Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“Forever?” she asked, almost sarcastically.
“Forever’s a long time, Slick. I’m not offering you forever. I’m saying for right now, for as long as you can stay, I can be faithful without asking for anything more in return than what you’re already giving me. But you’re gonna have to stop kissing Easy. That’s a rule.”
She let out a surprised laugh. “I did not kiss Easy! He kissed me!”
“Yeah, but you liked it. Only reason I’m willing to let it go is because you liked kissing me more. A whole lot more.”
“How do you know?” she asked, but even in the dark he could swear he could see her blush.
He scoffed. “You read romance novels, Slick. Pretty sure that means all the parts are in good working order. And Easy didn’t get tongue like I did.”
“I did not-!”
“I was there, Slick, remember? Your tongue is about as sassy in my mouth as it is in yours. And I’m not gonna ask, but you offer me a handjob again, I won’t be turning it down.”
She considered this. “And if that’s all I can ever do?”
“Well, then at least it’ll be your hand and not mine, and I can actually look at you while you do it instead of just jerking off by myself in the shower and picturing you, like I’ve been doing for a while.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You don’t.”
“I do,” he replied. “A rather embarrassing amount considering I’m well out of my teenage years.” He grinned. “There’s a thought that maybe should’ve stayed in my head, but there you go. I want you, Hayley. I want whatever you’ll give me.”
She looked up at him and her bottom lip quivered. “You…want me?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Not the blond?”
He put his head back and looked up at the sky. “Jesus, you fuck up one time….You want to know why she approached you, Slick? You really want to know? Because she’s threatened by you. And she should be. You’re younger, which is a big deal to her; prettier, which is a big deal to me, and it probably didn’t help that while I was fucking her, I accidentally called her Hayley.”
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “You did not.”
“I did. And for a while there I had the claw marks on my back to prove it.”
“Oh, my God.” Hayley giggled in spite of herself. Then she sobered quickly. “Chris, you know, we might never-”
“Cook for me, give me some of that sassy tongue, and I’m really hoping for the occasional handjob, since you already offered once. Anything else happens if it happens.”
Hayley bit her lower lip until it nearly bled and then finally, slowly, nodded.
Chris’s heart squeezed. “Yeah?”
“Okay.”
He took her in his arms. “You won’t regret this. I’ll make certain of it.”
Chapter 21
The next morning Hayley woke up in her own bed, for the last time. Chris had brought them back home after Midnight, but she hadn’t yet felt comfortable enough to just head to his place rather than her own. She’d needed time to think about a few things and she’d been too tired to do that last night.
She slowly walked through the house, gathering her things, choosing to focus instead on the task at hand rather than any quandaries that were going to arise later. After she packed up the last of her clothes in her duffel bag, she made the bed with fresh, clean sheets and snagged Pepper off the couch.
In Chris’ house, Pepper headed off to the kitchen, already seemingly at home. And why not? She already spent at least half her time here. So did Hayley. She walked down the hall, frowning with every step. The door to the spare bedroom sat open. It’s clean yet sparse room was familiar to her. She’d spend a few nights here, in that bed, when she’d had a few too many beers on Poker Night. She slung the bag onto the bed.
Some small part of her, though, beckoned her to look around a little more. She hesitated in the open doorway to Chris’ bedroom. He’d already given her free reign to look around when she’d agree to cook for him, but she’d never really taken him up on the offer. She’d never been in Chris’ room aside from the night he’d been incapacitated. In the light of day it was perfectly....well, perfect. Crisp white walls, hospital corners on the bed, no clothes strewn about. It was as orderly as the rest of the house.
There was one thing out of place, though. Stepping into the room for a better look she realized that one of the dresser drawers was half open. Edging closer she peered at it. It appeared to be empty. She took hold of the brass handle and tugged. It was, indeed, sitting empty. Empty and open.
After staring at it for a while, she suddenly stepped toward the closet and opened the doors. She discovered a row of neat and orderly (of course) hung shirts, on the left side of the closet. The right side was bare. Chris had made it clear that the choice of bedrooms was hers, but he’d gone out of his way to make his preference known, if she cared to look.