Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Right? I’m happy, Griff. I never saw this for myself. I never thought my dreams would come true, but I’m so damn happy.”
I nodded, my chest feeling full. “I know you are. And I’m happy for you. No one deserves it more than you.”
“I can think of one person.”
“I’m fine, Kell.” I was. I had no reason not to be.
“Whatever you say. So tell me about this trip with my bestie? Wait. What are you doing with the bar? This is so unlike you!”
“I talked to Miguel. He’s going to take care of things for me.”
“Holy shit. I can’t believe you’re leaving your bar. This is crazy. You must trust him. Also, Nat wants his dick, by the way. I know she wouldn’t mind me telling you that.”
“No shit? Josh said he thought Miguel was into her too.”
“Ooh! What if they fell in love? Nat needs someone so badly. Of course, he would also need to accept the fact that Nat is gonna be my baby oven. If he can deal with that, I hope they get together. I want everyone to be as happy as I am.”
I laughed, but then a pair of familiar gray eyes popped into my head, and a familiar pair of laughing lips…
I damn near fell off the chair. Josh had no business in my head when I was thinking about happiness and falling for someone. It was the craziest motherfucking thing that could ever possibly make its way into my brain, was what it was.
I wasn’t starting to feel…interested in Josh. I couldn’t be. And even if I was, which I wasn’t, there was no way he’d feel the same. We weren’t anything close to a match for each other.
Josh was gay.
I’d always considered myself straight, but what the hell did I know? I’d never really been into anyone at all.
Josh loved sex.
I mentally tolerated it while my body went through the motions.
I didn’t know how those things could fit together. Not that I wanted to fit together with Josh or was really thinking about this seriously. My thoughts had just been all over the place lately because I was feeling lonely and left out.
That was all it was.
It had to be.
CHAPTER FIVE
Josh
“You ever been to Lake Lure?” I asked Griffin as I sat in the passenger seat of his truck. We’d figured that would be a better vehicle to take than my Mustang. Well, he had, and I agreed. I thought it made him feel in control or something. Griffin needed that, I was pretty sure.
We’d been driving for close to an hour now and hadn’t talked much.
“No, I haven’t. We used to do some traveling with our parents when we were younger. They liked road trips. I’m not sure why we didn’t spend much time in North Carolina.”
I nodded. “It’s about thirty minutes from Asheville. It was hard to find something last-minute. I got really lucky there was a cancellation. Everyone wants to get their last trip in since the end of the season is October thirty first.”
“You didn’t have to put all that work into it. I told you I could have done it.” I couldn’t help it, I laughed, and he glanced at me before getting his eyes on the road again. “What?”
“Nothing. That was just about the most Griffin thing you could say. I shouldn’t have had to put the work into it, but it’s okay if you did? That’s the way it should go, right? Griff taking care of everyone else. I don’t know why I didn’t see this in you until recently.”
He shifted, his body tightening in a way that told me he was uncomfortable. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do, Grumpy G. We’re gonna fix that, you and me. I’m going to turn you into the most selfish motherfucker there is. You deserve that.”
“To be selfish? Isn’t that like saying I deserve to be a dick?”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re always doing that. Rolling your eyes at me.”
“First, you’re the one who’s always rolling his at me. Sometimes I think you don’t even like me all that—”
“I like you,” he cut me off. “And wait. At the bar you were telling me how much I like you, and now you’re saying I don’t.”
“Same difference.”
He turned to me again. “No, it’s really not. And what the fuck does that even mean?”
I sighed. “You like me, but you don’t want to like me. Or you like me, but you don’t totally agree with who I am or some of the things I do. But I don’t want to talk about that right now. My second point, which I was going to make before I was so rudely interrupted—”
“To tell you I like you! That’s not rude.”
“You just did it again!”
Griffin rubbed a hand over his stubble and groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me.”