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 good Mr.—”
Gramps cut her off with a huff.
“I’m good, Gramps,” she amended.
“You bring that grandbaby by tonight,” he ordered, pointing at her. “No excuses. Been here two damn days, and we haven’t even met him yet.”
“They got here yesterday,” I corrected.
“That’s right,” he replied, straightening back up. “Today and yesterday.”
“We’ll bring him over.”
“Damn right, you will,” he said, glaring at me. “And stop maulin’ the girl out in the rain. You’re too damn old for that shit. You got a bed, use it.”
“I wasn’t—” I sputtered.
Gramps just raised one eyebrow.
“Understood,” I muttered.
“I’ll see ya tonight,” he said as he backed up a step. “Gram will make dinner. Bye, Em.”
“Bye, Gramps,” Emilia called as he walked away.
“Nosy old coot,” I mumbled as I rolled the window back up.
“I cannot believe that just happened,” Emilia moaned in embarrassment, pulling her sweatshirt up until it covered everything below her eyes. “How did he even know where we were?”
I started to chuckle as I put the car in reverse and turned around, and by the time we were making our way back toward the front gate, I was full-out laughing. Jesus, of course he’d come out there to give me shit. Of course he had.
“What?” Emilia asked, staring at me like I was crazy. “What? Why are you laughing?”
“They always knew where we were at,” I told her between laughs. “Every fuckin’ time.”
“What?” she yelled.
“It wasn’t a secret,” I replied, glancing at her. “You had to know that.”
“I did not know that,” she replied, letting the sweatshirt fall from her face. “What do you mean, it wasn’t a secret?”
“All the boys knew where we were and exactly what we were doin’,” I said, waving at the prospect as he opened the gate from us. “Hell, they used to throw condoms at me on a daily basis.”
“You told them?” she asked in disbelief, smacking my shoulder. “Gross!”
“Of course I didn’t tell them,” I replied, catching her hand. I rubbed my thumb over the back of it without thinking, then dropped it like a hot coal when I realized what I was doing. “They knew. We were drivin’ out there to park in the middle of nowhere at least once a week. Did you think they wouldn’t figure it out?”
“I didn’t think anyone was paying attention,” she said sharply.
“The prospects opened the gate for us every fuckin’ time,” I said, glancing at her to see if she was serious. She was scowling at me like I’d kicked her dog.
“No one ever said anything,” she said skeptically.
“Not to you, no,” I agreed. “They had all sorts of shit to say to me, though.”
“Did your parents know?” she whispered in horror.
“I’m sure my mom suspected,” I replied, huffing out a laugh as she groaned. “Dad definitely knew.”
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
“Emilia, we have a kid,” I reminded her. “They know we were havin’ sex back then.”
“That doesn’t mean they need to know details!”
“Calm down,” I said, almost reaching for her. I tightened my hands on the wheel instead. “They know we were sneakin’ off. It’s not like they know you like your nipples pinched, for Christ’s sake.”
“That was uncalled for,” she hissed.
“What?” I asked innocently. “You do, don’t you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she snapped.
“If I reached over there and slid my hand up your sweatshirt—”
“I’m going to stop you right there.”
“Doubt you would,” I said under my breath.
“I can’t tell if you’re flirting or being an ass right now,” she huffed. “But knock it off.”
Crazy thing was, I wasn’t sure either. Part of me was just trying to needle her, but even saying the words out loud had made my hands itch to follow through. Even though I knew it was completely insane, I wanted her again.
We were quiet for the rest of the drive, but as we pulled up in front of my parents’ house, I realized that we really hadn’t figured anything out. I’d taken her to our old spot to hash things out and instead the situation had gotten even more fucked. Pun intended.
“Em, wait,” I said, grabbing her arm as she reached for the door.
She looked at me in surprise.
“Let’s just ride it out,” I said impulsively.
“Ride what out?”
“You and Rhett livin’ with me,” I said, letting go of her arm. “We don’t have to have all the answers right now. Let’s just ride it out. You can find a job, and we’ll figure it out as we go.”
“That’s probably a really bad idea.”
I knew it was. It absolutely was. I could already feel the pull of her, the way she’d easily burrowed back under my skin. Jesus, I’d fucked her at the goddamn compound even though I knew that every brother would know about it by day’s end. I could’ve taken her back to the house to talk, went for a drive, anything, but instead I’d taken her back to our spot. Jesus, what was wrong with me?