Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26122 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26122 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
But not attending the same Ivy League school my parents had gone to was like some abhorrent, disrespectful act. It was unheard of, disappointing in the eyes of my parents. They might be understanding of many things, kind to those around them, not vile like many of the other people they surround themselves with, but they had rules and traditions, things they didn’t want to break. Things they wouldn’t break. Or that’s what I kept telling myself, trying to reason I didn’t want to cross lines or step on toes.
But God, I wanted Gio so fiercely, a boy I’d only talked to a handful of times over the years he’d been living on the property. But I watched him, noticed him all day every day. My attraction to him was undeniable.
I didn’t see him as an employee for my mother and father. I saw him as the boy I’d grown to care for from afar. I saw him as the boy I’d fallen in love with.
I saw the way he looked at me, knew he wanted me. His gaze was too heated, too consuming to be anything but. And I wished I had the courage to just go up to him and tell him all those things, to tell him how I felt. It sounded so easy, so effortless. But I was too afraid to cross that line, for my parents to find out and somehow take it out on him and his family, even if it was only a slight chance. I didn’t think they would, because they loved Maria and Alfonso deeply, consider them part of the family. And I was mostly sure they only wanted me to be happy and wouldn’t care who brought me that happiness, but I wasn’t a hundred percent.
I grabbed my towel and headed toward the pool house, opening the door and closing it behind me. I didn’t bother to turn on the light. The pool house was small but boujie, with plush wicker furniture on one side and a kitchenette and fully stocked mini bar across from that. The flat screen TV and surround sound system were adjacent to the furniture. The changing room and bathroom were down a short hallway, and there was even one bedroom across from that. This was more like a mini apartment than anything else.
I finished drying off, running the plush terrycloth over my hair, and tried to get as much water out as possible. I tossed my towel into the hamper off to the side and headed into the bedroom, where a change of clothes was tucked away in the dresser. After grabbing some underwear, a pair of white terrycloth shorts, and a black tank top, I left the room to shower. I liked being alone, which was why I’d come to the pool house instead of the main house. I felt like there was never a moment where I had that inside. There was always someone close.
I stayed in the shower for longer than I probably should’ve, but once done, I wrapped the towel around me and breathed out slowly. After drying off, I threw on the clothes I brought into the bathroom with me before leaving the room and turning off the light.
The sound of the pool house door opening and closing had me stilling and glancing down the darkened hallway toward the main living area. I didn’t move or breathe as I listened. After a prolonged moment, I called, “Hello?”
I headed toward the living room when my steps faltered as I saw a very clearly masculine body standing by the front door. My heart started racing a little bit at the sudden intrusion, at the fact that the person could obviously see me yet said nothing.
Shadows concealed the front of the person who stepped inside, the lights from the pool and the patio coming through the windows on either side of the door. And as my vision adjusted even more to the darkened interior, I didn’t need to turn any lights on to know who stood just feet from me.
Gio.
The shape of his body told me exactly who entered, and I felt my mouth dry. My pulse beat wildly at the base of my throat. Gio was no longer wearing the staff uninform but instead had on a plain white T-shirt, the material formed across his very hard and muscular body. I could see the definition of his pectoral muscles, all the way down to his six-pack. I started breathing harder. His biceps were large, his forearms toned. His waist was narrow and lean, and the gray sweatpants he wore didn’t hide how thick his thighs were, strong and hard like tree trunks.
He was all male; that was for sure.
But it was when my focus landed right on the crotch of those gray sweatpants, the clear outline of what he was packing beneath them evident, that I felt all rationalization leave. I didn’t care why he was here. I was just glad he was.