Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
He lets out an annoyed sigh, and I can almost see his dreams of having his future wife partake in a threesome float away.
I dip my cornichon in mustard. He looks around the room, almost out of boredom. I’m losing him—clearly.
“Did you see Jake before you came in?” I ask, pulling his attention back.
“Jake?” Trent grimaces like he just ate a lemon. “What do you want with him?”
“He always comes to book club.”
Trent angles his head toward the door. “There’s your answer.”
Jake walks into the bookstore, his hair disheveled from the afternoon wind. He’s the definition of preppy in his designer navy polo and crisp white pants. I don’t take my eyes off him. I love the edges of his strong, stubbly jawline. Heroic. The kind of face that’d be sculpted and erected in the Pantheon to be worshipped and to last for all time.
Since I moved to Victoria, we’ve run into each other so often in public. The town square, the bookstore, VCC, the pier, restaurants, and diners. Each time, I had to remain uninterested. He had to appear friendly but detached.
So, for the first time, seeing him in public, I let myself smile.
Truly smile.
Like blinding I’m so fucking happy to see you smile.
When his blue eyes hit mine, he halts a little. Stumbles. Confused lines pleat between his brows for a split second before realization hits, and he lets himself smile, too.
We’re just smiling at each other across the room for a good thirty seconds before he starts approaching my table.
Trent’s gaze flits between me and his brother. “Hay-Hay,” he groans. “Please tell me you don’t have a crush on my brother.”
“He’s cute,” I whisper bashfully as I swirl my pickle in mustard.
Trent sighs. “Bad taste, going for the uglier brother.” He gives me a quick once-over. “Listen, I know all about your proclivities—”
“My what?” I ask, feigning stupidity.
“I’ve heard you sleep around,” Trent says, not bothering to whisper as Jake reaches us and is in earshot.
I swallow my pickle.
Jake is glowering at his brother and snatches Trent’s hardback on the table so possessively that I have a suspicion Trent might have stolen it from him. “Did you come in here just to harass her?”
Trent gapes. “Seriously? The accusations are getting a little tiresome. We’re friends.” He motions between me and him with his sunglasses. “Right, Hay-Hay?”
“Right,” I squeak.
Trent smiles. “And I was about to tell her that you are a grade A prude. Exclusivity is a nonnegotiable with you.”
I stay quiet.
“And that matters because?” Jake frowns.
Trent looks between us. “She thinks you’re cute, and I wouldn’t want her to get her heart broken.”
Jake turns to me, his lips rising in an affectionate smile. “You think I’m cute?”
“I mean…yeah.” My face must be tomato red. Hot. All. Over. Of course, he’s cute. He was in my bed last night, and I was riding him until I could see stars. Oliver was behind me, teasing my clit, sending me to another plane of existence.
They kissed.
They kiss a lot when we’re in bed together.
The image sends greater heat through my body. I don’t need to be thinking about Jake’s cock in me right now. Nope. No.
Trent’s eyeing me suspiciously, then his brother. We’re really walking a thin tightrope here. He needs to think Jake likes me. He wants what Jake has. It’s a known fact.
But we don’t need him to want me so badly he’d want to fuck me, too.
I’m not sure if I messed this up. All I can do is mumble out an “I think I’m going to get some air.” I leave the bookstore quickly, but not before I grab my plate of pickles.
My heart beats quickly. Did that work?
I’m not sure I’ll have a way of knowing until I see Trent again.
I find my phone in my crossbody bag and call Nova to come pick me up. Within a few minutes, his car is at the curb. “You okay?” Nova asks me as soon as I’m strapped in the passenger seat.
“I think so.” I let out a deep exhale.
He barely removes his gaze off me, and I wonder if I’m doing a bad job at hiding the stress lines in my face. I’m just…overthinking. It comes with the territory when I’m not as confident in this role.
He doesn’t vocally express his concern, but it’s written all over him from the wrinkles in his forehead to the depths of his brown eyes.
He’s not as good at hiding his emotions as Oliver.
Apparently, I’m not either.
“I’m fine,” I reaffirm.
He puts the car in gear and peels onto the street.
“You’re sleeping?” Nova asks.
“I am. I have been.” I blush, thinking about my sleeping buddies. “Stonehaven has been good for me. Ironically, spending the summer with the devil has its benefits.” I tilt my head toward him. His seriousness never dissolves. “Are you worried I’m one sleepless night away from hallucinating again?”