Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I groaned. “Whatever the fuck adaptogens are, I promise you’ll get some if you suck me dry—”
“What was that about on the phone?” he interjected, turning toward me and holding his bottle up to take a sip.
The grey light from the kitchen window came in along the side of his face. I was surprised to see a slight bit of genuine concern in his eyes.
How the fuck do you care about anything that much, let alone me?
I didn’t know how much he’d heard of my conversation.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him.
The soft, earnest way he was looking at me only reminded me why I shouldn’t be associating with him at all. Max needed me to protect him from bad people.
I couldn’t be the bad person in his life.
I knew Max wanted more from me. I could see it in his expression, every time he looked at my eyes or at my lips.
He wanted to know my secrets. Wanted to know what I’d just talked about on the phone. Probably wanted to know my favorite color and my pizza topping preferences and my damn star sign, too.
Or maybe I just want to know all of those things about him.
The temptation to give in to him was getting greater and greater, but I knew better by now.
The less he knew about me, the better.
Much later, when I was home alone at night, my phone rang again.
Max’s name came up on the screen, and I sat upright in bed, reaching to answer his call.
“Max,” I said. “You okay?”
“Um, I think so,” he said, uncertainty in his voice.
Adrenaline hit my veins all at once. “Doesn’t sound like you think so. What’s going on?”
He sighed audibly. “That guy who messaged me earlier. The one I said was a creep that I ignore—”
“What the fuck did he do?”
“Well, he sent me a video of himself. It was lewd—of him taking out his cock, shaking it in his fist. Fucking ugly cock, too—”
“I don’t like that.”
“But that’s not the problem. I’ve gotten more than a few dick pics. The issue was that the background of the video was the front of the Hard Spot. And his message said I’m in Tennessee, sweetie. Waiting for you.”
I stood up out of bed, pacing around my bedroom. “He had his cock out in front of the Hard Spot? On a busy street?”
“Looked like he took it out really quick, just for a second, to flash me in the video. I could hear the sounds of the street in the background.”
My chest tightened. “Your security cameras are both on, right?”
“Um… if you left them on, then they’re on, I guess.”
A wave of urgency rolled through me. “Take this seriously, Max. Have you been checking the cameras at all?”
“I kind of forgot about them.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Drive over to my house. Right now.”
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal—”
“Do it. Get in your truck, now.”
He paused for a moment, then finally relented. “Okay.”
Chapter 13
Max
Draven opened up his front door the moment I stepped in front of it, as if he’d been waiting for me to arrive.
He looked like he must have just finished a workout. He’d clearly just showered, his hair still falling in damp, dark waves around his face.
He motioned for me to come inside and then closed the front door behind us.
He was shirtless and had loose black sweatpants on, slung low around his waist so that the V-shape at his lower torso was more visible than ever. Draven always looked strong but right now he looked like a Greek god—his golden skin chiseled from marble, his tattoos adorning him in intricate, beautiful patterns.
“Everything’s fine,” I assured him. “I called Kane, and he said there’s nobody he doesn’t recognize at the bar tonight.”
“Take off your shoes,” Draven said. “Finally got all my floors cleaned yesterday. Couch still hasn’t arrived, because I imported it from Italy, and shipping’s a bitch. All I have is the bed. Come lie down with me.”
He was barking out commands like a goddamn drill sergeant.
I kicked off my shoes, leaving them by the door and walking in through the living room.
“You propositioning me?” I asked.
He raised his eyebrows slightly. “If you want me to fuck you, then yes.”
His house was all dark wood. I’d seen Mr. Marsden’s old house many times over the course of my life, but ever since he’d moved out of this one and into a new one, it was like this house remained a time capsule from another era.
Draven had been putting his touch onto every corner of it, though. The first thing I noticed was that it smelled incredible in here, like a mixture of his spiced body wash from his recent shower and a flickering candle I saw burning over in the kitchen. He’d knocked down the wall that used to separate the dining room from the living room, which had been flimsy drywall—one of the things that had always looked so out of place in an otherwise wooden house.