.
“Like I said, baby. You really know how to choose ’em.”
Cal
I drum my fingers on my desk, glaring at the clock on the wall in my classroom. Ten minutes late. Not usual for Charlotte. I’m packed and ready to go, so I pull my messenger bag up over my shoulder so I can go look for her. After I lock up the classroom, I head toward the English wing.
On the way there, I try to remember what it is Mom wanted me to get from the store for Thanksgiving. Time has flown by since Jordy and Little Hoodlum’s wedding last month. Charlotte has eaten up most of that time. Having a girlfriend is distracting from life. All I want to do is spend every waking minute between her thighs, kissing her until she’s begging for a whole lot more.