Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I grabbed my backpack, ducked inside the low-slung tent, and—
“Sorry, this one is taken,” Jake said, eyes glued to his cell, head propped on his hand as he lay on his side.
My gaze stalled on his broad shoulders and the curtain of blond hair covering his forehead. I expected a flare of rage at his hoity-toity attitude and maybe at myself for not sussing out that the sleeping arrangements were fucked.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I huffed. “What the hell happened here? We were supposed to split up between our people. My people got sick, and that means I get this tent to myself and you get to snuggle up with those two…over there.”
I gestured wildly, frustration growing by the second. And why couldn’t I stop gaping at his biceps? His fucking T-shirt was too snug, and I was going to tell him that as soon as he showed his ass out the door.
Jake dropped his cell next to his pillow and cast a weary look my way. “Dream on.”
“Well…you can’t stay here,” I whisper-hissed. “This is mine. Get out.”
He groaned and mumbled something that sounded like, “I wish” as he turned off the lantern.
I blinked like a newborn owl in the dark. “I’m serious, Milligan. I’m not sharing with you.”
Jake chuckled humorlessly. “Sleep by the fire. It’ll be nice and toasty. And if any bears come around, you can be our alarm.”
“This is not a joke. I mean…how do I know you don’t fart in your sleep?”
“How do I know you don’t jerk off before bed?” he countered.
“I do. I definitely do. In fact, I can’t sleep until I jack the python, so…vamoose.”
Jake turned on the light again and leveled me with a scathing no-nonsense glare. “Very fucking funny. Do not jerk off or even pretend to jerk off. It’s been a long-ass day and I’m tired, so just…shut up and go to sleep.”
With one last fierce scowl, he rolled to his side. End of sentence.
Okay, well…it wasn’t as if I had a ton of options. Plus I had a feeling this was a test. No one had counted on two of our campers getting sick, but the new sleeping arrangement was undoubtably a topic of discussion. Sleeping with the bears would only feed unnecessary gossip and let’s be real, I had no desire to duke it out with a four-hundred-pound bear in the dark in my boxers.
So, I guessed I was rooming with the enemy. Fun times.
7
JAKE
“Stop moving around.”
“I can’t help it, I’m restless,” the lump a few feet away grumbled. Trinsky shifted again and sighed. “It’s weird to try to sleep next to someone who hates you. Will I even wake up in the morning?”
“You really think I’m going to murder you in your sleep?” I snort-laughed.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he replied conversationally. “How you’d do it is anyone’s guess. I’m way stronger than you, so you’d have to wait till I passed out or…drug me.”
“Unfortunately, I’m fresh out of cyanide.”
“Hmph. You have a Swiss Army knife. You might slit my throat or strangle me or—”
“Christ, you’re morbid,” I intercepted. “I might be tempted to strangle you, but I’m not doing prison time for your ass, so please…shut up and go to sleep.”
Silence.
“Still weird.”
I gritted my teeth and cursed at the universe for putting me in this situation…with this idiot. Good press be damned.
Patience, Jake. Be patient.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi…
“Yeah, it’s weird,” I conceded. “Pretend I’m not here.”
“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
I punched my pillow and squeezed my eyes closed. I willed sleep to hit me like a hammer, but the annoying rustle of Trinsky’s sleeping bag made that impossible. “Now what are you doing?”
“You said to pretend you aren’t here, so…I’m doing what I do every night. I’m jerkin’ it.”
I turned on the lantern again and sat upright in a flash.
“You will not fucking jerk off,” I hissed.
Trinsky blinked at the onslaught of light, his eyes crinkling at the corners with humor. My first thought was pure incredulity. How was this happening? I must have done something truly horrible in a previous life to deserve this.
My second thought—
No. Not sharing. It was too disturbing and borderline insane and—
Fine. Trinsky looked…hot.
Look, I wasn’t straight. But I generally didn’t gravitate to assholes.
Whatever.
So I noticed Trinsky’s muscular tattooed torso. So what? The vibrant inked patterns of bird wings, a heart, a thorny rose, and barbed wires gleamed in the dull light, accentuating every contour of his toned pecs and thick biceps. Nothing I hadn’t seen a few dozen times. Trinsky had always been one of the first summer camp coaches to whip his shirt off after a day in the rink or a regular season game or for social media content and promotional BS. Those inked abs, arms, and giant thighs had been featured on countless ads.
This wasn’t my first up-close glimpse of this supremely annoying man, but it was the first time I’d felt a physical reaction to him that wasn’t fury. I mean…that was there too—along with an inexplicable thought that he looked…sexy. And that his twinkling eyes and the dimples on his lightly bearded jaw were kind of…appealing.