Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Preacher dismissed everyone, and while Shephard and Grim went to do their thing, I headed over to do my shift at the Vault with Goose and Rusty. None of us were in the best of moods, so we didn’t take shit off anyone. If someone started shit, they were out—no excuses, which made for a fairly easy night.
Regardless, I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and was exhausted by the time I headed home. I just wanted to get inside and crash, so I was thankful when I pulled up and found Zeke waiting for me on the back porch. With his all-black clothing and tattoos, he looked like one of those goth teens always looking for attention. That wasn’t the case with him. He was a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, and all the brothers thought a lot of him.
As soon as I got off my bike, he walked up and said, “Hey, brother. How’d it go tonight?”
“Not bad. What about here?”
“Good.” Zeke started down the steps as he said, “The kid had his tutoring, and Cricket looked into a couple of jobs she was interested in.”
“She have any luck?”
“Can’t say for sure.” He shrugged. “But she seems set on finding something.”
“She’s just gotta be patient. The right thing will come along.”
“That’s right.” Zeke kicked his leg over his seat and started the engine. “I’ll be around tomorrow if you need me.”
“Appreciate it.”
I waited until he’d pulled out of the drive before heading up to the door. I could feel the tension in my shoulders starting to ease as I turned the knob and stepped inside. I’d just closed the door behind me when I spotted Cricket standing at the counter, and the sight of her nearly knocked me off my feet. She was wearing an old T-shirt that barely covered her thighs and a pair of white socks.
That was it.
She was rummaging through the pantry and completely oblivious to the fact that she had me pinned where I stood. “Hey. How was work?”
“It was alright.” Damn, she looked good. Too good. “How about things here? You guys have a good night?”
“Yeah. It was okay.” She tore open a bag of chips and popped one in her mouth. “It was kind of quiet.”
She was completely oblivious that I was gawking at her.
I tried to tear my eyes away, but that damn T-shirt was taunting me. Every time she moved, it would shift a little higher, exposing a hint of her pink lace underwear. I had to keep my dick in check, especially after the night before. But it wasn’t easy.
It was late and I was tired.
And hell, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
After a few more chips, she turned to face me, and her lips curled into a sexy smile when she saw the expression on my face. I knew then she could see it—the battle I was waging inside myself, and I feared it might make her uneasy.
As I stood there looking at that spark in her eyes, I realized that she wasn’t feeling uneasy. Hell, she was feeling anything but, and while I cleared my throat and tried to act unbothered, I said, “You’re up late.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Something wrong?”
“No. Just thinking about things.”
Her eyes skirted over me, letting me know exactly what she’d been thinking about. “Is that right?”
“Yep.”
Her smile widened. She was enjoying this—taunting me, pushing me just enough to see how far she could go before I cracked. It was out of character for her—or so I thought. It could’ve been that usually timid and reserved Cricket had another side to her, and this was my first time seeing it. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I liked it.
I liked it a lot.
“You’re feeling yourself tonight, huh?”
“Hard not to when you’re looking at me like that.”
With chips still in hand, she stepped closer, and it was all I could do to keep myself from reaching for her and pulling her into my arms. Her eyes remained trained on mine as she stepped past me and said, “Goodnight, Sutton.”
And just like that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the kitchen like she hadn’t just lit a damn fire inside me. I inhaled a few deep breaths, hoping it would help to get my dick in check, but I knew there was only one thing that could do that—a cold shower.
I went straight to the bathroom and got undressed. I turned on the water, and without waiting for it to warm, I stepped inside, letting the frigid water cascade down my head and shoulders. I’d barely closed my eyes when she came crashing through my thoughts.
Everything about Cricket, from her sheer will and determination to her beautiful brown eyes and warm smile, had me going crazy in a way I never had before. I closed my eyes, and I was instantly bombarded with images of her in that fucking t-shirt. First, it was those long, lean legs and the slight hint of those fucking pink panties, and then, it was the silhouette of her perfect, bare breasts.