Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Each and every time, I’d reminded myself that I had woken up that morning with Lofton, sated and naked, with the promise of forever still ringing in my ears.
And then I’d smile too.
“Sorry, kid,” I told Zoey, slinging her bag back over my shoulder.
Brooke came unstuck from the wall and knocked on the door to Lofton’s dressing room. “Girl, hurry up. Save the facelift for after we eat.” She came back to the wall, checking the time on her phone. “She’s been in there for forty-five minutes.”
“Forty-three,” I corrected.
She slid her eyes toward me. “Are you timing it?”
“I time everything.” That was a lie. I just had a clear line of sight to the clock on the corner of Zoey’s tablet. Basic subtraction and all.
She studied me for a minute. “That’s either very impressive or very unsettling.”
“Probably both.”
She looked back at her phone.
I looked back at the door.
That was easily the longest conversation Brooke and I had managed without one of us visibly preparing for battle.
Progress.
Zoey tapped my leg, drawing my attention down.
“Help,” she ordered more than asked while thrusting the screen upward, the tablet practically colliding with my knee.
I took it from her and dropped into a squat beside her. The screen was covered in bright little squares, scrambled into a picture that almost made sense if you squinted. This one appeared to be a cartoon hippo.
“Hm, this looks suspiciously familiar. Didn’t I already finish this level?”
She shook her head. “The other one was a giraffe.”
“Ah, completely different battlefield.”
She giggled, leaning into me as she peered over my shoulder.
In a few smooth slides, I shifted the pieces around until the picture clicked into place. The second it did, the screen exploded with stars and celebratory music.
Zoey snatched the tablet from my hands and shot to her feet like she’d been launched.
“I did it!” she shouted, spinning in a wild, uncoordinated circle, arms flailing as she danced her way down the hallway.
I chuckled, rising to my full height.
“Wow,” Brooke laughed. “That’s impressive.”
“Kid’s a natural.”
She hit me with a side eye. “Yeah. At handing it off to you. You know she’s not even trying anymore. You’re basically her personal puzzle assistant.”
“I’ve had worse jobs.”
“Like guarding Levee?”
Two days earlier, those words would have rotted in my gut.
Now?
I didn’t even flinch. “That one specifically.”
“Lofton does the same thing with you, you know.”
I nodded and kept watching Zoey, while pretending not to be absolutely fascinated by the gentle tone of her voice.
“She hands you the hard stuff and trusts you to figure it out.” Brooke shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t even question it half the time.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I chose to go with nothing.
“Honestly, I figured you would have fucked your way through half the town. The asshole bit really plays here.”
I slowly shifted my gaze to her. “Is that so?”
“You should have told her.”
My chest felt tight. “I absolutely should have told her.”
“She’s been through a lot. And not just with Sebastian. She doesn’t fit in in this world. She tries, and she almost pulls it off. But rubbing elbows and stoking egos is not her forte.”
I turned to face her. “I’m aware.”
She studied me for a long second, like she was trying to decide if that answer was enough. She cut her gaze back to Lofton’s door, and then added as if she couldn’t help herself. “I’ve tried to talk her out of being with you.”
I chuffed. “Appreciate the honesty.”
“But,” she continued, holding up a finger, “the one good thing I can say is I don’t think you’d ever hurt her on purpose.”
“A glowing review,” I deadpanned.
She smirked. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, but there was no bite to it this time. “You do know the three of us are a package deal, right?”
I glanced down the hall where Zoey was still basking in the spoils of her victory. “I’m starting to get that impression.”
“You want her, you get all of us. And just so we’re clear—I’m not moving to Dollton. I’ve seen the dating pool there. It’s all cargo shorts and camo. That’s probably ninety-five percent of the reason she chose you.”
“Only ninety-five?”
“Don’t push it.”
We stood there for a second, the quiet settling again, but this time it felt almost comfortable.
Almost.
Thankfully, the dressing room door opened and Lofton came through it.
Simple dark jeans. A cream linen shirt, untucked. Hair down in thick waves.
My entire fucking life—freckles and all.
As if it had been pure instinct, her eyes found mine before she’d fully cleared the doorframe. A toothy, schoolgirl smile split her lips.
“Finally,” Brooke said, walking down the hall to get Zoey. “Let’s go, sweetie. Mommy is starving.”
Lofton came straight to me, not even glancing at her friend. Her hand found mine before she’d fully reached me, our fingers threading together.