Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
“I’ll say. Josephine never tells me you’re mean. So, what happened?” Mom asks in the I’m not taking this shit lying down way of talking. I take my lid off, pour as much as the cup will hold, and put the lid back on, then turn back around so I’m facing her.
“Josephine decided to run off at the park yesterday. I was trying not to truck down a little kid when she darted across the street toward Kody. Between Josephine and Kody, my head wasn’t in the right state of mind when she asked to play with Kody afterward. All I could think about was getting Jo home, where she’d be safe.” I take a sip of my coffee. It burns my mouth and throat on its way down. The look on Mom’s face is one of shock, horror, and worry. The full impact of what I went through is looking right back at me.
“Well, shit, I know how quickly these things happen all too well. Matthew ran off at the hardware store once when he was Josephine’s age. I don’t know if you remember it, but God, I was an absolute nightmare for five minutes straight. Thank God your dad was with us, or I’d have been in a way worse hysteria than I already was. That being said, you owe Kody an apology. I excused your behavior at Emma’s wake, but this is too much. We’ve known their family for a long time, and I won’t have you being a grump to that pretty girl. She’s been through enough, more than I’m sure Shaun has led on, but I’ll tell you what. It took Cleo everything she had to keep David and Shaun from driving to Chicago and bringing Kody home. That girl is more independent than Cleo and I put together,” Mom finishes, leaving shit hanging in the air. Maybe Shaun doesn’t know as much as he thought he did.
“I was already going to. I don’t have her number, and showing up on Shaun’s doorstep would probably raise a lot of eyebrows since we work together. You don’t happen to have it, do you?” Mom doesn’t have to know it’ll be through a text. The less interaction with Kody I have, the fucking better. I don’t even want to get into the way her voice sounds or how often I’ve imagined her say my name while she’s on her knees sucking my dick.
“As a matter of fact, I do. Let me grab my phone.” There’s a twinkle in her eye. Fuck me, that’s never a good sign. I bite my tongue, knowing if I say a word, I’ll never get the hell out of here. No freaking thanks.
10
KODY
“Let’s try this again, shall we?” I say to myself as I walk out of The Java Hut for the third day in a row. This time, my camera is around my neck and I’m doing what I was after yesterday, only this go-around, I’ll get some shots. My goal is to scope out a place that would be out of the way while still garnering some interest for a fall mini shoot. That is if I can get approval from the town management and find a good area. Maybe I’ll rope my dad and brother in to helping me set up a few props. The only problem with that is I’ll need it done within the next week in order to set up the weekend after in time for the pumpkins to be in their prime.
I take a slow sip of my iced coffee. Walking while drinking with my super ridiculous camera around my neck is sketchy. Which is why I have my free hand on the lens, just in case. After the fiasco with Jameson yesterday, I tucked my tail, crossed the street, picked up my discarded cup, and threw it away. Then, since I didn’t want to leave a sticky mess or allow ants to take over, I walked into the nearest store and asked if I could use a pitcher of water to wash it away. After that, I was going to call it a day, let the day go without doing what I set out to do. Almost, I almost let the meanness and his cruelty stop me from looking for jobs. But I somehow pulled myself together, realizing that Jameson Evans is just another man who feels like he’s better than anyone else. Well, good for him, though he does have a cute daughter, a hot body, and a way about him that makes my thighs clench. Nope, not happening. Don’t even think about it, Kody. I’ll continue to use my toy. He doesn’t talk back, is always consistent in the O department, and is easy to put away when I’m through. Either way, it’ll never happen. I knew that before he could even speak the words. So, I went about my day, popping in and out of places that looked like they’d have potential for work even if they weren’t displaying a Help Wanted sign. Sadly, I struck out in finding a job until I got my feet wet in the town of Lane County. This is why today, I’m not stopping until I’ve got everything figured out. There’s social media I need to be active on, my website needs to be updated, and I need to find out who a girl has to talk to about setting up a small event. I also need to call Kari. Texting is only going to work for so long after telling her via a voice message what happened. I walk down the red brick sidewalk. The downtown area is quiet for a Monday morning, with only a few people, which should help me relax more. My penchant for people watching means nothing would get done. Though, I kind of wish I’d brought my laptop to work outside today. Maybe I’ll do that since my days are filled with a whole lot of nothing. I am promising myself this is the last time I hit up The Java Hut until I’ve got a steady income. A large iced coffee a day adds up quickly when you’re not working.