Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
And now me.
I’m in all these games at once. Eighteen combinations between the three of them, plus me.
I’m not in all of those games, but enough to understand this is all very complicated.
And one more.
Mine.
If I choose to play.
“It’s very dynamic.” I sigh.
He laughs again. “That’s the word of the year, Nova Ryan. Dynamic. Stagnant, it is not. Anyway. Back to my mother. You can tell her anything you want. You can even lie, if you’d like. But I don’t know why you’d want to. Your life is… amazing.”
I almost snort.
“What? You don’t think so?”
“I mean… I’ve had my share of moments, I guess.”
“You came from a trailer park, Nova.”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t a bad place, Mercer. I liked it. I had a good family.”
“Hmm.” I don’t know if he’s considering my perspective or simply choosing not to comment because he’s got an entirely different definition of ‘good family.’ “At any rate, you do you, as they say.”
“OK. I guess I’ll play it by ear.”
“And here we are.” He pulls the car alongside a massive brownstone building. “Home, sweet home.”
I look up and count five stories. “You have an apartment here?”
He reaches over, takes my chin in his hand, turns my head so I’m forced to look him in the eyes, and smiles at me. “You’re adorable, you know that? This entire building is my Boston house.”
“Oh.”
He gets out of the car and I wait for him now. I know he will open my door and help me out. And he does.
Then he grabs our bags and we walk up the seven steps to his front porch. He keys in a code, opens the door wide, and waves me through.
I step in to a large foyer. When I look up, I find a massive chandelier. When I look down, I find a classic checkerboard tile pattern.
“I gave the staff the weekend off so we can be alone.”
These words echo through my head as he closes the door behind us. It’s not dark in here, but it’s shadowy and dim. “Come on,” he says, nodding his head towards the hallway. “The elevator is right here.”
He has an elevator in his house.
There is a gate, which he opens. Then he waves me in, grabs our bags, and closes the gate behind us. He presses the button for the top floor. “You weren’t entirely wrong. It’s kind of like an apartment. This place is far too big to just live in the whole thing. So I stay up top. You’ll stay there too.”
Some of this is nice. The way he makes decisions for me. Because if he had asked me where I wanted to sleep, what would I say?
Now I don’t have to say.
I’m staying with him.
The elevator stops, he opens the gate, and we spill out into another foyer. The ceilings are like twenty feet high. And they continue out into the main room. There is a wall of windows that displays the rooftops of the buildings across the street, plus an expansive view of the city.
I’ve been to Boston plenty of times for… whatever. Conferences, academic things. But they were hotel trips. Work. So I don’t know anything about this city.
Still, the view is very nice.
Mercer has walked off. He calls over his shoulder. “Your room is this way, Nova.”
My room.
Interesting.
I follow him into a very nice, very large suite. “We’re not going to stay in the same room?”
I expect him to answer my question with a question. Would you like to stay in the same room?
But he doesn’t. He says, “No, Nova. I don’t sleep with anyone but Locke.”
My mouth kinda drops open. “Oh.”
“Not like that.” He breathes these words out. “We don’t fuck, if that’s what you’re thinking. I won’t fuck you, either. But this one thing—who I sleep with—that is his victory, you see. And if I sleep with you, then I end his game.” He stares at me for a moment. “I’m not going to be the one to end that game. It will be him, if it ever happens.”
“Wait.” I put up a hand. “You don’t have sex with anyone?”
“I don’t sleep with anyone, Nova. Except for Locke.”
“But… you just said you don’t… fuck him.”
“No. We play.”
My mouth drops open again. “Oh…kay. But you’re not going to fuck me, either?”
He smiles, then laughs. “It’s all very complicated. But you’ll see. As we go, you’ll learn what I like. What I want from you. What I will give you back. If you’re worried about orgasms, I can provide plenty of those. Plus, Locke will obviously be fucking you. And Olsen, perhaps? So you don’t need me for that.”
I have no words.
“Look.” Mercer moves on, redirecting my attention to the bed. “What do you think of this?” He’s pointing to a dress that is laid out on the comforter. It’s red, and lacy, and, from what I can tell, extremely sexy. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it. We can find you something else.”