Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
I nod slowly.
“But he’s mostly making a case for his dick feeling optimum pleasure.”
“Why must you ruin a good thing?”
Will heads toward the stairs. “I believe you started this conversation with something along the lines of ‘men are perverts,’ so we should end it with the same sentiment.”
I briefly stare at my phone’s screen before sliding my thumbs across it.
Maren: I have an IUD. See you in an hour or so.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ozzy
“Let’s go!” Lola says, speeding past me on her bike. “I can’t believe I get to spend two days with Grandma and Aunt Ruth.”
“Slow down, Speedy.” I pedal after her.
“Aren’t you going to be lonely while I’m gone, since Nana and Pa are gone too?”
“As much as I love you, it’s sometimes nice to have time alone so I can get stuff done around the house.”
“Are you going to paint my bedroom and put up the LED lights I got for Christmas?”
“I’m not sure I’ll get to it.”
“Pleeeease! You promised to do it last month, but you didn’t.”
“We’ll see,” I say.
“That’s a no. You always say ‘we’ll see,’ which means no.”
“Lola, that’s not true.”
She makes a harrumph sound and gives me the silent treatment for a few minutes before changing the subject. “Why was Nana and Pa’s car still in the driveway?”
“It didn’t start for them this morning, so they got a cab. I took the afternoon off to work on it. That’s why I’m covered in grease.”
“Dad, you’re always covered in grease.” She glances back at me and smirks.
“You’re always filled with sass.” I speed up to ride alongside her.
Lola sticks out her tongue, but she can’t hide her smile. “You’d better paint my room.”
My plans for the weekend didn’t involve paint, but I fear they might now, just like I wasn’t supposed to spend my afternoon working on a broken car. I hope this isn’t an omen for the whole weekend. I need to hurry home and finish fixing it before Maren shows up.
My plan fails.
After dropping off Lola and speeding home, the issue continues to give me grief. But I have to fix it before they get home, or they’ll wonder what I did all weekend. Unfortunately, I’m not fast enough. A vehicle pulls into my driveway while I’m still under their car on my creeper. I speed up my motions, the wrench clicking in double time.
“How can I help?” Maren asks.
I tip my chin to see her light-gray jeans and cream ankle boots. “You can make yourself at home. There’s a bottle of wine in the fridge. I’m about ready to call it for the day. Sorry. I didn’t think their car wasn’t going to start this morning. Gah! Fuck . . .” I wheel out from under the car.
Maren lifts her eyebrows into peaks as I stand and stomp into the garage for a different wrench.
“This isn’t how I wanted to start the evening. I wanted to have it done before you got here so I could spend the rest of the weekend giving all of my attention to you,” I grumble, flinging open the top drawer of my tool chest, trying to ignore Maren’s hair in loose curls hanging over her chest, accentuated by her fitted blue V-neck shirt and the silver pendant necklace touching the swell of her breasts.
When I turn with a different wrench clenched in my fist, she’s right in front of me.
“You should take a break and return to this when you’re less stressed.”
“Careful, I’m covered in grease,” I warn, trying to step back, but I bump into the tool chest.
“It’s sexy,” she says while wetting her glossed lips. “When I arrived, you were on your cart, and your shirt was partway up your torso, exposing your tight abs and those tattoos.” Her gaze sweeps from head to toe. “That was sexy too.”
“Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll shower quickly.”
“I’ll give you twenty seconds to shut the garage door.”
I shake my head. “Your clothes will be ruined.”
She shrugs off her shirt.
Clank!
I drop the wrench and shoulder past her to hit the button to close the garage door. As soon as I turn back toward her, I peel off my shirt and use it to wipe my hands.
Maren removes her bra, and I toss aside my shirt.
Fuck my dirty hands.
I grab her face, and we kiss. Her hard nipples brush my sweaty chest, and she releases a moan that makes my dick swell. Brynn never let me get within ten feet of her before showering and surgically scrubbing my dirty fingernails.
“Fuck, Ozzy,” Maren whispers as my lips brush down the line of her neck. “I want to feel you everywhere.”
I hate that my thoughts reach for every unfair comparison, but Brynn never said those words. In fact, Brynn never uttered a single swear word.
While I unbutton her jeans and pull down the zipper, she gazes at me with a seductive look that makes my whole goddamn body ache with need. The grease from my hands and face has painted her smooth flesh, but she’s still beautiful—a beautiful mess.