Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“You don’t think I should wear my workout clothes to the club?”
“Hey, it’s fine with me. But I think you should at least change your shirt.”
I sniffed my armpit and grimaced. “Probably, yeah.”
“Did you just get back from a run?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I lied. I’d actually had a Judo class, but Braden didn’t need to know that.
“Well, go on and get in the shower,” he said. “We want to get to the club early enough to get a good table.”
“But my homework,” I tried again.
“Dude, you do homework every night. At this point the homework is doing you. Now get your fucking pansy ass in the shower and get ready. The girls will be here in thirty minutes.”
“Girls?”
“Yeah, girls.” Braden popped me on the side of my head like I was an old radio with dodgy reception. “You remember those, right? Members of the opposite sex. Miranda and Layla, to be exact.”
I made a face. “Why has Layla been spending so much time over here?”
Brandon looked flustered. “Yeah, about that. We had a bet going about how long it would take you to notice.”
“That’s bullshit. You don’t have a bet.” I pushed past Braden and out into the hall. When I entered my room, I felt him close behind me.
“Okay, we don’t have an actual bet,” he admitted, leaning on my desk and flipping idly through the pages of one of my books. “Look Jamie. You need to forget about that model chick. We’re worried about you.”
“It must really be bad if the almighty Braden is worried about someone besides himself.” I said in an acid tone. When Braden only stared at me unperturbed, I flopped down onto my bed. “Besides, that’s not the only thing that’s bothering me, so don’t presume to know everything, okay?”
Braden’s eyebrows came together in confusion. “Layla told us about going to be with you for your mom’s surgery, but she said everything was fine now.”
“Yeah, my mom is doing great.”
“Then what the fuck?” Braden gestured around the room with a sweep of his arm. “Why are you in here all time? Why does it look so neat in here? It’s like you became Howard Hughes over the summer. You don’t have any bottles of pee stored around here, do you?” He opened my closet door.
“Hey, get out of there.” I jumped up off the bed and made it over to the closet in three strides, slamming the door closed. There wasn’t anything in there that I wouldn’t want him to see. My sparring gloves, shin guards, head gear, and mouth guard were hidden away in the trunk of my car. The only other incriminating things were my phone and my laptop, which were littered with pictures of Kage. But living a private second life had me constantly on guard, terrified that I was inadvertently going to give my secrets away.
In reality, there was probably only one actual threat: Layla. That was the real reason I was concerned about her being around all the time. Because of one lousy night, she knew everything. God forbid she ever got the urge to run her mouth. Funny thing was, I didn’t even care so much anymore for myself. I’d been with a guy. So fucking what? I had nothing to lose if anyone found out about it. But Kage? He had everything to lose. And even though he’d stabbed me in the heart, I still couldn’t out him. I wanted to hate him.
I ran my thumb idly over the tattoo on my arm, feeling the raised skin, wanting to cry. Who the hell gets a tattoo of their boyfriend’s initials, and then immediately dumps him? Couldn’t we have at least gotten a few good months out of the tattoos before thinking about going and having them removed?
Braden backed away from the closet door with his hands up. “Calm down, killer. I’m not going through your things. I was just messing around. For real, though, you need to at least let some light in here.” He snatched the cord and opened my mini blinds. “Well, there’s not much light right now, since it’s night time, but you get the idea. Now get in the shower.”
“Fine. If you’re gonna bug the shit out of me, I’ll go.” I crowded Braden out of my room, grabbed a towel from the hall closet, and got in the shower.
What could it hurt, anyway? It would probably do me good to get out for one night. Lord knows holing up in my room for weeks hadn’t helped.
CHAPTER 14
Everyone was ready to go by the time I got out of the shower, so I ran a dot of gel through my wet hair and threw on some clothes. The skinny jeans Braden had requested, a royal blue v-neck tee that showcased my new body, and steel-toe biker boots, all courtesy of Kage’s credit card back in Vegas. I tied my necklace back on and joined the others in the living room.