Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
From the doorway, I watch as the soldier on Mike’s side of the screen faces down the barrel of a scary-looking gun. On Fitzy’s side, it’s clear he has Hollis completely trapped.
“Any last words?” Fitzy asks.
“I never learned how to ride a bike.”
Fitz bursts out laughing. A deep, sexy laugh that rolls out of his muscular chest—and dies the moment he spots me.
“Holy shit, that was funny,” Brenna tells Hollis as she saunters into the living room. “You actually said something that made me laugh. Like, with you and not at you.”
He responds with a scowl. “Oh, hi there. How was Rome?”
“Rome?” she says blankly.
“Yeah. Rome.” His dark look travels toward me. “Right, Brutus?”
I reluctantly turn to Fitz for assistance. “What the hell is he talking about?”
“Et tu, Brute,” he murmurs wryly.
“Davenport told us where you were,” Hollis accuses. “So don’t try to hide it.”
“I wasn’t going to,” I say cheerfully. “Bee, you want a drink?”
“Obviously.”
From the armchair, Hunter cracks one eye open. “Only thing left is the bottle of Fireball,” he mumbles, haphazardly gesturing to the end table.
I eye the whiskey bottle apprehensively. “Feeling spicy?” I ask Brenna.
“Always.”
Grinning, I duck into the kitchen in search of shot glasses. When I come back, Brenna is nestled on the other side of Fitzy, trying to convince him and Hollis that she was coerced into attending the Cambridge party.
“It was terrible,” she bemoans.
“Bullshit! She had the best time ever.” I set the glasses on the table, then glance at my roommates. “It’s okay if Brenna stays over, right?” I’m wondering now if I should’ve asked for permission.
But Hollis waves his hand dismissively. “Of course you’re staying over,” he tells her. “My bed is your bed.”
Fitz snorts.
“Oh honey, I wouldn’t touch your bed with a ten-foot pole.”
“Speaking of poles…” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Keep it in your pants, Michael.”
“Aw, have some mercy on him. He needs it tonight,” Fitz says, slinging one tattooed arm around her shoulder.
And no, I’m not jealous seeing that.
Why would I be?
I tear my gaze away and focus on pouring the Fireball.
“Why does he need my mercy?”
“Because he shaved his entire body for a woman and got stood up.” Fitz looks like he’s trying not to laugh.
From his chair, Hunter doesn’t bother refraining. He chuckles, albeit sleepily. I think maybe Hollis wasn’t the only one smoking weed tonight. Hunter has barely moved since we got home.
“Oh, dear.” Brenna reaches across Fitz’s big body and pats Hollis on the arm. “My apologies, sweetie.”
I study him as I finish pouring. He’s wearing jeans and long sleeves. Not a hint of skin. “On a scale of one to ten, how hairless are you?”
His lips curve. “C’mere and find out…”
This time Fitz reaches over, smacking Hollis on the back of the head. “Enough, dude. Even I’m starting to get skeeved out.”
Brenna and I clink our glasses, raise them to our lips, and throw back the shots. The cinnamon-flavored liquid burns a path all the way to my stomach.
“Jee-zus!” I groan. My mouth and throat are on fire. “I forgot how potent this stuff is.”
“Another one,” Brenna orders. “I barely felt that.”
With a snort of laughter, I pour two more shots.
As we drink our next round, I can feel Fitz’s cautious gaze boring into me. I bet he wants to lecture me about the booze. Warn me to slow down. But he keeps his mouth shut.
“Oooh-kay, I definitely felt that one!” Brenna’s cheeks are flushed now. She wastes no time whipping off her tight black sweater, leaving her in black skinny jeans and a lacy, barely-there camisole.
Hollis’ blue eyes smolder. “Wanna go upstairs? To answer Summer’s question, I’m a ten. Completely hairless…”
A giggle pops out of my mouth. Right. As if that’s going to entice her.
“Absolutely not,” she replies. She reaches for Fitz’s abandoned Xbox controller. “What are we playing?”
“Killer Instinct.”
“Nice. I know this one. Let me play Hollis. I want to blow his brains out a couple times.”
Hollis beams. “All I heard was ‘I want to blow.’ And my answer is yes. Blow away, baby.”
Sadly for him, she sticks to virtually shooting him in the head half a dozen times. I’m not particularly fond of watching other people play video games, so I peruse Hollis’ Spotify library on his open laptop, make a playlist, and spend the next hour rocking out by myself while Brenna takes turns facing off against Hollis and Fitz.
We down two more shots during that hour. And then another two, after Hollis insists there’s no point leaving such a teeny tiny amount in the bottle. “This is Briar!” he shouts as if he’s acting out a scene from Gladiator. “We finish what we start!”
I’m drunk enough that his speech makes perfect sense to me. So the three of us polish off the Fireball, while Hunter snores softly in the armchair and Fitz watches me with what I think is disapproval. I can’t be sure, because my vision is a wee bit fuzzy.