Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Suddenly, an arm slid around my shoulders as a bubbly Colm pressed against my side, holding his own mixed drink.
“Sorry, they can’t ever behave,” he told me.
I found myself leaning against his lean and fit body, enjoying the smell of whatever cologne he had on.
“I don’t think any of you behave,” I laughed as I tilted my head to peer up at him.
Colm looked over at Jed, who watched us with a small smile on his face.
“What do you think? I behave pretty well, right?” he asked.
Jed scoffed.
“That’s what you’d like to think,” he replied before sliding my drink over to me once the bartender placed it down. “She probably behaves better than you.”
“I’d be interested in putting that to the test,” Colm said, his fingertips brushing my upper arm in a manner that threatens to make me shiver. His words are cryptic but flirty, making my heart race as I look between them. I couldn’t do anything with them in this bar, not in front of my team.
But what if they made a move? Would I really be able to stop them when the deepest, darkest parts of me wanted that so badly?
Mikael coaxed me out of my thoughts as he approached the bar for another drink. He wore a grey sweater that hugged his athletic body just right.
“Finish that romance book?” I asked him.
“It was a bit heartbreaking. Love is complicated,” Mikael told me.
“Some people avoid it like the plague,” I pointed out. It wasn’t that I actively tried to avoid it, but I wasn’t sure if it was meant for me right now. I wasn’t actively looking for it.
“Like Stephen,” Colm murmured before sipping on his drink.
I furrowed my brow, looking between all of them curiously.
“Why is that?” I asked.
Jed shrugged.
“Think it was his parents. They went through a bad divorce, and he was forced to be a spectator to that mess. Probably scarred him,” he told me.
I frowned as I looked over at Stephen, who was talking to Saroya. I knew of quite a few people who had divorced parents. Some of them weren’t all that affected, but others were certainly hurt by the hatred or dislike that their own parents had for each other. My own parents split up, but I knew that it was for the best given how absent my father was when it came to me, my sister, and my mother, who struggled on her own to do everything for us.
“That’s terrible,” I said.
“Just don’t tell him I said that,” Jed replied, his eyes widening slightly when he realized what he just said.
“I won’t,” I assured him as I placed my hand on his wrist, a tiny jolt passing through me. His skin was so warm, and it took everything in me to draw away once he smiled at me.
We all continued to drink and chat, jumping from conversation to conversation from person to person. It wasn’t long before my team retired to the hotel, too tired to keep celebrating. I was caught in the midst of a drinking game with the guys that I refused to back out of.
“Alright, alright. Never have I ever… had car sex,” Anthony said as we all gathered around a table with a bottle of liquor and shot glasses in the middle.
“Oh, please,” Stephen scoffed before taking a shot, along with Colm and Jed.
Since I hadn’t ever done that in my life, I didn’t have to take a shot.
“Is that really comfortable?” I asked with a laugh, bordering on tipsy at that point like the others. My face felt warm, and my skin felt tingly. It felt good.
“Depends on the position,” Anthony told me from across the table.
I felt an ankle brush mine, but there was no telling who it was since the table was full of guys with all of their eyes on me. This entire day felt like a fever dream. We won the tournament, and I was laughing and drinking with the guys who had given me such a hard time for weeks. Truthfully, I was having a lot of fun.
A pestering sensation tickled the back of my neck, prompting me to turn around and see if anyone was behind me. There were other people sitting at other tables, but I didn’t see anyone nearby or looking at me. My mind was probably playing tricks on me.
“You’ve hardly had to take any shots,” Hugo said to me as he sat on my right. He leaned closer to me with a wry smile on his face. “Blushing virgin?”
My face burned as I shot a glare at him.
“I’m not a virgin,” I bit out. “I just… don’t get around much.”
“Shame,” Stephen murmured as his eyes lingered on me.
Mikael sat on my other side and nudged my thigh with his.
“Take a turn,” he said, looking intrigued.
They were right. I hadn’t done a lot, while they were all experienced and confident when it came to sex or just flat out attraction. It didn’t help that I had been learning more about them, adding depth to the cocky personalities that I originally knew. They had past troubles, things to prove, and wounds they were healing.