Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 132933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
His grin brightens. “Don’t think that’s possible, space babe.” Before I ask, he lowers towards my lips and whispers, “You are the moon.” He kisses me more tenderly, and I just keep hoping, don’t stop.
Never end.
32
PAUL DONNELLY
She’s right. That was everything. But I must be insatiable because I just want more of everything, and so does she. We’re contemplating another round. Getting hard again isn’t just easy—it’s already happened lingering inside her warmth.
Luna is this clingy, feisty thing that surprised me a little in bed. There should be another word for attracted because it feels weak for what I’ve been feeling tonight. I’m hyper-attracted. High-key attracted. Losing-my-total-mind attracted.
We go well together, if I do say so. Perfect, like steak and cheese, and we’ve only fucked once. What happens when a perfect match keeps going, I don’t know.
I hope she’s not scared to find out.
Checking on her again, she’s really sensitive. I don’t want to hurt Luna, so we decide to just chill. She turns on a small “smoke trap” air filter device on her nightstand while I crack a window, leaving the curtains closed since I’m buck-naked. And back in bed, I light a cigarette. Too hot to get beneath the covers, I just lie on top, and Luna is sprawled on her stomach, her cheek resting on my thigh.
I comb her damp hair out of her face while I smoke.
“November 1st,” Luna muses, tracing a dagger tattoo on the inside of my thigh. “It’s Thatcher and Jane’s wedding anniversary. I think they went to a hotel for the night.”
I blow smoke towards the cracked window, the bed pushed against the wall so it’s close. “Yeah, I already heard. Banks and Akara went on-duty for them since she’s a high-threat risk being that pregnant.” Her due date is closing in, so the media is hounding Jane. I take another drag. “November 1st.” I shake my head as another stream of smoke leaves my lips.
Luna rolls onto her back, still down near my thighs. “Does that day mean something to you?” She wonders, looking up at me.
“Yeah.” I reach over and tap ash into an energy drink can on her end table. “Two years ago, on this day, I was transferred off of Beckett’s detail. He requested it, and I remember sitting in the townhouse kitchen…” I stare off, my chest tight. “I was upset, and uh, Farrow was there. He took me out to cheer me up. He knew I was messed up over it.”
“It kinda looked like a break-up,” she says softly. “From my vantage, at least.”
“Felt like it.” I swallow a pit. “I love my friends. They’re like family to me, and I’ve never lost one that close, until him.” She’s known since Scotland that everything surrounding the transfer was about Beckett using drugs, so I don’t need to explain that. But I say, “And the way it happened—over cocaine—it couldn’t have felt worse.”
She stiffens a little, still looking up at me with big amber orbs for eyes. “Donnelly…I, um, I’ve done drugs.”
I rub my eye. “I know.”
“No, like, I’ve tried cocaine.”
“I know,” I nod again and pat her forehead before taking another drag.
“How?”
I’m not looking forward to telling this to Luna. But I go ahead and say it. “You’re one of the most gossiped about in security. Most of the time, Oscar and I try to figure out what was real or rumor, but I dunno, you’re almost always mentioned doing something, so I have heard a lot about you trying out some shit. Honestly, I don’t know how much is real.”
“Maybe another day I’ll tell you,” she says quietly. “I’m not going to ruin today.”
Nothing could.
But maybe she’s right. I have uneasy feelings about some drugs. Cigarettes are not one of ‘em, obviously. Still, I ask, “You’re not currently—”
“No.”
“Okay,” I ease more. “November 1st.” I blow out smoke. “Two years later.” I begin to smile down at Luna. “Bad days always have a way of turning into better ones. Something Farrow and I agree on.” Back then, it was Farrow who made the worst moment fade away.
Now, the girl I’m falling in love with has all but eclipsed the darkness I’ve held for November 1st. It’s a day I’ll never want to forget.
She stares deeper into me, and after a long moment, she whispers, “If hope is contagious, you better infect me.”
“Girl, I’ll rub it all over you.” I slide my hand down her naked frame, and she’s grinning and hanging on to my arm.
DONNELLY’S DAILY PLANNER
MONDAY, NOV 5TH
Today’s Focus: be calm. Look forward to tonight. Morning will be chill, so lean into the chill. Mid-day slump will be a real thing here but don’t let Scottie slump ya down.
To Do:
Early morning with Xander at school
Team-up mid-day with Xander’s dad (real life twists can suck my dick, but this one is coming thru)