Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Give me things creepy people say for five hundred, Alex!”
Trav pulls the car out onto the street. “In all seriousness, I’d recruit you in a heartbeat.”
“To do what? Be your errand boy?”
“Hmm. You know what you’d be good at? Risk analysis. You could tell me which jobs to take and which ones to turn down.”
“You don’t want me doing that job.”
“Why not?”
“I know not everything you do is aboveboard. If I were in charge, you’d have to stop all the illegal activity.”
Trav changes lanes, punching the accelerator. “Maybe my moral compass needs an adjustment, and you could be the guy to give it to me. Or maybe if you did the job, you’d be able to see that I’m not the bad guy you think I am. When I bend the law, there’s always a reason for it.”
“Sorry, Robin Hood. Didn’t realize you broke the law for noble reasons.”
“Can I point out if I wasn’t above deceiving law enforcement, I wouldn’t be helping you hide out?”
“That’s …” My words die because I almost say that’s a different situation, but it’s really not. I avert my gaze and stare out the window at all the traffic Trav’s passing.
“That’s too true to argue with?”
“Exactly,” I mumble.
“Like I always say, you’ll go rogue for me one day. You’re already halfway there.”
“I can tell you one thing, if I do ever go rogue for you, I’m not taking on some stupid nickname.”
“It’s cute you think you don’t already have a stupid nickname, Rogue. And you brought it all upon yourself.” He imitates me from the night I arrested him. “I-I’m A-agent Rogue … riguez.”
I turn my head to face him. “Shut up. I was terrified you were going to blurt out how you fucked me in a bathroom stall. My superiors were listening in.”
“Mm, we need to go back and recreate that night.”
“The interrogation or the fucking?”
“The fucking.”
“Oh, that we can’t do. Aqua closed down.”
Trav side-eyes me like he doesn’t believe me. “Damn, really? I swear I was there not that long ago.”
“It’s been closed for three years.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“If you’re not having cheap hookups in seedy nightclubs, what have you been doing for the last three years? How do you even meet people to get off with?”
Trav looks uncomfortable as he shifts in his seat. “Do you really want to know?”
I think about that. Do I? It’s his past, not his present. Should I care? I shrug. “It’s not like I’ve been saving myself for you.”
Trav reaches over and presses his finger to my mouth while keeping his eyes on the road. “Shhh. In my mind, you have been.”
“I haven’t really had relationships, if that helps. Well, I tried, but it’s hard when you’re married to your job.”
“Yeah, I don’t do relationships either. I live in a house where thirteen other people come and go at all hours of the day, and I can’t get a decent sleep when I’m out of my comfort zone. I’m not boyfriend material.”
Why is it I was the one who didn’t want anything more than temporary, but hearing that Trav isn’t relationship material disappoints me?
“Got nothing to say to that?” he asks.
“Makes sense. I mean, if you’re working a lot.”
“Huh.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Everyone else in my life tells me it’s not healthy.” Trav’s voice goes high-pitched, imitating someone. “You should want to settle down already. You’re the only one who’s not married. Why don’t you want to find a nice man? Wah, wah, wah.”
“Who says that?”
“My mom. My siblings are all older and married with kids. My cousin, who’s my age and like a brother, is engaged. I get ribbed from every direction about being lonely.”
I don’t know what that’s like because my family still like to avoid the big bad gay conversation. “Maybe they want to see you happy. How dare they?”
“I’m happy sleeping next to my guns.” Of course he is.
“You seriously sleep with your guns?”
“Well, technically, they’re under my bed, but yes.”
“I’m starting to see your family’s point. But speaking of beds and sleeping, have you come up with a plan for where we’re going yet?”
“How do you feel about camping?”
I mock gasp. “With the mud and the bugs and … outside? This is worse than your seedy motel idea.”
“Seedy motel it is.”
“Oh, you did that on purpose. I’m beginning to see why you can’t hold on to a man. You use that kind of trickery on them and piss them off.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s it. My trickery is the problem. And I’m so good at it too. Look at you and me. Seven years later, and bam, you’re mine. I’m that talented.”
I don’t let him see how much I like being called his. “What makes you think that just because we’ve had sex a couple of times that I belong to you?”