Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I wake up, stretch, and my eyes land on her sleeping form. I rub my hand over my chest as I stare at her. She’s been her for months. I’ve actually lost count. Of all the fucked up shit fate has thrown at me, for this, for her...I’m thankful. I press a kiss against her neck and roll out of the bed, my eyes landing on the picture of my mother and sister.
I like to forget that Tor is really only with me because she has nothing else, because I like to think this is what she has chosen--free from all the fucked up shit that actually made her choose it.
She makes me laugh, she pisses me off, she makes me feel guilty. She. Makes. Me. Feel. I care about her, but love, that’s an emotion I swore off fifteen years ago, which means I can never give her what she deserves, whether I am all she has or not, I can never offer her things most people take for granted.
I shove my way through the crowded stadium, dragging Tor behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I catch her smile. This situation has only grown more complicated with each passing day, because I’m beginning to dread the thought of her leaving, but more than that, I fear she won’t. She doesn’t belong with me. She’s too good for this life.
We push past several drunk fraternity brothers and walk to the skybox. The doors swing open and the warmth of the heater hits us. We barely make it a foot inside the room before I hear my name. “JP!” Rodney shouts, shoving several men out of his way.
“Good to see you.”
I nod and extend my hand. “Good to see you, partner.”
His gaze skims over her body, stopping on her chest. “This your girl?”
I hesitate, my breathing growing shallow. “Yeah.” That sounds so fucking strange to me, but she is.
“What’s your name, darlin’?” he asks.
She looks nervously at me. I catch her swallow. Maybe she’s been locked up with me for so long she’s forgotten how to socialize with anyone else.
She clears her throat and smiles warmly. “Tor.”
“Well”—his eyes skate over her. “JP’s got good taste in women, Tor.” Rodney grins and guides us over to the bar. “Help yourself to some drinks. The Saints have done me right this year.” He pats my back harder than I’d like. “Thanks to JP here, they’ve done me just right.”
He hands both Tor and me a beer, then raises both brows. “One day I’ll meet your boss, right? Just have to get in his good graces, I suppose?”
I laugh. “Yeah, he’s not much of a people person. Likes anonymity and all.”
Rodney nods, placing a beer to his lips and sucking back a few drinks. “Ahh,” he says after swallowing. “I can understand why. Sure he has a lot of people that’d like to kill him.” He laughs, then squeezes his way through the crowded room to greet someone else who just walked in.
Tor leans into me. “He doesn’t know who you are?”
I shrug. “No one really does.”
She studies me, sips her beer, then slowly looks over the room before her gaze hones in on me accusingly. “Why are we here again?”
“Business.” I shrug and raise the beer to my mouth.
“Business?” She cocks a hip to the side and rolls her eyes. “Please don’t kill anyone.”
I shove a hand in my pocket and laugh. “I’ll try.”
I lean against the wall, watching as one of the men in full-on game attire approaches us. “JP?” he asks.
I nod, taking a sip from the beer.
“Phil Crocker,” he says. He awkwardly holds his hand out to shake mine, releasing a rolled up wad of cash into my palm.
I take the cash and slyly slip it into my pocket. I flash a grin and arch a brow. “It’s all there, right, Phil? I’m not gonna go to the bathroom and count it and find you shorted me, am I?”
“No.” His gaze darts around the room like we’re doing a fucking drug deal. Jesus Christ.
I nod and take another drink beer. “Good.”
Phil walks off and Tor narrows her eyes at me, stepping closer until her chest is brushing my stomach. She slips her hand in my pocket and her eyes widen. “Really? Just like that?”
I smirk, a short laugh rumbling from my lips. “Just like that, doll. Power.” I cock a brow. “Fear is power.”
The game is in the fourth quarter, and I’m more than ready to leave. Every single person in this room is drunk as piss, yelling and shouting and annoying as fuck. I hate having to do social business shit like this.
Fucking Rodney keeps looking at Tor, and I don’t like it. I watch from the bar as Tor smiles politely at various people while she makes her way back to me. I can’t help but stare at her. She laughs at something someone says to her, her dark hair falling over her shoulder as she throws her head back. Damn, she’s beautiful. My eyes skate down her body slowly. That dress is hugging every slim curve, and all I can think about is fucking her.