Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I’m gonna have my own place.” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down. “And you can come stay whenever you want.”
“You’re right,” she said with a smile. “As a consolation prize, that one’s not so bad.”
“It’s gonna be good, sugar,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head as she lay back down. “You’ll be goin’ to school so you can get a job and be my sugar mama—”
Emilia giggled.
“And I’ll be workin’ so we can afford to have a place where we can have sex in an actual bed.”
“I wonder what that’s like,” she muttered dryly.
“I’ll show you,” I said, the idea of her naked in my bed making me instantly hard. No interruptions. No worries about being caught. Space for activities. I couldn’t fucking wait.
“How are you gonna show me?” she asked suspiciously. “How would you know?”
The noise I made was involuntary, half snort half scoff. “You know I ain’t been with anyone but you,” I said, slapping her ass.
“You better keep it that way.”
“I was plannin’ on it.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
She was quiet for a moment, but her body was tense and I knew she still had something on her mind. It didn’t take long to find out what it was.
“Do you think you’ll ever get bored of me?”
I jerked in surprise. “Say what?”
“You know, only being with me. Do you think you’ll get bored?”
“Are you bored?” I asked, looking down at her head. Where the hell was this coming from?
“Of course not,” she said, lifting her head to look at me. “Why would you think that?”
“Then why are you asking if I’m gonna get bored?”
“’Cause it’s different for guys,” she replied, the words almost a whisper. “Like, what if you want someone that looks different or something? Or like, bigger boobs. Maybe you’ll want to see what’s out there.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“You don’t know that,” she replied.
“Yeah, I do,” I said, curling my arm under my head as I stared at the sky. “Why would I want anyone but you? I love you. You get me. Plus, you’re hot as fuck and you can put your legs behind your head.”
“You’re not being serious,” she replied flatly, dropping her head back down against my chest.
“I am, though,” I said, giving her ass a squeeze. “I can’t imagine wantin’ to be with anyone but you, sugar. That’s the honest truth. Don’t need anythin’ else, don’t want anythin’ else.”
“High school relationships never last,” she said quietly.
“Sometimes they do,” I replied. “We’ll be the exception, yeah?”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
“How are you so—” She paused and huffed. “So calm about it?”
“I don’t see why you’re so worried about it.” I tipped my head back down. “You’re goin’ to school right down the road. We’ve known each other forever. You know my family and I’ve, uh, seen yours.”
She laughed a little.
“We’re solid.”
“People change a lot before they’re twenty-five,” she argued. “What if we’re completely different people?”
“Then I guess I’ll have to love whoever you are when you’re twenty-five,” I said with a chuckle. “You’re overthinkin’ it. We’ll be together, we’ll change together, it’ll all be good, alright?”
“Alright.”
“Emmy!” a high voice yelled from across the yard. “You’re here!”
“Myla!” Emilia yelled back, popping her head out of the hammock to see my little sister. “I am!”
“Ooh, I love your hair!”
“Thanks! I like your braids!”
“Your shirt is pretty.”
“So is yours.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “Wrap it up, Compliment Cathys.”
“I made a huge mural at school about the Revolutionary War and I had to bring it home on the bus,” Myla announced as she reached us, grabbing a hold of the side of the hammock. “It’s so cool. I did all of the big battles on like, a timeline I couldn’t put all the small skirmishes because I didn’t have room, plus who knows how many there actually were.” She was talking so fast that she had to pause to take in an audible gulp of air. “And I drew pictures. Can I sit with you guys?”
“Hell no,” I replied instantly.
Emilia’s elbow dug into my side. “I don’t think you’ll fit,” she said apologetically.
“Want to come see my mural? I’m going to hang it up in the dining room. You can help if you want? My mom said she’d help but she hangs everything crooked.”
Emilia looked at me, trying to hold back her laughter. My sister was a lot on a good day, and today she was going for the gold.
“Go. Hang with my baby sister.” I shifted so she could slide out of the hammock. “We’ve got plenty of hammock time coming up.”
“Summer,” Emilia said happily.
“Only a couple more weeks and then we’re gonna spend all day in this thing.”
“Maybe not all day,” she replied as she stood up.
“All day,” I countered, grabbing her wrist before she could walk away. She leaned down to kiss me while Myla made vomit noises.