Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
My hands flew to my chest as reality settled in. I ran outside of a maybe burning building not wearing a bra! No part of me could get away with not wearing a bra. I wasn’t gifted a set of girls that could just be free willying life whenever they wished. No. I was one of those women who needed a cage within a cage that was built with strong steel all around. I needed the lifting genie to grant me its services daily through bras because my Phineas and Ferb dual would’ve been on a mission to wave at my belly button without them.
“Shit!” someone hollered behind me.
“I know, right?” I replied, holding my hands to my chest and turning my back toward JohnJake.
“No, your shit! I stepped in your dog’s shit!” a man grumbled from behind.
I spun around to find the new kid on the block, Alex Ramírez, with his grumpy frown, hopping all over as he tried to rub poop from the bottom of his shoes. The shoes were all white and looked brand spanking new, minus, you know, the dog crap.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” I blurted out, reaching to grab Cocoa as she gladly came trotting back toward me, completely happy and relieved.
“Don’t be sorry. You should’ve cleaned up your dog’s shit,” Alex snapped, a little too aggressive if you asked me.
“I didn’t see that she finished. I always clean it up.”
“Always is the wrong word,” he huffed, his deep voice dripping with annoyance. Somebody wasn’t a morning person. Though, it was three a.m. Maybe he was sleepwalking.
Still, I smiled. “I’m sorry. The whole fire alarm threw me off this morning. And it seems Cocoa wandered farther than she normally would’ve.”
He grimaced, unamused. “There’re leash laws for a reason.”
I laughed. Leash laws and Honey Creek didn’t go together that well. We were the land of the dogs and the home of the barks. If anything, you’d be more likely to see humans on leashes than dogs.
“It’s not funny,” Alex ordered. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed and needed an espresso IV.
“Again, I’m sorry.”
“How are your apologies helping me?” he barked a little too loudly. “These are new shoes!” People began glancing around toward us, including JohnJake, which was the last thing I needed.
“Lower your voice!” I whisper-shouted as I pressed Cocoa to my chest. “Your bad attitude is drawing attention.”
“Pretty sure your dog’s shit is the cause of said attitude.”
“That’s neither here nor there. Just shush, okay?” I said as I stood.
As I looked to my left, I noticed JohnJake staring at me. He smiled the moment he saw me, so what did I do?
I ran.
I stepped fully into my Looney Tunes Road Runner speed and booked it around the corner of the building to hide my unbra’ed chest and bonnet.
I waited around the corner for fifteen minutes until the fire department finished their assessment, only to announce that it was a false alarm and we could return to our building. As I rounded the corner, I peeked to make sure JohnJake was nowhere to be found.
I shot onto the elevator like a fruit fly to a banana peel. The moment I entered, I released the sigh I’d been holding in. Right after I hit the button for the sixteenth floor, a leg entered the elevator, stopping it from shutting.
Alex Ramírez.
I shot him a stern glare. He scowled. I wondered if his face knew how to do anything else.
Cocoa and I stood in the corner as he hit the fifteenth floor.
“Hold the elevator, please!” a voice shouted.
I stood straight, noting the accent.
“Shut the door!” I whispered-shouted as I dove toward the button to close the elevator.
“What’s wrong with you?” Alex asked as he placed his hand in the way of the door.
“A lot, actually! Now if you would just—oh heyyy!” I sang to JohnJake as he stepped into the elevator.
“Hey, neighbor,” he said the moment he saw me. He then looked at Alex. “Thanks for holding that.”
Alex nodded in response.
“I just moved in not too long ago. I’m Josh,” he stated to Alex.
Josh! Of course his name was Josh. That’s right. Duh.
“Alex,” he dryly replied with his stupid-looking face, not knowing that he was now my ultimate enemy for the betrayal of allowing my sweet Josh onto our elevator.
Okay, I lied. Alex wasn’t stupid-looking. I could see how some people could find him attractive if they were into the whole dark and mysterious “I may or may not have been the monster from Beauty and The Beast in a past life” grump appeal. I, myself, found him attractive until I witnessed his monstrous side.
Josh stepped backward and placed his back against the wall of the elevator. He sniffed the air. “It kind of smells like crap in here, no?”
Alex looked toward me, then back at Josh. “Don’t look at me,” he muttered. He gestured at me. “Rumor has it she stepped in dog shit outside. That or she shat herself.”