Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
He's as distant as ever. More even. I've been staying closer to home as much as possible, but he's rarely around. When he is, he makes some excuse for why he can't hang out with me and January. Most nights, he doesn't even come home. I don't know where he's at or what he's doing. It's worrisome.
I hate that he's trying to cut himself out of our lives, but I'm not going to feel guilty for being proud of my girl. She deserves a quality education, and UCLA is a great school.
After all that shit went down with Tony, she struggled a lot. It took her a long time to feel safe again. She deserves to be somewhere she can learn and grow and be happy without constant reminders of all the crap she's gone through here. I want that for her.
I guess Titan does, too, but he's not getting rid of us completely.
"I've been thinking," I say, running my hands from her waist up to her ribcage and then back down.
She slides her hand through my hair, pushing it back from my forehead. Instantly, my muscles go lax, my entire body relaxing. Except my dick, which turns to steel in my pants. My eyes fall closed, a pleased rumble whispering from my lips. I love when she does that. It's sweet as hell and reminds me of when my mom and Ma Lucia would do the same thing when I was a kid.
"Thinking about what?" she asks, wiggling on my lap.
I still her hips before she starts something we aren't going to be finishing right now. "Your scholarship will cover housing," I murmur, tipping my head back to rest it on the back of their worn sofa.
"It will," she whispers, her eyes locked on mine.
"But you won't need housing if you live with me."
Her gaze flits back and forth across my face, and then she pushes her hand through my hair once more. "You asking me to move in with you, Michael Ian Kincaid?" she asks, grinning at me.
"Maybe. You'd be right next door to Titan and your mom. When I piss you off, you could always come stomping over here." Not that I'd let her stay for long. We don't fight often, but I always come looking for her when we do. I pick her little ass up and carry her off. And then I kiss the shit out of her until she forgets why we were fighting. Making up with her is the best part of arguing. She loves it as much as I do, but she'll never admit it.
"Like you'd let that happen," she says with a laugh, rolling her eyes. "You never let me stay mad at you."
"I'm fucking miserable when you're mad at me."
"If you weren't so bossy, I wouldn't get mad at you."
"If you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have to be bossy, little monster."
She narrows her eyes at me and then growls, making me chuckle.
"Seriously, baby girl. I love that you trust me to keep you safe, but I swear you don't listen just to piss me off sometimes. You shouldn't be trying to do so much on your own. That's what you have me for."
She's always trying to do everything by herself. It's like, since Tony attacked her, she feels like she has to take the world on by herself to prove she can. But fuck that. She will never have to take the world on by herself because I'll be at her side to do it for her.
"You're worried about Kaleo," she says, reading me as easily as ever.
I shrug a shoulder, not answering. Truth is, yeah, I am worried about Kaleo. He's been on his best behavior since I kicked his ass. He hasn't even shown his face on this block in almost a year. That worries the hell out of me.
When Kaleo gets quiet, it's because he's up to something. Just like he was last year when he sent Tony after January. Whatever he's plotting can't be good. I've asked Titan about it a few times, but he just shrugs me off and tells me that he's handling it. That worries me, too.
We've always handled shit together.
"I'm not afraid of Kaleo," January says, putting her palms on my face and forcing me to look at her. "He doesn't scare me. But we're not talking about him today. We're celebrating the fact that I get to stalk you around campus next year."
"Stalk me, huh?"
"Definitely," she whispers, licking her lips as she stares at mine. "I'm going to stalk the shit out of you, Michael Kincaid. You'll get so tired of me that you'll be thrilled when I stomp over here to ignore you."
"Fuck," I curse and tug her forward to take her lips in a deep kiss. It's soft and sweet, not at all like I want to take her. But she's still so young and innocent. I want to keep her that way. She doesn't need to know that she makes me so hard I jerk off to the filthiest thoughts of her at night. She's not ready for the things I want to do to her. I try to take her soft and sweet like she deserves. "You moving in with me when you graduate, baby girl?"