Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
“The Lord of Winterbourne…” he says, gesturing toward his character, who looks like him down to the very last feature, “… has to fight all the Lords of the High Houses to prove his loyalty to Princess Shanaya. After he does, then he’ll become worthy of ruling alongside her.”
“Sounds like you have your work cut out for you,” I quip, grinning like an idiot. “And how does Princess Shanaya prove she’s worthy of the crown?”
“She has to slay the dragon and drink its blood.”
My nose wrinkles in disgust. “Ew, that’s gross. You want me to drink blood?”
“It’s not as gross as it sounds.” He chuckles. “Just go with it, okay? The dragon’s blood turns into the elixir of life, and that’s what gives Princess Shanaya the power to rule Dragonbane.”
“You’re incredible, Jamie.” I let out a breath of air that he steals away from me with one look. “Your mind is one of my favorite things about you.”
He lifts his shirt to reveal a hint of his muscular stomach and says, “You sure it’s not my abs?” Jamie laughs at his joke, winking at me as he lowers his shirt. “Most women go for the abs.”
I snort at his comment. “Good thing I’m not most women.”
He hooks his arm around my back and smacks a kiss on my forehead. “Thank God for that.”
As if no time has passed, we go back to being us, back to where we started. And with graduation two weeks away, we’re closer to starting our future together.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shannon
“I found a truck,” I tell Jamie, rushing into our bedroom with his laptop in my hands.
We moved into an apartment his father owns on the Philadelphia waterfront after graduation, where we’ve lived for the past six months. Jamie said he couldn’t live without me by his side, and he meant it. Since that day in the game room, we have been inseparable.
“I want to buy it.” I add, “But the seller says it needs some work. You’re good with just about everything. Any chance you know how to fix engines?”
With a goofy look on his handsome face, he rolls his chair out from in front of his computer desk. Jamie spends a lot of time in his office now that he’s working on expanding the world he created in Quest for Shanaya. The game is so popular among beta testers that he’s about to launch the full version to the world in the next few months.
“Let me see.” He meets me at the center of the room, taking the laptop from my hand. “Not a terrible deal considering its condition.”
Jamie glances at the listing I found online for a food truck. It’s an old metal truck with a pop-up awning that’s rusted in certain places and could use some TLC. It needs a lot of love, actually.
“So, the owner says it needs a lot of work, but the price is right.” I press my hand to his shoulder, and he peeks up at me with wide blue eyes. “Don’t you think?”
He sets the computer on the floor and pulls me onto his lap. “Just let me buy a new one for you, Shan. Then you can use the money you saved to get started. You’ll need equipment and supplies to open Shake-and-Cake.”
“Jamie, no…” I brush my fingers down his arm, and tiny bumps dot along his skin. “I don’t want a handout. I have to do this on my own, but this is all I can afford.”
Jamie has more money than he knows what to do with, and I have just enough to buy a shitty truck. Now that he’s the Chief Technology Officer of his dad’s new company, JMG Developers, named after him and his siblings—Jamie, Mike, and Grace—he’s even wealthier. They’re building their second tech empire, and the game Jamie created for me is their star product.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” he says, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
I close my eyes and kiss him back, my skin burning from his touch. “I want to buy it,” I whisper against his lips. “Do you think you can fix the engine? Maybe help me salvage some exterior metal that’s rusted and give it a little shine?”
“Killian is good with cars,” he says, leaning back in the chair to look into my eyes. “I can call him. He owes me a favor.”
“I thought Killian was only good at stealing cars,” I quip.
Killian Kade stole my sorority sister’s car from the covered parking lot on campus. She waited months to tell us the truth, and I don’t blame her. What Killian did was unreal. But he had a good reason, or at least she thought so.
Jamie chuckles at my comment. “Killian’s good at that, too. If he can’t fix the truck, I’m sure one of his friends can. They own an auto body shop in South Philly. I’ll make him give me the friends and family discount,” he finishes with a wink.