Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 123435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 617(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 617(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
I look up and spot her by the smoothie shop. She gives a nonchalant wave.
Rolling my eyes, I hop out of the Rover and dart over to my friend. “Check this out!” I shove the hardcover into her hand.
“Oooh!” Her eyes light up. “This is amazing!”
“Do you think the girls will like it?” I ask anxiously.
“Are you kidding? They’re going to love it. I think a lot of kids would love it, actually.” She flips through it, then stops on one page in particular. She giggles and twists it around to show me the visual of McKenna trying to jam her secret dragon into a too-small cupboard. In the next panel, the doors bust open and Kit bursts out in a flurry of purple scales. “This is great. I would read this to my little cousins.”
“Robb wants to talk about publishing it properly—”
“Do it!” Joy says immediately.
I bite my lip as tiny ripples of excitement dance in my stomach. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?”
“A lot. I’m about to start senior year of college. I don’t have time to think about publishing children’s books on the side.” I shrug. “Anyway, what are you up to now? Want to grab lunch?”
“This is lunch.” She holds up her gross-looking green juice. “But I’ll come and watch you eat.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Sounds hot.”
I snicker. “That’s something Tate would say.” I tuck the book under my arm and nod at the smoothie place. “I’ll just grab a smoothie too. Treat me? I left my purse in the car.”
“Jeez. So demanding.”
We go in, and a moment later we’re at the end of the counter, waiting for my order to be prepared.
“Did you see Tate when you got back last night?” she asks.
“Yes,” I answer, thinking about the brief encounter. Joy and I left the Rip Tide around midnight, and despite needing to wake up early, Tate still snuck in through my window … to kiss me good night. Yup, just a kiss. I swear, he’s the biggest tease I’ve ever met.
“I can’t believe you still haven’t been fully naked together,” Joy says, marveling over what I told her last night at the show.
“It’s weird, right? It’s like he thinks if we have all our clothes off, his penis will accidently fall into my vagina.”
She hoots. “Maybe he’s a virgin too.”
“Definitely not. Honestly, I think he’s scared to deflower me. He’s moving at a snail’s pace. It’s maddening.”
“Then let’s give him a nudge.”
“What kind of nudge?”
“Um. Seduce the guy, Cass.”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how?” She looks amused by my total lack of seduction proficiency. “There are so many options.”
“Name one,” I challenge. “Because it sounds like you don’t actually know—”
“Sneak into his house and be naked in his bed when he comes back from work.” Joy offers a self-satisfied smile. “There. That’s one suggestion.”
“I can’t sneak into the house,” I protest. I step up to the counter to take my banana-strawberry smoothie, courtesy of the teenage employee who just placed it on the counter. “There’s an alarm.”
“Really, that’s what you’re focused on?” she says as we step back onto the sidewalk. “You can find ways around it. Text him and say, hey, where’s your spare key? I need to pop over to your place to borrow some sugar.” She tilts her head. “That’s a neighbor thing, right? They always need sugar.”
I snort. “Okay, I’ll play. So I text him, tell him I need something from his house. And then?”
“You get naked. You lie on his bed. Instead of flowers, you cover yourself in a sea of condoms—”
“Oh my God.” I start to laugh. “No.”
“Fine, no condom décor. But I stand by the rest. Trust me, if he walks into his bedroom and finds you lying there naked? He won’t be resisting you anymore.”
I mull over the idea. Honestly, it does sound kind of hot. Exciting. And it’ll be hot and exciting even if we don’t end up having sex.
“I don’t know if I can be naked,” I admit, lifting my straw to my lips. I take a long sip of fruity goodness. “But maybe lingerie?”
“Yes! Even better! We need something positively slutty! Okay. Go get your purse.” Joy has snapped into dictator mode. “We’re going shopping.”
* * *
Later that night, Grandma and Mom embark on a rare outing together, heading to Charleston for dinner. I think it was Grandma’s idea, her attempt at giving me a reprieve.
Mom’s been on my case all week, roping me into numerous shopping excursions, painful lunches, and constant criticism. Mostly directed at my fashion choices, but she’s also been throwing in complaints about Dad, Nia, and my friendship with Robb, just to keep me on my toes. The main reason she’s bent out of shape, though, is because I refused to go along with her dress suggestion for the Beacon’s reopening. I vetoed the floor-length gold gown on sight, which, in hindsight, may have been a mistake seeing as how it led to several more shopping trips to find another dress.