Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“And this would just be until I finish school?”
“Something like that,” I hedged as I put the phone on speaker and set it on the marble counter. I didn’t want to outright lie, especially since I was already manipulating the whole situation to get what I wanted.
“Well…” She went silent, and I waited for her to work everything out in her mind. If she said no, I’d just have to come up with something better to convince her.
I stripped off my sweaty clothes and walked over to my shower—that could easily fit six people…or two who needed plenty of room to fuck—and set the temperature on the controls, then flipped on the water.
“I guess my answer is yes.”
I grinned and gave myself a mental high five. “That’s great, baby. I’m going to grab a shower, then I’ll swing by, and we can have dinner and go over everything.”
“Shower?” Her voice was breathless, and my cock twitched. “You’re…”
“Bare-ass naked,” I supplied when she trailed off. Her quick intake of air went straight to my dick, and my shaft began to lengthen and swell. “I was working out when you called so I’m all sweaty. Figured I’d clean up before taking you out.”
“Sweaty…”
She sounded a little dazed, and I swallowed a laugh. It was satisfying to know that I had an effect on her. Hopefully, I could fan it into the same level of burning desire I felt for her. Although, I doubted she would ever have my level of obsession. She was all I’d thought about since we’d met. It was a good fucking thing we hadn’t had a game in the past couple of days. I was crossing my fingers that finally having her in my space, with my ring on her finger, would give me the ability to focus on something else. Like my job, so I didn’t get my ass kicked on the field…or by the coach.
“I’m gonna go, baby. Send me your address, and I’ll see you in about an hour.”
She cleared her throat, and her voice was much clearer when she responded. “Yes. Okay. See you then.”
Just under an hour later, I caught a lucky break and found a parking spot in front of Skye’s building. It was a typical New York City old-school brownstone, red brick that had faded and chipped over time but still faring well in the East Coast weather because these places were built super fucking sturdy. Most of them had basements that were designated bomb shelters.
So I didn’t think much about where Skye was living until I stepped through the front door. Like so many of these buildings, the bottom level was a long, narrow hallway with a few doors, a set of mailboxes, and stairs leading up to the next floor.
There was an intercom, but it had been taped over to let people know it didn’t work and the front door was open. There were two doors to go through, and from the overwhelming scent in the tiny vestibule, it had obviously doubled as a toilet.
The entry was dim because several lights were burned out. I didn’t want to know what the linoleum floors were stained with, and dirt was caked in the corners. A couple of the mailboxes were busted, and although there was a tiny elevator—one I wouldn’t even fit in—it had an out of order sign.
I’d grown up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City, yet my apartment had been in better shape than this. My parents, along with most of our neighbors, took pride in what little they had. Our building had been clean and—despite our useless, lazy-ass super—well maintained because we all pitched in with any skills we had to make the place we lived a home.
The fact that my woman lived in a place so dirty and unsafe had my temper flaring. By the time I’d ascended the third set of stairs, my plans for the night had completely changed.
Once I was at apartment 2B, I forced myself to knock gently so that my anger wouldn’t bleed through and scare her. The door to the right opened, and a half-dressed man, with bloodshot eyes telling me he was high as a kite, stepped out and sauntered down two doors before disappearing inside.
I took one step toward the room he’d vacated and glanced inside. Oh, hell to the motherfucking no. It was a bathroom. A shared fucking bathroom. It didn’t escape my notice that unlike every other inch of this place, the bathroom was scrubbed clean—no doubt the work of Skye.
The realization that she used a shared bathroom was the last straw. If I hadn’t already been planning to take her home with me, I sure as hell would be now.
“Dempsey!”
Skye’s shocked gasp took my attention off the bathroom and how fucking dangerous it was for my woman to be in there, naked and vulnerable. Fuck.