Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
When I finally swallowed, I licked the mustard from my lips, then returned his gaze. “You have too much sex to jerk off. I’m not naive. You are just trying to get to me.”
Kye smirked and took his burger from its wrapper. “Is that what you think?”
I ignored that. Instead, I picked up a fry from heaven and put it in my mouth
“When does Bowie leave?” he asked me.
“He left this morning,” I replied with a heavy sigh. I wished he could have stayed longer.
“Short visit. You sound upset about that.”
I lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “We just don’t get much time together. It’s only a five-hour drive to Charleston. I just wish he managed to carve out more time to see me.” I sounded whiny. But I needed to get it out, and Kye was the one person I could be real with. Just say what I was thinking and not be judged or lectured. “Mom was hoping he’d come to family dinner tomorrow night. We haven’t had one since Dad had a stroke. It seems silly to have one with just the two of us. Not to mention, it would be depressing. But Mom loves to cook. It’s therapy for her. I think she misses having someone to cook for.”
“I’ll go to dinner. It’s been a while, and I miss Mom and Pops.”
I stared at him. He was serious. I could tell by the look in his eyes.
“Really? Don’t you have better things to do?” Like go to Devil’s and screw a stripper.
He leaned forward and took one of my fries. “Nope. You know I’d rather be with you than anyone else. Plus, I’d do anything to give Alice a reason to smile. If she wants to cook, then I’ll gladly be her person to feed.”
A smile tugged at my lips. My parents loved Kye. They didn’t approve of his wild living, but they did love him.
“Mom would like that,” I replied honestly.
Kye always made them laugh, and Mom enjoyed feeding him because he ate so much and praised her cooking. With him, she wouldn’t have to stress over making vegan food. That would have been a struggle for her.
“It’s a date,” he said, leaning back with his burger.
I took a few more bites and enjoyed the peacefulness.
“So, how many seconds did you get to keep that man-slayer thing on last night once he got home? I’m guessing you didn’t make it out of the kitchen. You sure as fuck had better not have done anything in my bed. You promised not to fuck him in my bed.”
My face felt warm. Not because Kye was bringing up sex. He did that often. It was just part of his vocabulary. However, the fact that even Kye thought the nightie would end in kitchen sex made me feel like I was doing something wrong. It had not ended in the way I’d hoped. Sure, Bowie had said I was beautiful in it. We’d had our wine, and he’d made love to me. Nice and slow on Chloe’s former bed.
I glanced at him before getting another fry. “We didn’t do anything in your bed. The other is not your business.”
He didn’t seem upset about me not giving him details. “Fair enough. Not sure I want to know anyway. My imagination has already taunted me plenty.
“Tell me about the designs you’re putting in Mom’s shops. She’s real excited about them. Couldn’t get her to shut up about them when she called yesterday.”
It was a relief to know Chloe liked my designs. Talking about clothing was easy, and no longer being in school with other fashion majors, I didn’t get to discuss it much. I started going into detail about what I had made and my ideas. Kye even gave me feedback. He was listening to me, which gave me a release I hadn’t known I needed.
Once we finished, Kye took our trash to the garbage can while I folded up the blanket. I handed it to Kye when he returned. He took it and held out his elbow for me to take his arm. Laughing, I slipped my hand through the opening, and we walked back to his bike. He had always been able to do this—make a bad situation better. When I was sad, he found a way to make me happy.
Even from the first day I’d met him. I’d fallen out of a tree and broken my arm in two places. I also had a concussion. The next day, while I sat in my bed, watching the television and hurting, he showed up at my house. My mom let him in, and he came in my bedroom with a bag full of candy, movies, a board game, and a pack of markers.
He decorated my cast with colorful doodles, telling me outrageous stories that went along with his drawings to make me laugh. Then, Bowie arrived, and both of them watched movies with me. We played Monopoly until I fell asleep from the pain meds my mom had brought me. That had been the real beginning of a friendship that became the center of my world. Even when I had fallen in love with Bowie, it was Kye who would keep me from falling apart when things got hard.