Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
After recalling the numerous hours we’ve spent in front of a television, I blurt out, “Movie?”
Caleb purses his kissable lips before nudging his head to my outdoor patio. “What about if we hang out there and talk.”
“Talk?” I swallow my shocked squeal before striving for a more appropriate reply. “That sounds wonderful.”
I snatch up a bag of chips before guiding him toward the patio door. My steps are jarring when I recall the last time we sat out on my patio. We weren’t exactly sitting, and Caleb had to clamp my mouth to make sure I didn’t wake our neighbors.
For the first time in my life, a shy smile creeps on my lips when our arrival at the patio sees a pink hue creeping up Caleb’s neck. It’s obvious I’m not the only one recalling fond memories on my tiny balcony.
Or perhaps it is jealousy. “How long did you live here before we arrived on the scene?” I love the way he includes Octavia in his ‘we’ statements.
“A couple of months. Why?” I know why he’s asking. He doesn’t hide his jealousy well, but after the three years we endured, I want him to spell it out for me.
He follows my unvoiced pleas relatively easily. “I was just wondering if you’ve… entertained anyone else on your balcony?”
I fake a ponder again before eventually letting him off the hook. “I can only think of one time.” I fight with all my might to keep my mouth shut, but it opens anyway. “What about you? Have you entertained any guests on your balcony?”
The stranglehold on my senses gets a moment of reprieve when he answers, “No.” But it comes back full force when he murmurs, “Although there was a douche schmoozing a girl out there on Valentine’s Day a couple of years back.”
It takes me a few seconds to click on to what he’s hinting at. “Daniel doesn’t know how to schmooze, and what’s with the stalking? I never saw that on your repertoire.”
He snatches the sour cream and chives chips out of my hand, opens them, then plonks his backside on the outdoor sofa while replying, “I wasn’t stalking. The balcony wraps around from the living room to my bedroom window. You just happened to enter my peripheral vision.”
He has a point, but it doesn’t alter the facts. “But the coffee table is in the living room.” When his dark brows join, I add, “Where Daniel placed his feet on it…”
I give him a second to fill in the gaps. Mercifully, it doesn’t take him long. I’m not a suspense type of girl. “I told you I was pissed about that?”
“Uh… not directly, but you hinted at your annoyance.” I snag a handful of chips from the bag, then sit next to him. The seat is cozy, but it feels even more snug when my thigh brushes Caleb’s. “It was the night Tash tried to ride that…”
The chips he scarfed down spray the air when I thrust my free hand at his crotch. “That was a mistake.”
“I’m not saying it wasn’t.” When he slants his head and arches a brow, I push out, “What? She is nothing like the women you usually date.” I am basing my assumptions purely on how opposite Tash and I are, but we need to keep that between us. “But I’m also guessing she was far from what you saw when you looked at me, so she was the easy alternative?”
The wall I’m anticipating forms before my eyes, but it only reaches the halfway mark since Caleb nods before it can fully erect.
Too curious for my own good, I ask, “What does her dad do?”
Caleb scrubs at his chin with the back of his hand before replying, “He owns Franks.”
“Franks? As in the—”
“Club I worked at for two years? Yeah. There.” He looks ashamed. I understand why when he murmurs, “Tash is how I got and kept the job.”
I point over my shoulder like the Seattle nightlight is on our doorstep. “So the whole ‘I’m not a gigolo ruse’ tonight was a ploy?” His smile is almost fully formed so I give it an extra push by saying, “You could have told me. I would have put the funds I made selling my vibrators to good use.”
He snaps back so quickly, my neck hurts. “You sold your vibrators?”
I leave him hanging for almost thirty whole seconds. “No.” He looks relieved. It doesn’t linger long. “But I did throw them away a couple of months back.”
“Why?” He rakes his fingers through his hair, making mine twitch with jealousy. “Why would you do that? Don’t you remember the time when my mouth was there… and it was there…” He nudges his head in the same direction during both ‘there’ parts of his statement. “Please tell me you haven’t forgotten about that night. I don’t know if my ego could sustain the brutal blow.”