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)
Someone knocks on the door, so I leave them to their bickering. I barely get the door open before a body barges in, snatching me up. A shriek of surprise leaves my lips before I recognize the familiar scent.
Loden.
“Missed you, baby,” he groans, nipping at my neck. “They keep calling me back for legal shit and I just want to stay here permanently.”
“I missed you too. Adulting sucks. Better get used to it, though. Pretty soon, you’ll be an average Joe just like everyone else stuck here forever. You sure you’re ready for that boring life?”
“More than ready.” He squeezes my ass with his hands. “I haven’t been laid in forever. I could almost poke you in the ass and pretend you’re not my best friend. Sound like a date?”
“Gross,” I say with a laugh. “You’re such a freak.”
“The freak you’re going to marry when you get bored of Mr. Abercrombie.”
“Cal hates when you call him that.”
“Baby,” Loden says, pulling away to give me a serious look. “Have you seen him? He’s a fucking god with a perfect pierced penis. I’m jealous, you bitch.”
Jace clears his throat harshly. “Don’t call her a bitch.”
Loden rolls his eyes hard. “Can you tell your bodyguard to back off?”
“No,” I tease. “I kind of like watching you squirm.”
Loden plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Well, you’ll get to watch me squirm a lot more now. Mr. Abercrombie’s daddy gave me the keys right before I came over here.”
“You got the cabin?” I ask, grinning wide. “This is finally happening. You’re moving!”
“It needs some work, but David offered me a lower rent if I’ll fix it up in my spare time. I didn’t have the heart to tell that beautiful man I don’t know shit about shit. But a deal’s a deal. How hard can wallpapering a cabin be?”
“Do not wallpaper that cabin,” I tell him in a firm tone.
“Fine. We’ll figure something else out.” He flashes Jace an impish grin. “As much as I’d love to stare at your hot inmate roommate slash quasi-daddy slash bodyguard, we have catching up to do.”
“Want me to kick him out?” Jace offers.
“We can’t kick him out,” I tell Jace. “Lo’s officially a Hoodlum now.”
“I absolutely love it,” I say to Loden when we pull up to his little cabin. “You have a great view of Hood River. Not even the Campfire Chaos cabin has this view.”
The snow is coming down hard, but it’s so pretty as it blankets everything within view. Loden may have given up picturesque beach views when he left California, but his view now is something straight off a postcard.
“David said normally he rents this one out for a lot because of the view, but it’s run-down and needs a facelift. I don’t know fuck all about carpentry or remodeling a house, but I’m just happy to have a place to stay.”
We climb out of his midnight-black Porsche Cayenne and approach the cabin, trudging through the accumulating snow. If I squint, through the woods I can see Cal’s cabin, smoke billowing from his chimney. This makes me incredibly happy that he’ll be so close to Cal for numerous reasons. Mainly because I’ll get to see Lo more often and that Cal can keep an eye on him.
“It’s super cute. I still can’t believe you’re here permanently.” We stop at the front steps and I look up at him. Snowflakes dust his black hair and dot his inky eyelashes. “Where do you think you’ll work?”
He shrugs and toys with his tongue ring, lost in thought. “I thought I’d look to see if I could find something with music. Teach guitar lessons or something. I don’t want to perform anymore.”
I can understand that. Knowing Loden and how good he is, it wouldn’t take long before he’d become the talk of the town here too.
“Do you have money to get you by until you figure it all out?”
He smirks. “We settled the suit. The label raped me harder than a guy named Bruce I gave my virginity to in a truck stop bathroom when I was fifteen.”
I grimace and gape at him in horror. Of course he laughs.
“But they didn’t take it all. I’m going to be okay,” he assures me.
I stand on my toes and kiss his cold, rosy cheek. “Good. Come to me if ever you’re not. That’s what friends do. They look out for each other.”
His playfulness fades as vulnerability shines through. “Do you ever think things happen for a reason? Maybe a shit storm decimates everything because then it puts a rainbow right in your path, somehow making you appreciate all the beauty around you?”
“That’s a good way of looking at it,” I agree.
“I hit rock bottom and ended up in rehab. I met you and you just get me, baby. Unlike Mena or Dad or anyone. It’s nice when someone understands.” He flashes me a wolfish grin. “Now can we have butt sex?”