Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“Same time tomorrow?”
My heart plummeted at the thought of spending another night alone, but I nodded, and he left after telling me goodnight.
Ocean visited every evening over the next week for dinner. Knowing boredom and loneliness awaited me once he left, I attempted various tricks to prolong his visits after dinner, including showing him the tricks I was teaching Coco. The pup still didn’t fuck with Ocean and growled every time he got too close.
Such a cutie.
After a while, I was forced to admit that it wasn’t awful having dinner with Ocean every night, but I couldn’t help thinking about Coby. Had she noticed his strange absences and the mysterious holes in his schedule? Ocean was so magnetic that I knew the answer couldn’t be anything other than yes. I certainly noticed every second that he wasn’t with me, and he wasn’t even mine.
Then again, a man like Ocean wouldn’t have a normal routine, so perhaps not.
I went to bed still agonizing over it. I tossed and turned as what Ocean and I were doing in secret plagued me with guilt in my sleep—so much so that when I heard a thump late that night, it was easy for me to shake off my drowsiness and go on high alert.
I didn’t move from the bed as I listened for the sound again. When it didn’t come, my killer instincts took over, and I slowly stood from the bed.
I was surrounded by enemies.
My gut wouldn’t allow me to dismiss the disturbance as nothing.
There was a smaller bedroom at the back of the cabin, facing the tree line, while the room I was in faced the lake and the main house. Only one bathroom separated the two bedrooms, while the cabin’s back door was padlocked from the outside. I also knew the window in the second bedroom couldn’t close properly, which is how I escaped that first night.
Imagine my frustration after I’d wiggled all this ass I was carrying through that tiny window just to be caught before I could get more than a hundred feet. I hope the guard who reached me first and tried to manhandle me was happy with his new nose.
I quietly placed Coco in his crate to keep him safe, then tiptoed into the living room and small kitchen and looked around.
Empty.
I peeked inside the bathroom and found no knife-wielding psycho waiting behind the shower curtain either, so I crept to the second bedroom. As soon as I reached for the knob, the door flew open, and I came face to face with some crazy bitch wielding one of the chopped firewood.
I screamed.
She screamed louder.
Only when neither of us moved to attack the other did I get a good look at the intruder—petite, pixie cut with ginger-dyed curls, golden-brown skin, cute button nose, freckles, and round eyes. And she was barefoot, her periwinkle toenails on display while the T-shirt she wore—her only clothing—swallowed her small frame.
The crazy bitch was my crazy bitch.
“What the fuck, Coby? It’s me!”
She lowered her arms when she realized whose head she was about to cave in, her confused gaze widening. “Hunter?”
“Yeah, bitch.”
Coby dropped the log, and we ran into each other’s arms. “How are you here? Why are you here?”
“Why else? I got kidnapped by a psycho just like you.”
Coby released me, looking puzzled. “But… Ocean said you were home.”
“What a surprise. The Strap lied,” I returned dryly. “How did you find me?”
“It’s a long story,” Coby answered with a sniffle. “Ocean’s been disappearing a lot. At first, I just assumed he was working, but then I’d see Abel and that pretty White guy wandering the halls, and that’s when shit stopped adding up.
“Kellan,” I said. Pity he was still alive.
“Yeah, him.” Coby stared at me like she couldn’t believe I was really standing here before shaking off her disbelief. “Anyway, I started following him to see where his ass was sneaking off to. I figured out it was the cabin, but I couldn’t get closer without the guards seeing me.”
I frowned. “So how did you get in?” As far as I knew, Abel and Ocean had every angle of this place covered. Or was I dreaming and Coby wasn’t really here at all?
Deciding to test my theory, I reached out and pinched her arm.
“Ow! Bitch, what the fuck?” She looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Sorry.” I winced. “I was just making sure I wasn’t dreaming.”
“You’re supposed to pinch yourself, Hunter.”
“Oh. Right.” Coby reached out with fast hands and twisted my nipple. “Owwww!” I slapped her hand away.
“Well.”
I laughed, suddenly feeling a million times lighter. “Seriously, though. How did you get in?”
“Ocean had some kind of emergency in the city. Whatever it was, it must have been bad enough to pull most of your guards. There’s only a couple out front now, so I snuck around the back and found the open window.” Coby shrugged like it was no big deal.