Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“I won’t,” she promised. Then she looked over at me and Kage. “Bye, guys. Nice to meet you, Kage. We’ll be watching you on fight nights.”
Kage beamed at the attention, which was so cute and unlike him I almost laughed. “Thanks, Miranda. Nice meeting you, too. And good luck on your paper.”
“Romantic Lit. Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought it was going to be like romance novels, not this old-fashioned, wordy bullshit.”
“I have to go, too,” Layla said suddenly, jumping up from the sofa. “I don’t want to be the only girl in this guy party.”
Not to be outdone by Braden and Miranda’s steamy goodbye, she leaned over Trey, giving me and Kage a clear view of her ass, and laid a sloppy kiss on him. The scene brought back a strong memory of her unique feminine scent and the way it felt to be on the receiving end of one of those kisses, and I felt guilty even thinking such a thing with Kage right there, touching me. I wanted to reach out and touch him back, to reassure him— no, to reassure me. Because I wasn’t sure exactly what I was feeling. I hadn’t felt even a twinge of attraction for Layla since I’d met Kage. While he wasn’t around, everything had been strictly platonic between us. But now that I was sitting here watching my ex-girlfriend tongue fuck her new guy’s mouth, not being able to do the same to my boyfriend, was maddening. It was as if the afternoon had turned into some couples battle, and Kage and I were the losers.
That’s what it was, I realized. Layla was challenging me, and I felt helpless and needy. I longed to have that kind of relationship again— not with her, but one I could show off and be proud of.
I rested a hand on Kage’s shoulder, and felt his muscles tense in response. Otherwise, neither one of us moved.
After the girls had finished one-upping each other’s boyfriend game, they left, carrying the awkwardness with them. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until then.
Seeming to sense how I felt, or possibly feeling the same himself, Kage shrugged his shoulders up and down. “Boy, I could sure use a rubdown. My muscles are really fucking sore after last night’s fight.”
“I’ll do it,” Braden blurted, rubbing his hands together. “I give a kick-ass sports massage, if I do say so myself.”
Kage and I both froze, and nearly lost it when he looked at me over his shoulder and mouthed, “What the fuck?”
“Um…” I choked down a laugh. “Let me. I know how he likes it.”
Kage glanced once more at me over his shoulder and stuck out his tongue in a suggestive way that made my asshole tighten as I imagined what he might have done with it if we’d been alone.
Braden frowned. “Okay, if Kage wants to pass on this expertise.”
“Well, Jamie and I have known each other for a while,” Kage explained to Braden. “We’ve gotten pretty familiar with each other. When he said he knows how I like it, he wasn’t kidding. He knows pretty much everything there is to know about me.”
I was impressed. Kage had not lied about anything.
Braden nodded dejectedly, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He had no idea why he’d been shot down.
Trey didn’t help matters. “Braden, shut the hell up. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“You didn’t have to. That hangdog look said it all.” As Braden slumped into his seat, Trey shook his head and got up to grab a disc from the TV stand. He popped it into the Xbox. “Let’s watch a movie. Braden grabbed a couple of action movies from the rental box earlier.”
“As long as it doesn’t have The Rock in it,” I said.
Kage balked. “You got a problem with Dwayne?”
“No, but Braden has a thing for him. It’s a little ridiculous.”
“We had to cut him off,” Trey concurred, sitting back down on the sofa and hugging a throw pillow to his belly. “No more Dwayne in this house.”
Braden smirked. “It’s true. But you gotta admit he’s fucking awesome. Right?”
“Hell, yeah,” Kage agreed. “I met him once in Vegas. Supernice guy.”
“Really?” Braden nearly went through the ceiling.
“Yes, really. I’ll watch The Rock with you anytime. Just let me know when.”
Braden beamed at Kage before shooting me a smug duck-pout, which I fired right back at him.
I’d been expecting to massage Kage’s shoulders as he sat between my legs, but he surprised me when he stretched out on the carpet, his massive frame blanketing half of the living room floor. I hesitated for a long moment.
“You coming down here, or what?” he prompted. “This is not exactly the five-star service I expected from you, baby.”
His use of the endearment was not lost on me. I just didn’t know if he’d said it on purpose.