Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
I’m a fucking idiot.
“Maybe he, uh, should wait for us downstairs…” I scramble to find any reason I can grab from my asshole to keep Dumbnuts away. “It’s pretty hot up here, and I don’t know if renters insurance covers heatstroke of guests.”
Julia snorts, rolling her eyes. “I don’t think I have to worry about Drew suing.”
When she turns back to the open door and leans out into the hall, I let out a giant, openmouthed, silent scream into the void.
As Mr. Best in Show arrives and she ushers him inside with her hand in his, I consider slamming my head back into the front of the unit again. It’ll either knock me out or magically fix this fucker, and at this point, I’d settle for either one.
I glance back and catch the tail end of his lips on her cheek, and his stupid fucking grin only grows at the sight of all of Julia’s skin. Whatever part of my balls hasn’t yet succumbed to heat withers and dies right then.
“What’s going on?” he asks, but I don’t miss the way his eyebrows furrow when he finds me shirtless inside Julia’s apartment.
I don’t hesitate to smile at him. Smug, confident, and silently saying, Hi, fuckface. That’s right. I’m here. And Julia is mine.
Or, well, she will be mine. Soon. Once I can fix this damn AC and make her fall in love with me.
“The AC is out,” Julia explains. “Ace is working on trying to fix it now, but it’s hot as hell in here. We had to take a couple layers off.”
“Oh, shoot. Yeah.” He steps inside, feeling the muggy, stale air and capitalizing immediately. “It is hot in here.”
He grabs the material of his T-shirt between his shoulder blades and pulls his shirt over his head, flexing his stupid muscles with every subtle move. Julia watches with a smile on her face, and a frog lodges itself in my throat as I try to find the words to say, it’s not that hot, so everyone should put their fucking clothes on!
“Do you want a glass of water or something? Some lemonade?” Julia offers graciously. I can’t help but notice she didn’t offer me any chilled beverages.
“Lemonade sounds great,” Shirtless Caveman grunts like a buffoon. “Did you make it?”
Did you make it? I silently mock the Dummy Drew in my head. Did you make the lemonade, Julia? Do you want to see me flex my biceps, Julia? Oh, by the way, I have a teeny-tiny dick, Julia.
“Nope, sorry. That’s all Whole Foods,” Julia says through her giggles, not at all clueing in to how stupid Drew sounds every time he speaks words.
Honestly, I wonder if I should suggest she get her ears checked. Maybe she has wax buildup or something.
“That’s still awesome. You should see my fridge. It’s practically barren. Probably a guy thing, though. Right, Ace?”
I grunt. Fucker.
So much for making progress today. I’m trapped in an avalanche of my own making—coasting toward death in a wild ride.
Julia, of course, will probably bring fuckface to my funeral, and the bastard will hover over my casket shirtless and flexing his fucking biceps.
Julia
Ace and Drew chat at the thermostat, picking through the settings to see if they can figure something out. Drew is calm and cheerful, his muscles flexing in every direction with even, subtle movements, but Ace seems agitated as he moves him out of the way.
He’s shirtless too, and the sweat that beads on the back of his neck makes his hair curl at the ends under his hat. Ace looks hot, as always, but his lack of smile is stirring me in a way I don’t expect. I love when he’s joking and smiling and in a good mood—but something about him looking serious is making him seem grown up in all the ways I’ve been avoiding.
He’s not the boy I played with anymore; he’s all man. I knew the transition happened, but right now, it feels like I’m really seeing it for the first time.
“Any luck, guys?” I ask, fanning myself with my Cosmo magazine. “Maybe we should just call a repairman.”
“I know a guy,” Drew starts to offer, but Ace cuts him off.
“I already called someone, Lia. Why don’t you go hang out in my apartment until I either get it figured out or they come? Feel free to snag one of my sweatshirts if you get cold. I mean, you usually steal them from me and wear them anyway. My sweatshirts. On your body.”
I scrunch up my nose in confusion. What the hell is Ace even talking about right now?
“That’s okay,” Drew volleys back before I can answer. “Julia and I already had plans to go to the pool, so we can just do that while you wait for your guy to come.”
“Of course, Drew,” Ace comments. “Since you don’t want to hang around here being busy with adult man stuff, you go ahead to the pool so you can play in the water. I’ll wait here because I’d wait all day to make sure Julia’s AC is fixed. Hell, I’d wait all fucking week if I had to.”