Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“What brings you to Brooklyn?”
“I start nursing school on Monday. Long Island University.”
Jake scratched his chin, sarcastically pensive. “Isn’t that in Long Island?”
“No, there’s a Brooklyn campus. It’s actually not far from the apartment.”
Ryan interjected. “With your fear of subways, that’s a good thing.”
I shot Ryan a death glare.
Great. He was going to embarrass me in front of Jake.
“What’s this, now?” Jake asked, lifting his brow.
“Thanks, a lot, Ryan,” I said, seriously pissed.
He gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry. It just came out.”
“It’s nothing,” I said looking at Jake, waving my hand, hoping he’d drop the subject.
Jake continued to stare at me quizzically. “Are you seriously afraid of the subway or something?”
“She’s afraid of everything: planes, elevators, heights…” Ryan let out a frustrated sigh.
I widened my eyes at him again, then looked at Jake and shrugged my shoulders trying to downplay it. “I just get a little nervous in crowded, contained places. That’s all.”
Jake nodded slowly in understanding. “It’s like a phobia. So, places that make you feel trapped?”
“Yeah, basically,” I said.
Jake squinted at me and seemed to be examining my face for the truth. His expression darkened like he somehow saw through my trying to pass my phobias off as nothing. Our eyes locked, and I felt an inexplicable connection to him in that moment that went beyond just physical attraction.
He scratched his chin. “Hmn.”
Suddenly uncomfortable, I changed the subject immediately. “So where do you work?”
“I’m an electrical engineer for a company in the city. We design stadium lighting. And at night, I dance…at a male strip club.”
I couldn’t tell, but I was pretty sure the color must have drained from my face.
“Seriously?”
“Yup.”
“Wow,” I said.
He looked over at Ryan. “You didn’t tell her she was living with Magic Fuckin’ Mike?”
Ryan just laughed, gauging my reaction.
Jake looked amused and bit his bottom lip, his teeth clicking against his lip ring. Then, he let out a guttural laugh. “I’m just fucking with you again.”
“You’re not a stripper?”
He laughed and shook his head. “I like you. You’re an easy target. It’s gonna be fun to have you around. By the way, I really am an engineer. My cubicle mate Raj gets pretty pissed when I try to take off my clothes and give him a lap dance, so I stopped stripping a long time ago,” he joked.
That’s a damn shame.
Jeez, where was this coming from?
I couldn’t believe how gullible I was sometimes, but then again, why wouldn’t I have believed him? With his overall stature and the way his black hoodie hugged his clearly defined chest, his body could certainly pass for that of a stripper. Plus, I didn’t know him from Adam. What I did know was that Jake was a ball-buster and did not appear to be the type of guy I should be attracted to. Or at least, that was my first impression of him.
I looked down again at the various colored tattoos on his right forearm. On his left, there was just a lone dragon. I wondered what else was underneath his clothing.
He walked over to the other side of the kitchen, picked up a banana out of a pile of about twenty, peeled it and ate the entire first half in one bite whilst looking right at me, grinning.
Ryan laughed. “I forgot to mention, that’s Jake’s bushel of bananas over there. We think he is part human, part monkey.”
I looked at Jake. “You like bananas, huh?”
Still chewing, Jake said, “Damn straight, I do. I fuckin’ love ‘em. Mmm.” He took the other half of the banana and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, gesturing to me with the peel, his mouth full. “Wa-wan?”
“Huh?”
“Want one?” he said more clearly.
I held my hand out. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
Still chewing, he continued looking at me, and my heart fluttered.
Ryan broke the uncomfortable silence. “I told you Jake was interesting.”
I watched as Jake slowly licked his lips after finishing the banana. He is interesting alright.
The front door then opened, and in walked a cute girl with short black hair in a pixie cut.
Reality Show Scene Four, enter stage right: instant best friend.
She was wearing an adorable blue shift dress and immediately dropped her purse that was practically larger than she was, walked over to Ryan and planted a kiss on his lips.
“Hey, babe,” Ryan said and then turned to me. “This is Nina. Nina meet Tarah.”
She startled me when she immediately pulled me into a hug. “I have heard so much about you, Nina. I have been waiting for you! I am outnumbered here. You didn’t tell me how pretty she was, Ryan.”
“Aw, thanks…likewise,” I said. “It’s really nice to know I won’t be the only female in the house.”
Tarah had almond-shaped light brown eyes, defined, thick eyebrows and full lips. She was petite with smooth olive skin, and I could totally see what Ryan saw in her. I was curious about her nationality, so I asked her.