Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“You don’t say.”
“You sound like Landry,” he said with a smile before pushing up to sit cross-legged in front of me. Light from the hallway was just enough to illuminate the outline of his head in the dark, but I wanted to see him. I reached over and turned on the light after warning him I was doing it.
“Really rich,” he elaborated. “And not just from music.”
Zane had sponsorships like most celebrities did. That was no surprise. Confusion must have shown on my face.
He hesitated. “I… I earned my first billion before I signed my first recording deal.”
I blinked at him. “How?”
And had he said billion with a B?
His face lit up. “We did this amazing project at Yale,” he said excitedly. “Me and the brotherhood. That’s how we became so close. We came up with this technology we called the ETC that communicates between emergency vehicles and stoplights to cut down on accidents and assist the response rate. It’s saving lives, Bear. It’s incredible what it’s been able to do. Other students are studying it now. The results, I mean.”
“Holy shit,” I said, shocked at his story. “Ventdestine implemented it while I lived there.”
“Yeah, so that was us. Me and the guys. Bash, Silas, Dev, Landry, and me. We came up with it and then created an incubator company called Sterling Chase to represent ETC in its development and sale. We sort of hid our involvement by having Sterling Chase handle the transaction, and then the five of us agreed to keep the secret because… well, it’s kind of a long story, but Dev’s brother died and—”
“I know that part,” I cut in. “You told me the other night. He’s the friend who bought his brother a sports car, and the kid wrecked it.”
“Yeah. It made us realize that the money kind of brought with it a lot of pressure to…” His shoulders slumped. “To help others and spend it in certain ways. So we realized it would be easier if no one knew exactly how much we had or where it had come from. Everyone just assumed we were making big money as corporate consultants in the city.”
I couldn’t even imagine him trying to pretend to be a corporate consultant. Zane without his music would be like a painter without a colorful palette.
“But now you’re in that situation anyway,” I said.
“Yeah, but at least the guys aren’t. I can handle it.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at his typical way of looking at things selflessly. Instead, I grasped his chin and met his eyes. “It’s okay to resent it. It’s okay to feel like the money is a burden. It’s okay to get angry when people put pressure on you.” I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He was so fucking sweet and kind and selfless. I wanted to burn the world down if it would make it easier for him to live in it. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, Z.”
He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and then looked away. And then his eyes flicked over to me again. “What if I want… what if I want to keep sleeping with you after we leave Norway?”
My chest felt simultaneously too small and too big. The air didn’t know where to go when I inhaled. “You’re not sleeping with me now.”
Where the fuck did that come from?
Zane’s eyes widened. “Because I didn’t want to wake you up with my nightmares! I was embarrassed, and I knew if you shared a bed with me, you’d notice if I had bad dreams. I was trying to… I mean, we said it was practice, right? I don’t want you to think I’m… I’m needier than I already am.”
“Are you kidding? Zane, Jesus fuck. You’re not needy. I care about you. I want to know when you’re having bad dreams! I would never want you to suffer through them on your own. How can you think I’d rather be in my own room if you were having bad dreams?”
“I don’t want you to have to be a nightwatchman! I want you to be in my bed because you want to be there for me, not because you need to keep me safe.”
I grabbed his face and kissed the fuck out of him. How else could I get him to understand how badly I wanted him?
“I want to be in your bed because I want to kiss your fucking face,” I bit out between hungry kisses. “Touch you everywhere. Fuck you. Hold you. Watch you come undone. And, yes. I want to keep you safe, too, damn it. I want to comfort you when you wake up scared. That’s what people do when they lo-like someone.”
I was confessing too much, but I couldn’t hold back. I didn’t want him to second-guess my motivation or doubt for one minute that I truly wanted as much of him as I could get.