Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Eli’s brows go up. “Girls next door? Like the Playboy Bunnies?”
I guess so. They don’t tend to wear many clothes when they invite themselves over. “Kind of.”
His head hits his desk as he groans. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I can’t help it if the house we live in is surrounded by single young women. We’re in a college town.”
“But you’re not dating any of them? Or sleeping with any of them?”
“No.” Not yet…but I can’t say I wouldn’t let one of them scratch the itch if I had it.
“Fine.” He nods. Leans back and folds his arms across his chest, twirling around in his desk chair. “If you happen to meet anyone cute and down to earth, think about what I said.”
I nod. “Sure.”
Not.
“I’m serious. It could help you.”
“Yup. Got it.”
Not.
Except…
After I disconnect the video chat and jump in the shower, my mind strays to Ryann Winters and the look on her face when I caught her off guard outside of her job. That was probably bad timing, but how the fuck else was I supposed to make time to do it?
Ryann Winters.
Hated my guts.
Which is fine. I’m not looking to expand my fan club.
I was doing my teammate a favor; who could fault me for that? Jesus, it was practically a public service ending that relationship. Who dates someone and doesn’t fuck them?
I did Ryann a favor.
She’ll thank me later.
“Yo, dipshit, what do you want for dinner? Pizza or chicken?”
My younger brother Drake leans against the doorjamb, his giant torso taking up the entire frame.
“Don’t care. You decide.”
He stands there a bit longer than necessary, sizing me up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Too late. He senses my melancholy and comes bounding in, throwing his massive body onto my bed.
“You’re messing up the covers!” I complain, yanking them back into place, liking things in order.
“You sound like you have your period. What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothin’s goin’ on.”
“Why are we bothering with this little song and dance? Just spit it out so we can eat.”
I sigh as loudly as I’ve ever sighed. “It’s been a long day, that’s all.”
“How?”
Jesus, why is he giving me the third degree? Drives me nuts when he latches onto something and won’t let it go. In this case, it’s prying information out of me.
I decide to be honest. “You know Diego Lorenz, yeah?”
He nods. We’re all on the same team, even though the twins—my brothers—are a few years younger.
“He paid me to break up with this girl he’s been datin’.”
Drake sits up quicker than a rattler gettin’ snuck up on in the desert. “You’re fucking with me right now.”
“Dead serious.”
“Shut up.”
I shake my head. “Nope. Not kidding.”
“Stop.”
“Gave me fifty to tell this chick he doesn’t want to see her anymore.”
Now my brother is up off the bed, pacing. “Don’t tell me you took the money and did it.”
I nod. “Yeah. Did it this afternoon.”
“Shut the fuck up. For fifty bucks?”
I nod again.
“Fifty bucks?” He pauses in the middle of the floor. “What the hell were you thinking? What did she say? How did you find her? Did she cry?” His rapid-fire questions have me scowling, glancing out the window at the yard below.
“The kid wouldn’t let up. Figured if I agreed to do it, he’d shut up about it, and he’s my teammate, so I wanted to help him out.”
“Bullshit!” my brother shouts. “Bull. SHIT. You did it because you’re bored and had nothing better to do.”
“Oh, I have nothing better to do? I just signed with an agent and I’m going to the Combine, then I’m entering the draft, not to mention practice and games and working out and I have nothing to do? Fuck you.”
Drake only laughs. “You love shock value.”
“So?”
“That’s the real reason you did it. You’re taking your frustration out on some clueless chick because you’re spiteful.”
Spiteful? I’ve been called a lot of things, but spiteful has never been one of them.
Dickhead, yes.
Mean, yes.
Arrogant, yes.
“Why would I take my frustration out on some chick I barely know?” I pause. “And for your information, Ryann Winters is far from clueless.” She didn’t even seem to give a shit that her boyfriend was dumping her.
In fact, she seemed more pissed at me for breathing in her precious airspace than the fact that I’d just dumped her.
“Her name is Ryann? That’s a dude’s name.”
“But also a girl’s name.”
He rolls his eyes. Such an idiot. “And she didn’t deck you?”
“No.” I lean into the conversation as my brother plops back down on my bed. “I gave her a ride home.”
“What? Dude. Why?”
“It’s cold as balls, bro. I’d just given her bad news. Couldn’t let her freeze to death.”
“Aren’t you a regular knight in shining armor,” he says sarcastically. “So what else has you acting all bitchy?”
“Eh. I didn’t love the call I just had with Eli.”
“What was it about?”
“He thinks I need to…” My shoulders move up and down in a shrug. “Not clean up my image, but make myself…