Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“Whoa. Hold up. You said that shit first, and you know damn well I didn’t mean it.”
I arch a brow and give him a heavy, expectant stare. “And?”
Knight watches me for a long, drawn-out moment, and I see the exact second his resolve begins to crumble. “But—”
I shake my head. “Uh-uh.”
After another pause, his face begins to fall, his shoulders sagging with defeat. “Well, fuck,” he finally says. “But if we’re going to be late, then we better make it count.” And with that, he grabs me by the waist and presses me up against the shower wall, and he shows me all over again just how animalistic he can be.
17
HARPER-RAYN
Knight and I walk up the long driveway to Mom and Elias’s mansion after parking out on the curb to avoid them realizing we came together, though they’ve got to be pretty daft if they can’t figure it out. I mean, how many times can you use the excuse We bumped into each other at the door? Besides, Knight wasn’t even invited, so surely they’ll be wondering why the hell he’s here. One would think, at least.
His hand rests on my lower back, and despite our afternoon of wild, animalistic fucking, I know he’s still thinking about just how fragile I am. But I’m not. I don’t think fragile is a word I would ever use to describe myself. You know, except that one particular moment where I had a mental breakdown at work and had to be shot up with sedatives, but I do what I can to forget that moment even existed.
Reaching the front door, I let out a long breath.
I should have figured out a way to get out of this. Maybe a disease? The mumps, the plague, maybe I could claim that I contracted herpes from one of the bodies in the morgue. Mom would love that one. In fact, I doubt she’ll ever want to come near me ever again.
Knight lifts his hand to knock when I start pinching my cheeks. “What are you doing?” he asks, his hand pausing over the door.
“Making myself look sick,” I tell him, having no shame. “If she thinks I’m contagious she won’t come anywhere near me, and then I can use it as an excuse to get out of here early.”
“Good thinking,” he says, putting his hands to my cheeks and vigorously rubbing as I try to keep a straight face. “There. That should do it.”
I grin up at him, feeling smugger than I’ve ever been in my life, and the way his eyes sparkle with adoration has my chest swelling with love. “Alright. Just knock already,” I finally say. “The sooner we get in, the sooner we get out.”
Knight knocks on the massive door, and not a moment later, I hear someone on the inside. The door swings open, and before I know it, Elias is standing before me, a welcoming smile on his face, only it quickly fades when his eyes fall to his brother.
“Knight?” he asks, glancing between us. “What are you doing here?”
Knight shrugs. “Had the night off so figured I’d come to watch the game with my big brother,” he says. “But I ran into Harper at the door. She says you’re hosting dinner.”
“Uhh, yeah,” Elias says. “Nothing too fancy. Mae just wanted to put something together for young Harper, here. You know she’s been in the hospital.”
Knight’s gaze whips to me, his brow raised, surprise in his dark eyes. “No shit. You good, Morticia?”
“Fine,” I tell him, trying to hide a smirk. “Nothing but a scratch.”
“A scratch?” Elias scoffs, almost seeming irritated by the way I shrug it off. “I believe it was more than a mere scratch. Your brother said you’d been stabbed in the hospital parking garage. Almost died.”
“I’d barely go that far,” I say. “You know how Jonah likes to exaggerate the little things.”
“Right,” Elias says, his gaze narrowed in suspicion before he forces himself to put a smile on his face. “Either way, we’re glad you’re doing alright. Do come in.”
I offer him a tight smile, and just as we go to step over the threshold, my mother’s shrill tone comes from somewhere behind Elias. “Oh, is that Harper?” she says in a singsong tone as though she’s actually happy to see me.
She steps out from behind Elias, appearing as though she’s been there the whole time with a beaming smile across her face, only as she notices Knight beside me, her smile falters. “Oh, Knight. I didn’t realize we were expecting your company,” she says, visibly trying to recover as she forces the smile back across her face.
“You weren’t,” Knight says. “I was just dropping in to see if Eli wanted to catch the game, but if you’re putting on dinner, I wouldn’t mind a plate.”
He offers Mom a forced smile before stepping right past her and clapping Elias on the shoulder. “Where are we in the game?”