Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Poor Rumi.”
“It’s fine,” he said with a sigh. “You know, I’m kinda startin’ to feel like an ass complainin’ to you.”
“Oh, yeah? Why is that?”
“Because you’re workin’ two jobs, and you don’t bitch nearly as much as I do.”
“True,” I agreed, nodding.
“You’re not supposed to agree with me!”
“Hey, man.” I shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”
“What time do you have to be at work?”
I checked the time and huffed. “In fifteen minutes. I better go.”
“You just stopped by to say hi?” Rumi asked, grinning at me.
“I didn’t hear from you all weekend.”
“Phone works both ways,” he pointed out, following me toward the door.
“I was working all weekend.”
“Maybe that’s why I didn’t text you.”
I glared at him over my shoulder. “You usually come visit me.” Inwardly, I groaned at how needy that sounded.
“I’ll come see you next weekend.” He chuckled.
“Don’t do me any favors,” I replied under my breath.
“Plus, I’ll see you on Friday, right?” he said easily.
“Yep.”
He walked me to my car and glared as I struggled to get the door to latch.
“Bring it back in so we can fix that,” he ordered, pressing on the door until it clicked.
“Your grandpa already ordered me to do that,” I called back through the window as it finally started to rain.
He nodded and lifted his hand in a small wave before jogging back toward the garage. I watched him the entire way.
I had always known how attractive Rumi was. It was impossible to miss even if we were just friends. Now that we’d slept together, I seemed to have become a bit fascinated by how his body moved. It wasn’t just when he was walking or working or doing something strenuous. I’d begun noticing even the small things, like the way he brushed his hair out of his face or washed his hands or cracked his knuckles. Movements that I’d taken for granted for years were suddenly mesmerizing. Maybe it was because now I knew what those hands could do.
Chapter 5
Rumi
“Was that Nova?” my brother asked as I stepped into the bay where he was working.
“Yep.”
“She just stop by to say hi?”
“Yep.”
“You gonna stop staring at nothin’ like you’re losin’ your mind?”
“What?” I turned to see him standing next to the Dyna he was working on.
“What’s your deal?” he asked curiously. “You’ve been actin’ weird for weeks.”
“No deal.”
He lowered his voice. “Somethin’ goin’ on with you and Nova?”
“No,” I replied instantly. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned at me. “You haven’t hung out with her in a while.”
“I just saw her last week. She works two jobs, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said slowly. “But there’s still somethin’ off.”
“You worry about you,” I replied, brushing him off.
“She’s your best friend, Rum,” he said, grabbing my arm as I tried to walk past him. “Don’t fuck around with her.”
“Wow, this really feels like none of your business,” I shot back.
“You fuck anything with a pussy,” he growled. “Don’t be stupid and add Nova to the long fuckin’ list.”
“Nice to know what you think of me,” I muttered, pulling away from him.
“I’m just sayin’—”
“Yeah, I know what you’re sayin’.” I threw my hands in the air as I walked away.
I was pissed that Mick had said something, but mostly because part of me knew he was right. Me and Nova had come to an agreement that nothing was changing and it seemed like it was working out all right. I mean, when I saw her or even thought about her, I imagined her naked, but that had always happened. The only difference now was that my imagination had facts to back it up.
I’d always found Nova sexy. She just had this thing about her that got to me. It didn’t matter if she was made up or two days into a camping trip, she’d always been gorgeous to me. Of course, now that I knew what sex with her was like, it just made her that much sexier.
I went back to work and tried to shake off how tense things seemed between us. It wasn’t like we were fighting or anything, something just felt different. Maybe I was naïve for thinking that we could fuck and then go back to normal. Of course things would be a little different, but we’d just have to push through it. Eventually it would all get back mostly to normal with the added bonus of fantastic sex.
I scowled as I thought about her going on a date with some guy. I wasn’t going to acknowledge the relief I’d felt when she said it was boring and she’d gone home early. Being jealous wasn’t part of our deal—actually it was exactly the opposite of our deal. Too bad I’d been struggling with it all fucking week. I’d tried to ignore it and I’d even gone so far as not texting Nova when I usually would, trying not to think about her.