Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
I noticed she tended to go for the pretty covers.
I picked one of those up and read the back. It was about a school shooting. Serious shit, but she kept going back to it and then putting it on the shelf again.
I bought it when she went to the bathroom.
She squealed when I gave it to her, and I wanted to eat her all the way up, but now we were stopping for ice cream. We found ourselves a table, which was good because I didn’t think I could walk. She licked her cone and seemed oblivious that I was mesmerized. I had to scoot down when some guys from our school walked by, because my hard-on was trying to lift the fucking table.
“Babe.” I leaned forward, trying to think of my grandma. “You gotta stop torturing me. My balls aren’t blue anymore. They’re fucking black.”
Her eyes got big, and I swear, that made her even hotter. I needed to find new words for lickable, tasteable, fuckable, hot, cute, and adorable because those weren’t enough to describe her.
A date.
We were dating.
I’d asked her to be my girl, and she’d climaxed her response.
I was dating someone, and I wasn’t letting her go.
This shit was getting serious.
A girlfriend. That was next.
Or were we already there?
“Blaise.”
Did I have a girlfriend? Was I her boyfriend?
The panic I thought I’d be feeling wasn’t there. What did that say about me?
“Blaise.”
“Hmmm?”
“Blaise!”
I jerked out of my thoughts, finding Aspen giving me a weird look. “What?”
She pointed to the side, and I looked.
Aw, crap.
Zeke stood there, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin. My first thought was to punch him and wipe that smirk off, but the second was shit, shit, shit because Zeke wasn’t alone.
Our entire group of friends had decided they wanted ice cream.
22
Aspen
Zeke Allen leered at me. I hated it.
“Hey, buddy.” His leer turned even smarmier, and he shoved in beside Blaise and leaned forward, his arms resting on the table. “You and me have not officially met. I’m Zeke.”
I opened my mouth, but no surprise, nothing came out. I’d tried getting Blaise’s attention, but he’d taken that moment to get lost in his thoughts. Otherwise I could’ve warned him when I saw Zeke’s truck turn in to the parking lot. He’d parked next to Blaise’s Wagon and gave it a long look before heading inside, a confused frown on his face.
And Zeke’s truck had been just the first.
Four more vehicles pulled in after it, and now the entire front section of the ice cream shop was overrun with Blaise’s friends: Penny, Ria, Deja, Kit. The guys that came with them. They’d all entered, the girls giving me nasty looks. I saw Mara for a moment, but when she saw me, she turned and left.
Hurt had flashed on her face, and a part of me felt bad. But the other part was terrified because this group was the nightmare of every book nerd out there.
Blaise let out an aggrieved sigh, raking his hand through his hair. “No,” he growled, and it seemed to shock everyone. Even Penny cast him a cursory look. Zeke looked mildly amused. He lifted an eyebrow, waiting.
Blaise shoved him out of the booth.
“Come on, man.” Zeke’s arms fell open. “We gotta meet her at some point.”
Blaise gave him a dark look, taking my hand and pulling me out. “Not today, bruh.”
He led me through the group, back to the front of the restaurant.
“You can’t keep doing this,” Zeke called.
Blaise stopped, his hand gripping mine. His body stiffened as he turned back slowly. “Excuse me?”
“You keep starting shit and then leaving. That’s not how it works with me.” Zeke sounded almost charming, but there was an edge in his eyes.
It sent shivers down my back.
Blaise laughed an ugly laugh. He did not look like he was having the same shivers. He was looking like the one who gave those shivers to others. “That’s not how things work with you? Who the fuck do you think you are? You ain’t Ghandi.”
Someone snorted beside us.
A dark cloud came over Zeke’s face before he caught himself. Then that eerily charming smile returned, and he shrugged. “I’m just letting you know how it is. That’s all. We miss hanging out with you.”
“I’m really sick and tired of the cloak-and-dagger warnings, Zeke. You want to throw down? Let’s throw down.”
Just as I thought Blaise was going to break my hand, he loosened his hold. He pulled my hand into both of his and began rubbing.
Zeke watched the movement, and there was a flash in his eyes. Sadness.
I frowned, biting the inside of my cheek. Why?
He shook his head. “You know what? Never mind. We’re good. I was just pissed about earlier.”
What happened earlier?
Blaise relaxed and tucked my hand back in his, moving forward. He and Zeke did a man hug, thumping each other on the shoulder. Blaise said something to him no one else could hear, and Zeke nodded, holding up his fist.