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)
Glancing around as we walked, I realized almost who all was here.
“You invite Roussou people?”
Zeke tossed me a grin over his shoulder. “Why not? I don’t discriminate. Besides, things are cool with me and Gambin again.” He gestured toward a guy across the basement.
“Huh.”
Gambin was one of the athletes from Cross’ school, and seeing me, he separated from his group. He followed us into the den connected to Zeke’s bedroom. It acted as a gaming room. Zeke used it for his smoking room too, but tonight, only two guys were inside.
“Out.” Zeke jerked his head toward the patio doors leading to the pool.
The guys were passing a blunt, but they looked up, saw us, and scrambled. I didn’t recognize them.
“Finally.” Zeke sank down onto one of the couches.
Brian sat on his other side.
We were here for pizza, but the whiskey had helped my headache a little. And I wanted to relax, have my girl with me in my scene. I went to the far inside corner of the couch and sank down. When Aspen made a move to sit next to me, I leaned back, pulling her onto my lap.
“Blaise.”
She stiffened, but I molded her against me. I leaned back and closed my eyes. What a fucking night. I felt her fingers touching my face, gently, as she inspected my damage. But everything had already been cleaned and bandaged by one of Monroe’s bounty hunters.
I opened my eyes and saw Zeke watching us as Gambin came in.
“Making sure all my teeth are there?” I asked Aspen.
I’d meant to tease her, but it came out a bit more gruff than I wanted. I put my hand on her thigh when she tensed. “Sorry. I must be in more pain than I thought.”
She nodded, biting her lip.
I lifted my hand to touch her mouth. “Not that.”
She let it go and breathed out, her body relaxing against mine. She rested her elbow on my shoulder, her head cocked to the side. “Do your ribs hurt?”
I frowned. Cross hadn’t hit me there.
I shook my head. “Nah. We were trying to mess up each other’s pretty faces.”
She smiled. “Okay. That’s good then.”
God, she was beautiful, soft golden hair. She had lips I wanted to do dirty, dirty things to, and her body was ridiculous—tight, toned, and perfect everywhere.
My dick was already hard with her in my lap, but thinking about what I wanted to do to her tonight, fucking painful.
Aspen felt it, and her face flushed. She laughed, burying her head in my neck.
That felt nice too.
Zeke caught my attention, jerking his chin up. He wanted to talk.
I leaned in and asked Aspen, “You want to participate in our conversation or just relax in my lap?”
Her eyes were dark, and I knew she was thinking lusty thoughts, so I wasn’t surprised when she lifted a hand, touching the bruise on my lip before she murmured, “Just kinda wanting to relax.”
I nodded and moved her to the other side. Her back was to the room this way, and I pulled her legs up to rest next to us on the couch. One hand held my whiskey and the other curved behind her. I rested my head back.
This was the life.
When Aspen had settled, her head pressing to my shoulder, I gave Zeke the signal.
He was fighting a smile, but stopped. A full-on shit-eating grin spread over his face. “Fuck. Never thought I’d see it, but it’s here.”
I smiled back.
Gambin leaned forward.
A couple other guys had come in, but they held back. There was another couch on the other side of Zeke, so we had a tiny bit of privacy. Good. I was on edge. I wouldn’t have handled that well. Although Aspen somehow made everything okay.
Jesus. What was my problem?
What was I becoming? I’d never needed a girl to calm me down, but Aspen was suddenly that person for me—more and more every time I saw her. How long ago had I told her I couldn’t date her, and now I needed her touching me to get through a room? It was unreal, but I wasn’t a moron. I wasn’t going to fight it. I was going to hold on to her, keep her as long as she would stay.
Because that was the situation.
She was going to go away. Eventually.
Not today. Not tomorrow, but some day, and it was for the very reason Zeke had been teasing me about. I was the biggest dick here. I’d been physically abused, and that shit had happened for a reason. It was like Griffith knew there was bad in me, and he needed to beat it out.
I grunted, the sound low in my throat, because he’d failed. It was still in me, just pushed down far enough that it only came out in pieces. Aspen was my salve. I was a blistering, angry wound, and I needed her covering me to dull the pain, just a little.