Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
I nod. "He'll be here first thing in the morning."
Charlie squeals, spinning around to throw her arms around me. Water sloshes over the sides of the tub as she flings herself at me, kissing all over my face. "I love you. I love you. I love you," she cries. "I take back everything I said about your stupid monster truck."
"Jesus," I growl as my cock throbs again. I tangle my hand in her hair, dragging her mouth down to mine. She ends up coming on my fingers and then my tongue before I finally let her up for air this time.
What? I kept my dick out of her.
"So you're a hacker?" Charlie asks early the next morning, looking at Finn before turning those wide blue eyes on Jude. "And you're a lawyer?"
"Yes," Finn says, grinning.
Jude just chuckles.
"I am so moving to Silver Spoon Falls when I graduate college," Charlie mumbles. "All the hot men are there."
I smack her ass.
"Hey!" she cries, turning a scowl on me as she rubs her ass. "What was that for?"
"Stop looking at other men, Charlie," I growl, narrowing my eyes at her.
"You work with hot models all day, Xavier Grimes. I'm allowed to look!" She tips her chin up in a willful display that makes my cock hard. "Besides, I didn't say I wanted to touch." She rolls her eyes. "Jeez. It's way too early for you to be so grouchy."
"I wouldn't be grouchy if you'd behave."
"This is me behaving. You're the one being all cranky because I said they're hot. Which they are. I have eyes, Xavier. I can't make my eyes not work just because you don't like the truth. I didn't just magically go blind because I fell in love with you, crazy man."
Finn and Jude watch us like they're watching a ping-pong match. They're wearing matching shit-eating grins.
"She definitely belongs in Silver Spoon Falls," Finn mutters to Jude.
"No kidding. Devin would love her."
"So would Scarlett."
"Don't encourage her," I growl at my brother's friends, shaking my head. "She'll have your wives revolting in the streets."
"I bet their wives don't have to revolt in the streets, Xavier. They probably aren't bossy, possessive, pains in the a—"
I cut her off by kissing the shit out of her.
She melts against me, whimpering into my mouth.
"You done pissing me off now?" I ask against her lips.
"I guess so," she breathes, making Finn and Jude laugh again.
I chuckle, pressing a soft kiss to each corner of her lips. It's going to drive me up the fucking wall to have her anywhere near other men. Just the thought of them looking at her makes me crazy. But I like the thought of her wanting to be in Silver Spoon Falls. Our future is there.
"Let's go meet Chloe." I murmur.
Chapter Ten
Charlie
By the time we arrive at the little coffee shop on the far side of the Medical Center, Chloe is already inside. She takes one look at the three giants with me, and her gray eyes grow wide. She shoots up from her seat, her hands clenched together in front of her. The place is mostly deserted thank goodness.
"Hey," I whisper, pulling her in for a hug. "How are you holding up?"
"Um, okay, I guess," she says, squeezing me. "Things are still the same. Who are they?'
"This is Xavier," I say, introducing him. "And this is Finn Taylor and Jude Despora."
"Hi," Chloe says, smiling shyly at them. She tucks a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, eyeing me nervously. "What's going on, Charlie? Why are they here?"
"Xavier is with me," I explain. "And Finn is the one who found what we needed to find. And Jude is a lawyer. Actually, he's kind of the best lawyer in Texas."
"Oh." She glances at them again, silently assessing. "Um…."
"Can we sit down and talk, Chloe?" Jude asks, his voice soft.
"I guess so," she whispers, dropping back down into the booth she just abandoned.
I slide in beside her, holding her hand. Finn and Jude file in on the opposite side of the booth, taking up the whole bench. Xavier grabs a chair from a table and pulls it up next to the booth on my side.
"I was able to pull emails between your mom and your, ah…" Finn flounders uncomfortably.
"Ex-boyfriend," Chloe says firmly.
"Ex-boyfriend," Finn says with a nod. "They're pretty incriminating. They were in his student email account, so they'll be fair game. There are also text messages, but I wouldn't recommend using those. I didn't use strictly legal means to get my hands on them."
Chloe sits quietly, digesting the news. "We already knew it was happening," she says after a moment. "But it still makes my stomach hurt to know there's actual evidence." Her face falls. "I guess that probably sounds stupid, doesn't it?"
"Absolutely not," I say firmly. "It's never wrong to trust people to be the best versions of themselves or to expect people to treat you fairly or kindly. That's how the world should work. It always hurts to find out that it doesn't always work that way. That doesn't make you stupid. It makes you human."