Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
"Like what?" he asked.
"Hmmm… well, did you know there is a ziplining place near here that does tours at night by headlamp?" I asked.
"No, I did not know that, and I don't think I would have come up with that response if I guessed a million times," he said.
I grinned. "It's a lot of fun."
"Do they still do it?" he asked.
I nodded. "Sure."
"Then let's go. Tonight."
"You want to go ziplining in the dark tonight?" I asked.
"Absolutely. I'm in college now. I need you to give me the full college experience."
9
CAMDEN
Iwoke up to the buzzing of my phone, and before I looked at it, I knew who it was going to be.
Sure enough, Ryan had left another text message. Not a group chat message. One directly to me.
Dude, we have got to officially meet this girl. You can’t keep her a secret forever, it said. I promise we won’t bombard her or make fun of you for your weird Mrs. Robinson situation. There were a blank few lines underneath and then one last addition. Okay, that was the last one.
I sighed. He was right. I couldn’t hide her away any longer, keeping her my wonderful little secret. I hadn’t seen much of the guys recently at all, but that wasn’t all that strange. I was the one who worked on the ranch, with all the horses, doing my own thing. The other guys were always out and about with people. I stayed in one place.
That said, they could have come to me at any point, and she might have been here. Kristen was spending a good amount of time at the ranch, albeit she often didn’t get there until the evening and left in the morning, but there had been times when one of them said they might drop by, she was there, and they just didn’t make it.
I decided that meant it wasn’t my fault.
“Who was that?” Kristen asked, shifting slightly as she leaned back so she could look up at me. She was curled in my arm, being a little spoon, and I had been curled around her until I had to reach behind me to get the phone.
“Ryan,” I said.
“Is everything okay?” she asked sleepily.
Normally at this time of day, she was already up and out of the house, but being Saturday, she was letting herself sleep in. I was more than happy to join her in a bit of laziness. I’d spent the better part of the last decade and a half never taking a moment to breathe. I could afford some days of lounging in underwear or less with a beautiful woman.
“Everything’s fine,” I said. “They’re just bugging me about when they get to officially meet you.”
“Oh,” she said, her eyes blinking a bit as she forced herself more awake. “Well, I’m good whenever. I’ve been anxious to meet them too.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said. “These people are important to you. You talk about them all the time. The only ones I’ve gotten to meet are your sister and her husband Mark, and that was very brief.”
“All right,” I said. “What if we had everyone over tonight? I could grill up some steaks, and we could have a nice night out on the porch. It’s getting warmer out there.”
“I’d love that,” she said. “You make the steaks, I’ll make some pies for dessert.”
“Pies?” I asked.
“I’ve been really into baking shows recently,” Kristen said. “There’s one right now that’s just pie competitions. It’s called Pie Masters.”
“I know,” I said, grinning. “You made me watch it.”
“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “It’s really good.”
“It’s certainly interesting,” I admitted.
She smiled and propped herself up on one elbow. One of her breasts escaped the sheet and rested on my arm. No matter how many times we lay naked together, moments like that never failed to make me want to go for another round.
“I bet I can knock your socks off with my baking,” she said. “Try me,” I responded, grinning, yanking the covers over us and committing myself to at least a little more time in bed before joining the rest of the waking world.
“So, you mean to tell me that you are quite literally living every fourth dude’s fantasy in America right now and sleeping with your professor, and you haven’t done it in her office yet?”
“No, Graham, we have not,” I said, sighing. Ryan might have promised the lack of jokes, but that didn’t stop Graham’s seemingly earnest questions and disbelief at the answers.
“I mean, why, though?” he asked. “It’s the perfect set-up. You guys can sneak away for make-out sessions, but then… you just stop?”
“Essentially,” I said, looking around the room for Mallory. I was desperately hoping she would figure out what her man was doing and come take him away to splash some cold water on him, but apparently, she was off with Kristen in the kitchen along with the other ladies.