Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Bennett smiled broadly. “Have at it. Maybe something with garters and cutout panties so you don’t have to take it off while I fuck you on your desk next week.”
Chapter 27
* * *
Bennett
Not her.
I stuffed my cell back into my pocket and tried to pretend I wasn’t disappointed that one of my buddies had texted to see if I was up for drinks tonight.
But you can’t bullshit yourself now, can you?
The afternoon we’d returned from L.A., Annalise was already gone when I got to the office. On Thursday, I had a morning meeting out of the office, and by the time I arrived, she was gone again. Marina said she’d taken a last-minute appointment.
Then on Friday, I saw the same Audi I drive pulling away from the front of our building at ten minutes to seven in the morning, so I texted her. A few hours later, she sent back a short response saying she’d come in early to get some files and was working from home.
It wasn’t unusual for staff to work from home a day or two each week—we had flexible hours and site location. But Annalise hadn’t taken advantage before now, and I was starting to feel like she might be avoiding me.
By Friday afternoon, it was eating at me, so I sent her another text asking if she wanted to have drinks. She never responded.
Now it was Saturday afternoon, and I was checking my phone like a high school chick each time it buzzed.
I watched Lucas check the price on the bottom of the sneaker he’d been eyeing and put it back on the shelf.
“Do you like those?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “They’re cool.”
“So why don’t you try them on? You need new sneakers before our Disney trip in a few weeks.”
“They’re a lot of money.”
“Are you paying for them?”
“No?”
“Then what the hell are you checking the prices for?” I picked the sneaker up and motioned to the kid in a striped Foot Locker uniform who didn’t look much older than Lucas. “Can we see these in a nine?”
“Sure thing.”
“Hang on,” I said to the kid. “Anything else you like, buddy?”
Lucas didn’t respond.
“Lucas?”
Still nothing, so I followed his line of sight to what had captured his attention. I chuckled and spoke to the kid waiting on us. “Just that one for now, please.”
The cute little blonde Lucas couldn’t keep his eyes off of looked up and caught him watching her. She got flustered and gave an awkward wave before turning in the other direction to look at the wall of shoes on the other side of the store.
I leaned over to Lucas and whispered, “She’s cute.”
“That’s Amelia Archer.”
“You like her?”
“Everyone in sixth grade likes her.”
“Thought you were switching up your strategy and only going to like the ugly ones?”
“She’s pretty and nice. But she doesn’t want anything to do with any of the boys.”
“Well, you’re only pushing twelve. Kids start to notice each other at different times. She might not be there yet.”
“No, that’s not it. A month ago, she told Anthony Arknow she liked Matt Sanders, and Anthony spread all these rumors about her. He did it because he liked her, too. Now she doesn’t talk to any of the boys anymore.”
The joys of middle school. “She’ll come around. Why don’t you go say hi? Show her the sneaker you’re looking at and ask her if she likes it.”
“You think I should?”
I picked the sneaker back up from the shelf and held it out for him. “Definitely. You gotta make the move. The good ones aren’t alone for long. Just be her friend. She probably needs to see that not all boys are jerks.” I smiled. “I mean, we are, but do your best, anyway.”
Lucas took the sneaker from my hand and debated. I had a proud-uncle-type moment when he sucked it up and walked over there. I watched as the initial awkwardness of his approach wore off, and his shoulders relaxed a bit. Within a minute or two, he had her laughing.
He came back, smiling from ear to ear. “She’s really nice.”
“Looked like she liked you going over to talk to her.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Girls are confusing.”
This kid was a hell of a lot smarter than I’d been at that age. I thought I had them all figured out until I was eighteen and realized I didn’t know shit.
I nodded. “Damn straight they are.”
Lucas wound up getting the hundred-dollar Nikes. And we also picked up a few T-shirts and some art supplies he said his grandmother refused to buy because she said the school should provide that stuff, and then he asked for some hair gel crap and Axe deodorant.
Hair gel and Axe—he’d definitely found girls.
“Are you waiting for a call?” Lucas asked as we walked through the mall parking lot on the way to the car.