Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Margo. Mary felt her nose wrinkle on its own just thinking about her sister. Margo liked to remind Mary she wasn’t really a member of their family, not when looks-wise Mary was dark where they were light.
Dark hair and blue eyes, to their blond hair and green eyes.
If looking in the mirror every day hadn’t solidified the fact she was so out of place, hearing Margo’s twelve-year-old voice tell her she was the charity project for the family had made it abundantly clear that she would never fit in. And all these years that had stuck with Mary.
Her mother may have told her every night that she loved her, but Mary had never really felt like she meant it. Maybe it was just the years of her questioning her self-worth, Margo’s hurtful words, or the murmurs behind cupped hands whenever she went to a family function that had her feeling that way? Either way, she’d tried not to dwell, because what point would that prove? What end result would that garner?
Mary pushed those thoughts away and focused on the road. She took a left, and then a right until the small single-story house she shared with her roommate came into view. She pulled into the driveway and right beside Darcy’s faded blue Corolla. Turning off the car and sitting there for a moment, Mary let the sound of the engine cooling and clicking fill the interior.
After grabbing her purse off the passenger seat, she headed toward the front door. It was too late for Darcy to be up, so she quietly slipped inside and shut and locked the door. But it only took a moment for the explicit sounds of Darcy having sex with her boyfriend to fill Mary’s ears.
Mary groaned and shook her head, ignoring the sounds as best as she could as she made her way into the kitchen and got a glass of water. Leaning against the counter and bringing the cup to her lips, she turned her head to the side and listened with astonishment as the sound of a headboard banging against the wall resounded in the silence.
After only a few seconds, it was quiet again. Mary finished her water, and just as she was about to head to her room a very naked Darcy and her boyfriend came walking into the kitchen. The lights were still off, but there was enough of a glow spilling in through the window from the streetlamps that she saw everything.
Darcy came to an abrupt stop when she saw Mary standing there, which in turn had her boyfriend slamming into her back.
“Shit, Mary.” Darcy placed a hand over her heart. “You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing creeping around in the dark?” Neither Darcy nor her boyfriend seemed to be the least bit self-conscious over their nudity since they moved farther into the kitchen.
Dane, the boyfriend, opened the fridge and bent at the waist. She got a straight shot of his balls and dick hanging between his slightly spread thighs and quickly averted her eyes to look back at Darcy. Her roommate had started walking over to the fridge and Mary decided now was a good time to get the hell out of there.
“Just got home from tutoring, and I’m beat. I’ll see ya in the morning.”
“Yeah, alright.”
Darcy’s words filtered past her as she quickly headed down the hall to her room. Once the door was firmly shut behind her, she breathed out. God, Mary so needed her own place, but of course she couldn’t afford that on her own. But Darcy was as close to a friend as Mary had ever had, so she supposed it was just one of the hazards of having a roommate that liked sex… It wasn’t a bad tradeoff.
After cleaning up and putting on an oversized shirt, she slipped into bed, pulled the blanket up to her neck, and stared at the ceiling.
She was tired, but of course the blissful peace of sleep didn’t come right away. Instead, the image of Alex Sheppard slammed into her brain. Even as she inhaled now, Mary could swear she smelled him. It was a dark, intense aroma that had her heart racing and her toes curling.
She was in trouble where he was concerned… that was for sure.
3
Sweat covered Alex’s face as he dodged the teammate coming for him and promptly tackled his ass.
“Sheppard, I want to talk to you.” Coach Marx called out from across the field.
Alex tipped his chin in acknowledgment and got off the ground, helping Mack up and clapping him on the back before walking over to the bench to grab one of the towels sitting in a stack on the metal seat.
He took off his jersey and equipment and wiped the sweat from his face and chest, and tossed the small strip of cloth over his shoulder as he headed to where Coach stood talking with a few of his teammates.