Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
I eyed his tube of toothpaste and put a little on my finger, spreading it over my teeth and tongue before rinsing. I felt a lot better once I opened the door. Zac was lying against the headboard, his phone in one hand. He set it aside almost instantly before looking over.
I didn’t let myself feel self-conscious about standing there in his boxer briefs and T-shirt. My underwear and bra were damp from the sweat too, so I’d folded them into my dress and figured that was good enough. I mean, if he looked hard enough, he could tell I wasn’t wearing a bra, but I couldn’t see him doing that. Between football and dating, he’d probably seen more nipples in his life than most people would in several lifetimes.
I smiled at him.
His gaze flick down to my clothes for a second, his lips quirking just a little. “Sometimes I think you can’t be any cuter, and then you go and put on my underwear.”
I blinked and clung to his joke. “I’m a little disappointed there isn’t a giant Spiderman on them, honestly.”
“Giant Spiderman? You’re gonna make me blush, kiddo.”
I groaned and walked around the bed, hoping my boobs weren’t bouncing around all over the place. He patted the bed beside him with another one of his big smiles as I crossed around the front of him, taking in his bare feet he had crossed at the ankles. They were nice feet. They weren’t milk white like I’d half expected.
I sat down on the other side of the bed and checked my phone. Then I pulled the pillow out from under the comforter and set it on my lap and in front of my chest—because the room felt a lot colder than I’d originally thought—as I pressed my spine against the headboard, knees together and to the side toward Zac.
“Good shower?” he asked, looking so cute, his skin still soft and pink and dewy. For some reason, he reminded me of young Zac right then.
“Very,” I sighed before yawning. “Con still hasn’t called me back. I tried Yermo too, but he hasn’t texted me either.” I scrunched up my toes as the air conditioner kicked on. “I can go see if they’ll let me into my room so you can go to bed.”
His head rolled to the side. “Stay here until she does, Bibi. I’m not kickin’ you out.”
Bibi? He’d never called me that before, but I could roll with it. I lifted a shoulder. “Maybe you wanted to go to sleep or go do something else….”
Zac full-on rolled onto his side to look at me.
He really was too cute. He’d shaved, and it just made his face seem even more tan.
“Go do what?” he asked softly, sounding serious. “Darlin’, I’m asleep by ten every night. And who else would I wanna go out with?”
I did know that. “You know a lot of people here, and I don’t want to—”
“Swear on my life, if you use the word ‘bother’ or ‘interrupt’ or ‘inconvenience,’ I’m gonna do something you’re not gonna like,” he tried to threaten. “I’ll put Titanic on.”
It took me a second, but I laughed. “You remember that?”
He laughed too. “How the hell could I forget? You hated it and wouldn’t stop talking about how much you hated it. You made me hate it.”
I let my head drop back to the headboard again. “I really did hate it. I still do. She totally could have scooted over. I would have.”
All those crinkly, bright features twisted up even more, splendid and shining and everything. “You would’ve. I know.”
I smiled at him with a shrug.
“And I’m serious. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Peewee. Just ’cause I know a lot of people doesn’t mean I wanna see ’em all the time. ’Cause I don’t.”
My fingers pinched the hem of his T-shirt. “You used to like going out and always doing stuff around other people. I just assumed.”
“I do still, but less than before, and only when I feel like it. Which, like I said, is a lot less now than it ever used to be. Mama said I’m finally growin’ up and appreciatin’ quality over quantity, and I guess she’s right.” His eyelids dropped low over his blue eyes for a moment. “I’ve been up and down so much, I learned who matters and who to take with a grain of salt, and that’s most folks.”
“Yeah,” I agreed carefully. “There are very few people who really matter, and you get to choose them, so you might as well be picky. I wasn’t picky enough… and look what happened to me. I just don’t want you to think I’m trying to monopolize your time or anything.”
“You’re not.” The long, strong muscles of his thighs flexed as he slid the bottoms of his soles up along the top of the mattress. “If I tell you somethin’, you promise not to say nothin’ to anybody?”