Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“I was gonna do that, but you didn’t follow me in,” Dev said, as if there was sense to be made of his excuse. “I’m gonna check on the girls then meet you in the bedroom. You understand the plan?”
The edgier side to Dev’s personality was back in full force if his tone and simple instructions said anything.
Cash grinned and quipped back, “I’m glad to see the heat works inside the apartment.”
The room was a comfortable temperature. Not too hot or too cold, noticeably different from the usual meat locker feel.
“The girls are here,” Dev said by way of an answer.
Cash nodded, opening the French doors to the small utility closet housing the washing machine and clothes dryer. He dropped the clothes in the washer and left the boots on the floor in there too.
Dev followed him, foregoing his stated intention of checking on the girls. Clearly, his guy needed some tender loving attention.
If Cash had gauged Dev’s mood properly, some simple verbal sparring might be just the thing to get Dev’s mood off his troubles. Cash led with something financial, a round and round petty argument they always shared and never solved. And Dev’s least favorite subject.
“I assumed the heat didn’t work properly.”
Dev squared off immediately. “I’m not payin’ for a bunch of grown-ass adults to be comfortable. The girls are little. They get cold easily.”
Cash grinned, shutting the French doors then putting his hand on Dev’s chest, right above his stomach. The skin-to-skin contact had its own calming effect, at least for Cash. He swept the pad of his thumb in gentle caresses over Dev’s belly.
“I was teasing. Go check on them.”
Cash left Dev there as he headed for their bedroom.
He wasn’t certain of the wisdom of sleeping there tonight. It seemed easy enough to gather his clothes and go to the spare bedroom in his old apartment. He also recognized that, as fatigued as Dev appeared, he didn’t want Dev’s natural state of anxiety to get the best of him.
Cash pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms that he hadn’t worn since moving in with Dev and went to the bathroom to change.
Cash innately knew Dev was keeping something big from him. He sensed the gravity of the hidden secrets from the second he’d walked back into the hospital room. Whatever had happened between Dev and his mom had some hefty undercurrents spilling over. And it wasn’t just watching his father be violently murdered in front of him. His biker was in processing mode, trying to work through whatever bothered him.
But what could it be?
Had his mother played a part in the murders?
Perhaps, based on how quickly she’d taken off.
As far as he knew, Carly hadn’t said goodbye to Abi or Mae before she left, and those girls were her world.
There was a quick rap on the door to the bathroom as the knob turned. “What’re you doin’ in there?” Dev asked, his head popping through the opening.
Cash had barely gotten his fingers through his disheveled hair, straightening the disruption the T-shirt made before the door pushed fully open. He grinned at his guy in the mirror. “You’re supposed to knock then wait for my reply. I could’ve been doing something unseemly.”
“Yeah, first, no one uses that word. Second, I thought about that but decided against it. You never go to the bathroom here. You got all those rules about yourself,” Dev said as his heated gaze slid up and down his body. Dev stalked forward, reaching for the hem of the T-shirt. He was such a bold one. Dev lifted the shirt, forcing Cash’s hands up in the air.
“What’re you doing? The girls are here.” The rest of the words were jumbled as the T-shirt was yanked over his head.
“The pajama bottoms are enough. I sleep in my boxers.”
Cash’s fingers went back to his hair again, pushing it off his face. Dev tracked the move in the mirror. “My pretty boy needs to give me somethin’ to touch tonight, or I might not make it through.”
Dev’s warm fingers slid down his chest, skimming over the hair, making his nipples tighten. He loved the way Dev touched him, made him burn from the inside. He turned, Dev stepping into him to place a simple, sweet kiss on his lips. Dev’s lips lingered on his for a few seconds longer before he slowly pulled away. The moment wasn’t designed to entice or escalate. Only a loving, comfortable press of the mouth.
As Cash reached for his clothes and folded each piece, Dev dropped his jeans where he stood, kicking them aside in the general direction of the small laundry basket. Dev dropped his briefs next. A skilled foot tossed those over his jeans.
A nude Dev was a powerful thing, but it didn’t last long. He reached for a more covering pair of underwear off the shelf he stacked his clothes on. Cash ignored the pull and grabbed Dev’s clothes off the floor.