Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68959 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68959 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
‘Then’ being the time when his father killed his mother, shot every single one of the children, including him, and left them all to die while he finished himself off. Two of the children had perished before help could get there.
That day had been the day that I’d been scared straight. The dark path that I’d been taking—full of drinking, wild drunken nights, and partying—had come to a screeching halt.
I’m not really sure what about the incident had scared me so badly, but I’d decided the moment that I’d heard that I wouldn’t be fucking my life up anymore.
Unfortunately, I’d already been well on my way to doing it, and had spent the next two years in charter school making up for it. But eventually I’d gotten my head on straight, started making good grades, and had even gotten accepted to a university in Dallas with a scholarship.
Hell, I hadn’t even known Ace Valentine other than by word of mouth, but his story was enough to change who I was on a fundamental level.
Having our two thousand acres bump up against the Valentine ranch had been eye-opening. Just a few short miles away, while I’d been drinking in our barn, Ace and his family had gotten shot.
Ace had almost died.
“Food’s here,” Ace muttered.
I sat back, stared at the food that was placed in front of me, and wondered if it was morbid that I was still hungry despite what I’d just been thinking about.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Ace asked as everyone took bites of their food except me.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I am.”
Chapter 6
Hay girl, hay.
-T-shirt
Codie
Lunch was devoured by all, and there wasn’t a single chip left on my plate—courtesy of the two Valentine men who had no clue about boundaries.
I watched as Ace practically scraped the bowl clean that had once held my cheese dip and shook my head in awe.
“Did you ever stop to consider that it’s sort of rude to just go grabbing other people’s food off their plates?” I teased.
Ace placed the bowl down on the table between us and shook his head.
He’d literally licked the bowl. Sure, he’d used his fingers to wipe the cheese off the sides, but ultimately, he’d licked it. There wasn’t a speck of cheese on the sides in the slightest.
“You were done with it,” Callum said as he polished off the rest of his drink. “You stopped eating ten minutes ago. We waited until we were sure that you were done.”
Granted, that was true.
I’d stopped because there wasn’t a single inch of my stomach that wasn’t filled with sweet tea, chips, queso, macaroni or a potato.
I was going to be full for at least an hour.
“Do you think they’re going to stay here all day?” Desi whispered.
I looked over to where Desi was trying not to look and narrowed my eyes.
Marjorie was staring at Ace’s back, and Mal was staring at Marjorie staring at Ace.
“What did you ever see in him?” Callum asked teasingly.
Desi opened her mouth to answer him, but it was Ace who said, “He used to be a good friend. His follow-through was a little terrible, but ultimately, when I was here, I had nothing to complain about.”
“I think Callum was talking to Desi,” I snickered.
Ace opened his mouth, then closed it.
“Oh,” he said, reaching for his ball cap.
The ball cap had come off the moment that we’d entered the building. I was sure that it’d go back on the moment that we walked out of it.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure which Ace that I liked better.
The one where he was in tight faded Wrangler blue jeans that fit him so well that I was sure they were made for him, paired with cowboy boots, a chambray shirt, and an oversized belt buckle. Or the lazy sweatpants, tennis shoes, tight t-shirt, and ball cap.
There were just so many things that were good about both looks.
It was like being told to pick between your favorite children. Or trying to choose if you wanted to eat at Chick-Fil-A or Whataburger. There were just so many plusses on both sides…
Ace stood up, and I once again got a good look at his cock in those sweats.
Was he even wearing underwear? Was that why I could see the mushroom-shaped head? Or the fact that his cock leaned slightly toward the left?
“Do we tip here?” Ace asked, reaching into his pocket to extract his wallet.
When he reached into his pocket, he caused the waistband of his sweatpants to lower, revealing a trail of hair that led to the best part of him—a V.
And dear God, what a V it was. It was the best V I’d ever seen in my life… even in magazines.
Hell, I hadn’t even gotten a full view of it yet, and I was fairly positive that nothing else would ever compare.