Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
People meandered.
Activity all around.
An SUV with Sheriff stamped on the side passed me coming the opposite direction, and I glanced into the rearview mirror to gauge what the car would do.
Only it was gone, no longer visible behind me.
I blinked then looked again.
Shaken.
Confused.
Wondering if paranoia had me making the whole thing up.
Conjuring a danger that wasn’t there.
But maybe I was nothing but a fool for thinking that danger hadn’t followed me here.
FIVE
CODY
“You are the luckiest motherfucker I know.”
I grinned at my best friend’s voice coming through the line as I pulled a fresh tee over my head. A shower had been more than required after I’d gotten home covered in sweat and dirt after I’d spent the day tearing out the old decks to make room for the new.
“Come now, Ryder, were they really going to pick anyone else? Have you met me?” I laid it on thick, my cell propped between my ear and my shoulder as I ran a towel through my wet mop of hair.
“Of course not. You go flashing that grin, and women tend to fall at your feet. Who’d you dip your dick in to get your way?” he razzed.
“You wound me, man. That contract didn’t have a thing to do with my sex appeal and everything to do with my raw, crazy talent.”
Dude had been giving me shit about winning this contract since I’d told him about it two months ago. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was jealous, but really, we just loved to bust each other’s balls.
“Besides, you know I don’t mix business with pleasure,” I added.
I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’d been working a job and a housewife had invited me in for a glass of lemonade.
Fuck no.
That was a sure-fire way to lose everything I’d built.
Hailey’s face flashed through my mind.
Undoubtedly, I’d crossed a line I shouldn’t have, seeking her out earlier today.
I’d made the excuse that I needed to take a piss, and I’d slipped into the stables.
There was no question in my mind that I was pushing boundaries.
If she wanted to, I bet she could go to her supervisor and claim I’d been harassing her, and I’d be booted off the property, some fine print making that contract nil.
Buh-bye five million dollars.
And I was the idiot who’d done it, anyway.
Apparently, I was losing my goddamn mind when it came to her.
But there it was, nagging at the back of my mind.
The oldest kind of guilt and want, that time so fucked up that I still didn’t know how to process it. I’d done my best to put it behind me, but there it was, luring me to a place that I knew better than to go.
“Besides, I’ve taken the whole week off from dipping my dick in anyone.” I smirked, knowing he could feel it through the phone.
Ryder chuckled low, and I could almost see him scrubbing a tatted hand over his face, all black hair and intimidation. “Such a fucking liar. I was just at Mack’s with you two nights ago, and you left with that short-haired chick. Unless you couldn’t get it up?”
“Blasphemy, man. I just…forgot about her.”
“You forgot about her?” Incredulity dripped from him.
“Can’t help it if she wasn’t exactly memorable.”
Hell, I couldn’t even place her face at this point. Not with the one that was currently inhabiting every thought.
“Such an asshole,” he mumbled.
“Like you weren’t the exact same way until you started dipping your dirty dick in my sister.”
Truth be told, I had nearly lost it when I found out he and my sister, Dakota, were hooking up. Was legitimately pissed because I knew the trouble he’d had himself in, and I didn’t want my sister involved in any of that.
I hadn’t found out they were sneaking around behind my back until she was already reaping the consequences of his mess.
As much as it’d broken my heart, I’d honestly thought it was over for me and Ryder. A lifetime of friendship gone because I wouldn’t stand for him hurting my sister. My entire purpose in this life was standing for her.
For both my sisters and my mother.
Which was kind of fucking ironic considering the jacked-up decisions I’d made. But I’d promised—promised to provide and protect—whatever that looked like.
Besides, I hadn’t understood the way Ryder loved her. The lengths he would go. The way he’d fought to protect Dakota and her son.
It didn’t take long for me to see it for what it was, their love something bigger than I had the right to intervene on.
That didn’t mean I would ever let him live it down, either.
His laugh was raw. “Now that is memorable.”
“Gross, man,” I grumbled, though I was laughing under my breath, too.
“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up. Besides, I’m not going to deny that I can’t keep my hands off her. Speaking of, she’s pulling in. I need to run to help her bring in her and Kayden’s things. Just wanted to call and say congrats again. I know this was a big day for you.”