Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
In my blissful haze, though, all I can think is wow. Out of all the men I’ve dated, none of them have ever shown such genuine thoughtfulness. This is the sweetest thing a guy has given me.
He’s a good man. A sexy, good man.
I think my heart might burst.
I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek. “This is exactly what I meant. Thank you, Hollis.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says, blowing it off. “Let’s not get too sentimental and shit.”
I roll my eyes and chuckle as we walk toward the elevator. “You sure know how to ruin a sweet moment, don’t you?”
“It’s a gift.”
It really might be.
Fifteen
Hollis
“Let me help you in,” I say.
Larissa holds onto my arm and hums against my jacket. Her cheeks are pink from the three glasses of wine she drank with her mother after we returned from the rooftop. She dozed off in the car on the way back to her house, but I’m not mad about it. I kind of like her when she’s not talking a mile a minute.
Although I missed her crazy questions.
We stumble up the sidewalk. I help her get her key in the door. She steps inside and pulls me right along with her.
“I guess I’m coming in,” I crack as I shut the door behind us.
She turns on the light, squinting when the chandelier overhead shines brightly on us. She winces as she wakes back up.
“Who let me drink this much?” she asks, pressing a hand to her stomach.
“Your mother.”
She laughs. “Figures. Are you hungry?”
I shrug noncommittally.
“Follow me,” she says.
We walk down a hallway and into the kitchen. The floors are a dark hardwood, and the cabinets a deep navy blue. The handles are some kind of copper or brass. I know from working construction all summer for the past four years that this isn’t cheap. Not in the least.
She rummages through a pantry tucked into the wall next to a Sub-Zero refrigerator.
Her dress is a bit rumpled but still beautiful despite everything. It managed to make it through a formal dinner of halibut and prime rib, as well as cigars on the balcony with a couple of baseball players from Jack’s team who were cool as hell. I even got on FaceTime with Crew and River so they could say hello.
I miss those fuckers.
I spent almost an hour shooting the shit with Jack and his buddy Milo. They own a bunch of ground in Ohio, near where I grew up in Indiana, and invited me to go hunting with them next fall.
Then Larissa and I spent a couple of hours of dancing to everything from The Mamas and the Papas to Post Malone—something I thought I’d never do and probably will never do again. But somehow, this girl gets me to do whatever she wants.
It’s a good thing I’m going home soon. This could be a problem.
“Bellamy ate all my Cheez-Its,” she says. “Do you like cookies or beef jerky? Or …” She reaches into the back of the cabinet and pulls out a familiar white box. “I have three Ding Dongs.”
“Ding Dongs are my favorite food.”
“Seriously?” She peers at the box. “I don’t even know why I have these. They might be expired.”
“They never expire. That’s the beauty of a Ding Dong.”
She tosses me the container. “Here. All yours.” She reaches back inside and grabs a package of chocolate chip cookies. “Let’s eat in bed.”
“Haven’t you heard the saying about eating crackers in bed?”
“Yeah,” she says as she walks by. “And the saying goes that hot guys can always eat crackers in your bed.”
“Ahhh. Excellent point. You haven’t even seen my abs yet.”
“I didn’t tell you what you had to do to get in my bed,” she jokes. I think.
I follow her back down the hallway to her bedroom. I stop in the doorway.
The wallpaper is a dark blue with the coolest design in a different shade of blue. It gives so much dimension and texture to the walls that it’s fascinating.
“Love the wallpaper,” I say, stepping fully inside. “It almost looks like velvet.”
“Right? I love it so much. Sebas… Never mind.”
“Yeah. Never mind.”
My jaw flexes at the idea of that bastard being here. Of course, he was. He was in this room, this house … in her.
I have to shove the thought out of my head.
I take off my jacket and lay it over a chair. She disappears into what I assume is a closet. I take my shoes and socks off, grab my Ding Dongs, and climb into her bed.
The bed is huge, a king, I think, and piled with pillows of all shapes and colors. The bedding is soft as fuck—all fluffy and cloud-like. I get situated on the pillows and feel the weight of the world float away.
When Larissa comes back out, her hair is down and brushed out, and she’s wearing a long T-shirt.