Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
I pass him the joint.
“Do you still do them?” Shai asks.
“Do what?”
“Model airplanes.”
“I haven’t, no.”
He nods as if he understands, gives me the joint, reaches down to the stand at the foot of his bed, and grabs his guitar. He leans against the wall, naked, and plucks softly at the strings, his fingers moving fluidly, in this way I could never do. “This okay?” he asks.
My pulse slows even more, my head feeling less busy with all my scattered thoughts. “Yes. It’s relaxing.”
We smoke and he plays, at one point the joint hanging from his mouth as he gets lost in the music. His nail polish is more chipped than usual, and I wonder why he hasn’t painted them again. He’s got barbells in his nipples, which is incredibly fucking hot. And I just…watch. I don’t think I could turn away even if I wanted to.
When the joint is dusted, I lie down beside him, touch and kiss and nibble at his thigh while he plays. It’s nice. I like it. It’s always soothed me when Cillian played the piano, and Shai’s guitar seems to have the same effect.
“I won’t fuck your mom,” I stress again, not sure why I need him to understand that.
“Good.”
“I’ll try not to hurt her either, but if she does something that upsets my pet, I can’t make any promises.”
His fingers fumble the chords, Shai looking down at me like he’s hearing me but not sure if he believes the words.
“I’m serious, pet.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
“I feel like we’ve had versions of this conversation before, and I’m tired of it. You’re whatever I say you are to me.” I haven’t decided what that is yet, but it’s more than I imagined.
“Rory…”
“Yes.” I smile, playfully fluttering my lashes.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just buttering you up. I’m a nice, upstanding young man, and you’re not going to be angry with me.”
He rolls his eyes, but I can tell he’s trying to bite back a grin. “You literally killed people tonight.”
“And you literally don’t care. What does that say about you?”
He puts the guitar away, then lies down beside me. “Shut up.”
“Oh, don’t like that topic?”
He surprises me by wrapping an arm around me. “When are we going to go do something fun?”
“Fucking me wasn’t fun?”
“You know what I mean.”
Yeah, I do. “Soon,” I reply, then reach over and turn out the light.
My mind doesn’t spin like it usually does, and before I know it, I’m asleep.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Shai
I don’t know how I didn’t wake up when Rory came over last night because the second my bedroom door opens the next morning, I’m on alert. Rory and I are still naked in bed together, the blanket around me, his body on display.
“Hey, sweetheart!” Mom says, and I immediately tug the comforter over Rory’s dick so she can’t see it.
“Jesus, Mom. You can’t fucking knock?”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you had company,” she says, and while there’s a chance she doesn’t remember Rory coming over last night, it’s more likely that she does, and that the whole reason she’s in here right now is because she knows he’s with me. It’s not him specifically she wants attention from; she just likes to have attention from anyone, and she wants to be a part of everything. She’s always the loudest person at a party. She likes to have my attention too, but only when it suits her. If there’s a guy around, drugs to do, money to gamble, then I don’t matter, but when she’s feeling alone or neglected, she always comes to me.
“Well, I do,” I say.
Rory stirs beside me, cracking one eye open. “We’re sleeping, in case you didn’t notice,” he tells her.
“I was going to make breakfast.”
I can’t remember the last time my mom cooked breakfast for me. She’s not offering it for me now, though, she’s offering for Rory. I hate thinking about my own mom this way, but I’ve lived enough life with her to know exactly what’s going on here.
“We’re leaving soon,” he says.
We?
“Oh… Where are you going? When will you be back? Do you know anywhere I can get some coke?”
My fucking mom, ladies and gentlemen.
Rory cocks a brow at her. “He’s going home with me. I can maybe get you something later.”
Um…what the fuck. I don’t remember agreeing to go home with him. We’ll need to have a discussion about the way he makes decisions for me. And he’s absolutely not bringing her drugs.
She turns her attention to me. “When are you coming home, Shai? You’re already gone so much for work, and I’m here all by myself. It’s not fair.”
Fair? Not fucking fair? What is she even talking about? “You can always get a job too,” I tell her.
“That’s not what I mean,” she replies.
Of course not.
Rory’s arm slides beneath me, wraps around me, his hand tangling in my messy hair.