Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
That he wanted…
He clipped himself off.
This was his best friend he was talking about. Someone who meant everything to him. Someone he could never lose.
He wasn’t going to let his stupid dick get in the way. Because what he’d been feeling lately when she crawled through his window was something that he shouldn’t. Something that’d keep him awake at night long after she left.
But she trusted him to be her friend. To stand for her no matter what. He refused to ruin what they had.
He could get his rocks off with someone else. He needed to focus on what she really needed. Not him pawing at her sweet body the way he wanted to.
“Will do anything for you, Daisy. Give you anything. Even if that means getting into trouble.”
“I don’t like causing you trouble,” she whispered as she peeked at the ground before she glanced over at Jordan, who was staggering to his feet, his hands holding his nose as he ran down the hall.
“You kind of lost it, Cash.”
“Tell me he didn’t deserve it.” He didn’t know how he wound any lightness into his voice.
She tittered back and forth, not denying it.
“See.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to feel responsible for me.”
He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I do. I knew it the day I met you. Knew you were going to be the one I stood for. My Little Wallflower waiting to bloom.”
Shyness pinked her cheeks, and she tried to look away.
“I want the world for you.”
She looked up at him. “How about you don’t mess up yours on your way to getting me there?”
“Can’t make any promises.” He let a smirk take to his mouth.
That flush only deepened.
His stomach twisted.
“Daisy, I…”
He trailed off, stopping himself before he said something stupid.
He needed to get his shit together. Stop himself before he lost control. Both on assholes like Jordan and with his commitment to Daisy.
So he gestured his head in the direction of the hall. “Come on, let’s get you back to class.”
TWENTY-THREE
CASH
Kane
My Little Warrior wanted to confirm that all you fuckers are going to show tomorrow.
Theo
I bet those were the exact words she used. Can just picture her saying it.
Kane
Okay, might’ve had to embellish a fraction. Just needed you all to know the severity of the situation. My Emery is excited to host, which means things are getting real serious around here.
Kane
One of you hoodlums says you’re not comin’, and I’ll be showing at your door with rope.
River
Pretty sure everything out of your mouth is an embellishment.
Kane
Wait. It’s all clear we aren’t going to Otto’s tomorrow, right? Because that brute is the real exaggerator.
Otto
While I wear that badge with pride, kind sir, we are, in fact, not hanging out here tomorrow. Raven is itching for our Little Luna to get to put her adorable little feet in the grass. And what my girls want, my girls get. So picnic at your house out on the lawn it is.
Kane
Good. Emery and Maci have been in the kitchen all afternoon preparing while I’ve been sweating away getting the backyard ready, so there is zero room for disappointment here. They need every single one of this family in attendance. Cash included.
I could feel the prod coming at me through the phone where I paced behind the closed door of my office as I read through the text thread with my brothers that had been pinging in over the last twenty minutes.
Every weekend, they included me on this ridiculous thread where they basically gave each other shit as confirmations were made that everyone was going to be in attendance.
I was threatened every time, and each time, I came up with some excuse why I couldn’t be there.
It wasn’t like I didn’t care about them.
Guess if I was being honest, it was the fear of caring too much.
Something that I couldn’t have when I’d pilfered everything else away.
I was lucky as fuck that I had them in the way that I did.
These guys who would have my back under any circumstance, no matter what. And their fucking sweet women who bent over backward trying to make me feel loved and welcome.
And their kids…
I inhaled a shaky breath, pacing in the darkness that had fallen over the land about thirty minutes ago.
Voices and pounding feet seeped in through the wall. No barriers to be found as Daisy rushed her kids around getting them ready for bed.
The entire day had been spent with them.
From the first crack of the morning when I’d been leaving my office hunting for that motherfucker and had run into Colin coming out of the bedroom door with mussed hair and sleepy eyes and the cutest smile on his face.
Through the morning and afternoon working on fortifying the railing of the porch so they would be safe out back to another delicious dinner that Daisy had insisted on preparing.