Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Mike scowled, longing to sense jasmine, not gas. “It’s a dick, not a burning iron. And why would you think I want to experiment with a guy? I’ve never wanted to. He’s just so… different,” he said helplessly and let his arms drop.
Rain rolled the water bottle across her forehead. “Sometimes I long for those simpler times when you didn’t bug me with existential questions and I always won bets over girls with you.”
“You did not,” Mike said and nudged her foot with the tip of his boot before leaning back against a pillar. “You know most of those chicks were just bi-curious. You couldn’t get them the same way I couldn’t get any of your hot lesbian girlfriends.”
“That much is true, but it was fun watching you try,” she teased. “You’re not pushing on Arden because of a bet, right? You already won the one with Kane.”
“He still hasn’t paid up, but no, that’s not it. I’m just… really confused. There’s something about him. I know he has a dick, and that he is a boy, but he’s just so… feminine. I think about him, like, a lot.”
She laughed. “No surprise there. Your mind’s always been in the gutter.”
“And I’m not ashamed,” Mike said just as his phone buzzed. He met Rain’s gaze, frustrated by this interruption, but his face relaxed the moment he saw Arden’s name on the screen. He showed it to Rain. “See? He’s already missing me.”
Mike cleared his throat and picked up the call, proud as a peacock. “Hello, baby.”
Arden’s voice had never been less flirtatious. “Mike… Some weird people came into the store,” he whispered, instantly making Mike’s hair bristle. “And they’re not the Jarens. Maybe it’s just me… but— Please put that down!”
Rain stood up without needing to hear what this was about. “Guns.”
Mike exhaled and ducked under the desk, pulling out a secret drawer openable from the leg space. He took out two firearms and tossed one to his sister, who caught it and was the first out of the garage. Mike ran after her, driven by a searing burn at the base of his neck, dashing past Jack and Dad’s office. Rain was calling others, but he only saw the open gate and sped toward it as if it were about to close forever.
Nothing had happened yet, but the bad feeling in his stomach made him run even faster. He heard a faint scream from the gas station, then a screech of tires.
His head exploded with fury, but his heart slowed down until he felt as if it had stopped beating altogether, plunging him into unwanted memories he’d repressed for so long.
“No!” It tore out of his throat as if something had punched it past his gullet, leaving it raw, but Mike already fell back and mounted his bike before everyone else, speeding past the gate the moment the engine came to life. A huge truck roared as he dashed right in front of its ugly muzzle, but while split seconds had saved him from a deadly collision, he was fueled by pure adrenaline and made a turn in the sand on the edge of the asphalt before shooting after whoever had taken Arden.
He would not let this happen.
Not again.
Chapter 7 – Arden
Arden yelled at the top of his lungs, and even the hard slap he got from the man who’d shoved him into the back seat couldn’t stop him. He stood no chance against his kidnapper, a man twice his size, but if these men were taking him to Luke, he had to fight. A few bruises were nothing in comparison to what Luke might do to him.
“Make him shut up!” the driver yelled as the other one, a freckled bald guy with a peppering of red stubble grabbed Arden’s jaw in his massive hand.
“Hear that, you little bitch? Shut the fuck up!” he roared, spitting at Arden’s face when he clenched his teeth.
Arden’s heart was in his throat, but on the empty road, no one would hear him, and tears spilled down his cheeks when he realized his own helplessness. The car shook as it sped toward the hills, and soon enough, any clue about his whereabouts would be dust.
“I’ll give him back the money!”
“No can do,” the driver said. “Luke wants you, he paid up, so he’ll get to punish you however he wants.”
Who were those people? Arden had never seen them around Luke, but it wasn’t like he’d been privy to Luke’s business. He’d always suspected his ex could be entangled in some illegal shit, because he had way too much time and money, and those two things rarely went hand in hand for people who did honest work. Arden had just never expected this would turn against him.
He’d been so stupid.
“I’m not his to punish!” Arden threw himself at Freckles with all the ferocity of his fear, but a single punch to his jaw was enough to push him back while the shrubs growing on either side of the road passed by at alarming speed. His world spun, and his head still rang from the hit when something banged loudly behind the car, prompting him to scream out again.