Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“What you’re doing right now isn’t going to help it go away.”
“Right!” I drop my finger and decide to shove both of my hands into my pockets for safety. This is where I should tell him that I’m leaving, but I don’t want to. I bite the inside of my cheek so that I don’t ask whether it’s ever done that around me before or if it’s because I’m in his bedroom.
“Do you want a strawberry soda?”
“Strawberry soda is my favorite!” Anything is better than telling me it’s time to go, but I really do love it.
“I know.” Julius steps past me and walks out of the bedroom.
“How do you know?” I follow behind him, and my eyes linger on his backside. It totally beats Captain America’s ass. Sorry, Steve Rogers, you’ll have to be second. America’s Ass vice president.
“You get it at the diner,” he says.
“I only let myself get it there. If I keep it in the house, I’ll drink all of it.”
“You can drink all of it. I’ll get more.” He opens the fridge to reveal two straight rows of strawberry soda. They all face forward, each soda can in the same position.
His fridge is packed full and perfectly organized. It reminds me of one of those videos where the people unload their groceries and line all the items up inside.
“I should have known,” I laugh, snagging one of the sodas.
“That I’d buy you more?” That’s sweet, but I think Julius is only being polite.
“That your fridge would be so organized. It’s very you.” I pop the top of the soda and take a sip. Julius glances inside the fridge and then back to me.
“You don’t like it?”
“What? I didn’t say that. I actually kind of love it. I could never keep it up because I cram everything in. But I do love watching organization videos. It gives me hope that maybe one day I’ll get to it.”
“I could come organize your fridge,” he offers. How does everything he says make me want to melt?
“You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?”
“If you asked.”
“As opposed to breaking in and doing it.” I laugh. “That would be kind of funny. Someone breaks into your house to clean.”
“I’ve never seen the organizing videos, but I like watching yours.”
Whoa. He watches my videos? Honestly, I didn’t think Julius would have TikTok. “You watch them?” I suddenly feel shy.
“Are you hungry?” he asks, and my shoulders drop.
“You don’t want to answer my question?” I’m not letting him out of it now.
“I’ll answer anything you like, but I thought I might do it while I make dinner.” Is he asking me to stay or subtly suggesting that I should leave? Rather than dwelling on my own thoughts, I resolve to simply inquire.
“Are you inviting me to stay for dinner to be polite, or are you bringing up dinner to let me know it’s time for me to hit the road?” I put it out there so now I have to deal with the consequences.
“I want you to stay.” He’s so matter-of-fact when he says it.
"Really?!" I can't hide my excitement.
"You can have dinner here every night if you want," he offers, and I laugh, thinking it's a joke. His face remains serious.
"I'd love to have dinner with you." A smile forms on Julius's handsome face. “I could help if you want. I’m more of a baker, but I can try.”
“You can sit.”
I don’t get the chance to sit down before Julius lifts me by my hips and places me on the kitchen island.
“I guess I’ll just sit here and be pretty.”
“Gorgeous,” Julius corrects before turning to grab items from the fridge.
He thinks I’m gorgeous? Hmm, I suppose I did make him hard.
“So.” I smirk when he turns back to face me, his hands full of items. “You watch my TikToks?”
What are the chances I could get him to do one with me?
Scratch that. No way I’m sharing Julius. Right now, he’s all mine.
Chapter Eight
JULIUS
I don’t know why I thought having her in any other room in the house would make me any less horny. Wishful thinking, I guess. Turns out that I can picture fucking Liv on every surface in my home and not just the flat ones. When I showed her where the bathroom was, the shower wall caught my attention.
After making fajitas for dinner, Liv insisted on helping me wash the dishes. I tried to say no, but she used her hip to bump me out of the way, and I decided to shut my mouth. Instead, I stayed right beside her and dried everything.
One thing I love about being near her is that I don’t feel awkward about being quiet. She doesn’t make me rush to fill in the silence or say something for no reason. Liv seems perfectly content to do the talking, and when she asks me a question, I answer it. I love hearing her tell stories about growing up with a twin and all the times they tried to trade places, but their parents always caught them. The sound of her voice is soothing, and the more she talks, the more I want her to keep talking.