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)
The man is working hard right now. Surely he could use something sweet when he gets home. Then we can practice kissing more since apparently it’s new to both of us. At the thought, I do a happy dance. I still can’t believe Julius has never been kissed before.
After checking for ingredients, I decide on a chocolate cake. It’s quick, and people always love it. Once I start, I get out my phone and record myself making it. While it’s cooling, I post the video and then change into my favorite summer dress. It’s lavender and has small white flowers on it. I love the way it flares out when I spin. Plus, it’s got pockets.
I’m in my room when my phone chimes, and I make a mad dash for it. Not paying attention, I miss the apron that must have fallen off the chair, and my foot gets caught. I let out a small scream before hitting the ground, and then I yelp in pain. My elbow took the brunt of the fall, and I groan.
“Why do they call it the funny bone?” I hold on to it as my phone chimes again.
Slowly, I make my way to my feet and grab it. When I see several pictures from my sister, my shoulders sag. She’s crafting a table, and I asked her to send me pictures so I could use them for social media.
My elbow throbs the whole time I put icing on the cake, but when it’s done, I carry it out to my truck. Once I’m inside, I debate if this is a stupid idea. He hasn’t texted me anything else, but I tell myself I can leave it on his porch if he’s still not back.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I head in the direction of his home. When I pull up, I see Troy digging through the trunk of his car. I know he works with Julius, and I figured that’s who knocked on the door earlier.
He was older than me in school, and we never spent much time together. But when you live in a small town like Cottonwood, everyone knows each other to a degree.
“Hey,” I say when I hop out of my truck.
“Liv.” Troy slams his trunk and gives me one of his smooth half-smirks.
I ignore it and grab the cake from the passenger seat.
“You’re not still working with Julius?” I ask, but clearly his truck is still gone.
“What do you got there?” Troy skips right over my question as he stares at the container in my hands.
“I made Julius a cake.”
“Damn, Liv.” Troy shakes his head. “Are you really into my cousin?”
“He’s sweet.” Why wouldn’t someone be into him? I find it hard to believe a girl hasn't already scooped him up.
“I wouldn't say that,” Troy huffs, and I shift on my feet. His expression is one of pity. “I know I shouldn’t rat my cousin out, but you can’t really be buying into his nice guy act. Because that’s all it is.” I shake my head, not believing him, but he rolls his eyes. “Liv, I’m telling you. This morning he was talking about looking at your tits on TikTok.”
“That he liked them?” Wait, no, bad Liv. Obviously, I don’t want him talking about my boobs with other people. But the thought of him liking them isn’t so bad.
“I mean, we can all see they’re pretty good.”
“Thanks, I think,” I murmur. This conversation is veering off course and becoming strange. “But he’s still working, right?” I should leave the cake on the porch and get the hell out of here before this gets weirder.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but he texted me to show up and say he was needed at work. I was late getting the message, so it took me a little while to get out here.”
Oh god. Is this like when you’re on a date and you have a friend call with an emergency?
“Like I said, sorry to have to tell you. I didn’t know it was you he was with this time.”
“This time?” I whisper mostly to myself, but Troy nods.
“Yeah, it’s kind of his thing.”
“I should go.” Tears sting my eyes, and I shove the cake toward Troy. It almost falls, but he manages to grab it in time.
“Shit, Liv, wait,” he calls after me, but I ignore him. I’ve got to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible.
Chapter Ten
JULIUS
It was so damn late last night by the time I got home I never texted Liv. I wanted to—hell, I even started to type out a message, but then I worried about waking her up. Once I knew she got home safe, I focused on working and kept at it until it was fixed.
The old folks’ home can’t operate without electricity, and when the box blew, so did their backup generator. When I got there, it was a mess, and I ended up calling emergency services. Between helping the nurses and first responders, hours went by before I could get in there and actually fix the problem. After I replaced the old, outdated box, I fixed the generator free of charge. Seeing how necessary it was, I knew they didn’t need to be in a position like that again.