Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“I can’t complain. Gianna and I just closed on our house, so that’s exciting.”
I’ve known Drake for several years, and he’s always been a pretty chill guy. But there’s something different about him today. The worry lines on his face are gone, and the way he carries himself isn’t like the man who was always stressed as fuck about work, ratings, and listener counts.
He’s … happy.
“Here are your drinks,” Lisa says, placing them on the table. “Do you guys know what you want or do you need some time?”
“I’ll have a small, loaded pizza,” Drake says, not bothering to look at the menu.
Lisa laughs. “I could’ve guessed that.” She scribbles on her notepad. “What about you?”
I haven’t had time to look, but pizza is pizza. “Small pepperoni will work.”
“You’re Markie St. James’s new man, aren’t you?” Lisa asks, grinning.
Wow. I laugh. “How did you know that?”
“Let’s just say that there aren’t many men who look like you coming through town.” She winks, walking backward toward the counter. “I’ll get these in. Let me know if you need anything else in the meantime.”
I shake my head, turning back to Drake. “Is there some kind of town-wide text thread or something? Because these people know everything as soon as it happens.”
Drake chuckles. “You haven’t seen the half of it. I grew up in what I thought was a small town, but this is its own world.”
“Do you like it here?”
He folds his hands on the table and grins. “Yeah. Gianna’s happy here. This is where she wants to be, with her friends and her pig.”
“She has a pig?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t know it yet.” He shrugs as if even he can’t believe the words coming from his mouth. “Mira got a pig.”
“Pigasso? Or something like that?”
“Yup. And Gianna has wanted one ever since. So I arranged for one to be delivered to the new house in a few weeks. A couple of Hartley’s guys are going to build a pen because, while I’m lots of things, a farmer I am not.” He laughs. “But this whole thing is a surprise, so don’t mention it to Markie because these women tell each other everything—and I mean everything.” He narrows his eyes. “Speaking of Markie, what’s going on there?”
I stretch my legs out to the side, trying to figure out where to start. There’s a clear answer to his question: we’re fake dating. But those words won’t quite reach my tongue.
Nothing about that woman feels fake. And when I try to place a label on how I feel about her, like she’s a woman in my bed that I don’t care about because the sex is hot, I want to crawl out of my skin. It’s like my brain knows what we are, but my body refuses to accept the definition.
I’m not quite sure what to do about that.
“It’s a long story,” I say, hoping that will suffice.
“Well, let’s start in a more interesting spot—to me, anyway. What happened with Jasper at Patsy’s? You earned yourself a fan club that night.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised. Jasper didn’t come across as a man with many friends, but to say I have a fan club for putting him in his place is surprising.
Drake chuckles. “Yeah.”
“What’s his deal, anyway?”
“He grew up with Gray and Brooks and Hart,” Drake says. “And when the guys found out that he cheated on Markie, they blacklisted him. Hart more than the others. Brooks and Gray would’ve just ignored him, probably. But Hartley got pissed and wrote him off. Won’t let him come to the ranch, told him in no uncertain terms to get fucked. And that was that.”
“Why? Don’t get me wrong, because I appreciate their loyalty to her, but what pissed Hartley off so much?”
Drake takes a drink, mulling over my question. He sets his glass down and leans forward against the table.
“Hartley’s point was that Jasper and Markie dated for a while, and Markie is such a good person. All the girls love her. She and Gianna share a lot of the same … energy.”
I chuckle at the description. I know just what he means.
“So, yeah. Hartley said that if Jasper could fuck her over like he did, he could turn his back on any of them. And he just refused to associate with him anymore.”
I like this Hartley guy.
“Since you seem to know all, what did Jasper do? I know he cheated on her, but how did that shake out?”
Drake sighs. “Trust me when I say that I know so much more about this than I want to.”
“I figured as much,” I say, grinning.
“Markie’s friend, Nettie, was at a nail salon or something. Believe it or not, but I try not to know this shit. Anyway, she was getting her nails done or whatever, and this girl came in and sat next to her. Jasper has a hat with a toolbox on the front—ironic, I know. But someone made it for him. It’s bright green, and you can’t miss it. And this girl who sits down by Nettie was wearing that hat.”