Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“I don’t think they were cold.” And then…then Kai slipped his arm through mine, hooking them together before laying his head on my shoulder again. “When I ask how your day was, I don’t care what you accomplished, though, okay? I want to know about stuff in here.” He patted my chest, right above my heart, and that touch somehow sucked the air out of me. I didn’t know what to say, how to respond, or why I suddenly felt so fucking much.
I cleared my throat, trying to ignore what he’d said. My brain wouldn’t obey, but my mouth did. “You never fully answered my question—if that’s why you don’t want to go back to Riverside. We ended up talking about when you came out.”
“Oh yeah. It’s hard because, like you, I’m so fucking lucky to have them. They’re my world, but I’ve always been different from them too. Faith went to college to be a nurse. Jalen did an apprenticeship to be an electrician. I did nothing. I got a job, yeah, but our paths are different. They both settled down young, the way our parents did. I’m twenty-six, and I’ve never brought a man home. I need my space to be who I am. And sometimes I feel like they think they have to take care of me. I’m too irresponsible or wild or whatever. I’m sure that sounds silly—”
“Nah. I get it. It’s similar to me and why even though I have a degree in architecture, I went into real estate. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stand on your own two feet.”
“Exactly…and wow…I have something in common with Marcus Alston. Go me.”
I chuckled, and then we both turned quiet for a moment. My wineglass was still full on the table in front of us, the fish swimming, except for Blue, who was lingering toward the bottom, alternating between staying upright and lying down. There was something peaceful about them, which was why I’d ended up downstairs watching them—and that’s how I realized Blue wasn’t acting normal in the first place.
I frowned when Kai untangled himself from me, saying, “I’ll be right back,” but all he did was get up and turn off the lights in the room before joining me again. “How did you guys start The Vers?”
“We can blame that completely on Corbin and Parker. They dragged Dec and me kicking and screaming. We got lucky that it ended up being profitable. Most podcasts aren’t. I kept telling Corbin that from the beginning. It’s all about sponsors and advertisers.”
“But even if it didn’t make money, it would be fun, no? You get to do something with your best friends.”
“Is that supposed to be good?” I teased, then added, “Yeah, it would be.”
“I know. Tell me something else.”
So that’s what I did. Kai curled up against me, and I talked… He interrupted a lot, and my stories turned into his stories, but I was okay with that. The night went on, the two of us in the dark other than the light from the tank, just sharing with each other.
Eventually, his voice started to go hoarse, and I could tell he was getting tired. He’d been working all night, so it made sense he was exhausted. “Go to sleep, baby boy.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” he said, but when I wrapped my arm around him, Kai nuzzled in and almost immediately passed out.
Chapter Fourteen
Kai
I woke up to the heat of another body wrapped around mine, warm and hard with muscles covered in smooth skin.
I didn’t know how it happened, but we were lying down now, both of us on our sides, with Marcus behind me, his arm around my waist and a very thick erection nuzzling against my ass.
I couldn’t complain. It might just be the best way I’d ever woken up.
As I was about to push back against him, I remembered the whole reason we were cuddled up on the couch and scrambled over to the tank to look at my fish. Blue didn’t look better, but they didn’t look worse either.
“Shit. I can’t believe I slept in,” Marcus’s deep voice came from behind me.
“Slow your roll there, big guy. It’s eight. In what world is this sleeping in?”
I turned to him. He was sitting up now, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Mine.”
“Your world is weird.”
He looked at me, a strange smile on his face I couldn’t read. “Let’s get dressed so we can go get stuff taken care of.”
“Is this getting-dressed thing something we’re doing together? I could handle a shower together too. I’ll grab my stuff and meet you in your room.” I waggled my brows, Marcus shook his head at me, but he loved this shit. I stirred up his life, and he needed that.
“Be good, baby boy.” He stood.
“How am I supposed to be good when you call me that? All it makes me want to do is have sex with you.” Shit. Well, I guess I wasn’t playing hard to get anymore. It had lasted barely over a week, but I was surprised I’d made it this long.