Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“Hey,” I greeted when I got to him.
He took the platter from me, opened the back door to the cab, placed it on the floor, closed the back door to the cab, hooked an arm around me, hauling me flush against his body.
He dropped his head, kissed me dizzy, lifted his head and replied, “Hey.”
My toes were curled, my legs were trembling, and I was thinking maybe I was that girl who jumped into her feelings instead of being careful. That girl who lived her life doing what felt good, understanding there might be consequences, but willing to take the risk.
While I was still evaluating this, Javi asked, “Good day?”
“Dream came by today.”
Although I hadn’t noticed Javi having any direct involvement with Dream (and trust me, I would have noticed, since I noticed everything about Javi), his eyes still clouded over, such was the long arm of Dream’s bad attitude.
“On a scale of one to ten with Dream interactions, it was around a one point five, so it was okay,” I assured.
“Luna good?”
The perfect question.
I mean…
He was such a nice guy!
“Yeah, she’s good.”
He nodded, moved his arm to round my shoulders, and then he guided me to the passenger side of his truck.
He opened the door, reached in to grab a bag that was on the seat, handed it to me, then helped me up into the cab.
I juggled the bag while I put on my belt and Javi shut the door.
He was in, belted up, and we were on our way when I lifted the bag and asked, “What’s this?”
“Look,” he replied.
Did he…
…buy me a present?
Oh em gee!
I loved presents!
I dug into the bag. I shoved aside the wads of tissue.
And then I gasped.
Loudly.
I also pulled out the striped glass mushroom.
So, it wasn’t the exact same. It wasn’t green and white.
It was pink and white.
So it was even better!
“Oh my God, Javi!” I exclaimed, turning to him. “How did you find it?”
“I typed ‘striped glass mushroom local’ into Google.”
He did a Google search for me!
I didn’t even think—what he’d done was just so sweet, so incredibly thoughtful—I stretched myself to the limit in order to kiss his jaw.
“Baby,” he whispered as I moved away.
God, I loved his rough, deep voice, especially wrapped around that word when he was directing it to me.
“Thank you,” I said earnestly.
“It’s not a big deal,” he replied.
I settled happily in my seat (yes, this required a little bouncing, sue me, Javi got me a new mushroom!) and looked out the windshield.
I then proclaimed, “It is to me.”
There was a vibe humming in the cab that felt strange, so I turned back to him.
He was also staring out the windshield, obviously, since he was driving, but a muscle was dancing in his cheek.
My heart squeezed.
“Did I say something wrong?” I asked quietly.
Not taking his eyes off the road, he reached a hand to me. Making sure my mushroom was safe, I took it.
Only then did he reply, “No, Harlow.”
“I—”
I barely got that out before Javi cut me off. “I’m just glad you like it.”
I was sensing he didn’t want to dive deep into whatever was going on with him, so I said, “Okay.”
His hand gave mine a squeeze and he let me go.
“Did you have a good day?” I asked.
“Had better.”
Oh no.
Maybe the weird vibe in the cab was because something happened that day.
I tested the waters. “Everything okay?”
“Nope.” He said shortly. “Last night, Cody was in the control room, and he was supposed to be monitoring the cameras. Not sure what he was doing. Am sure he was jacking around. He missed the guy breaking into your place.”
Oh boy.
“Mace reamed his ass,” Javi continued. “Though he was a lot more cool about it than I would have been, and not just because this was about you.” He shook his head. “Cody’s skating. I’m not certain he’s committed to doing his part to be a productive member of our team.”
Hmm.
I was seeing where he was coming from.
After they lost two of their brothers, NI&S had taken on the remaining Shadow Soldiers, Javi, Jeff (Jessie’s brother) and Cody.
But back then, they were his soldiers. Javi’s.
So Cody messing up reflected on Javi.
Or it didn’t, but Javi might take it that way.
“Mace is a badass,” Javi kept on. “But he isn’t a hardass. Moses, who manages the control room, is a hardass. That’s his space. His responsibility. Cody is directly under him. The man is solid, totally cool when shit is good. Patient. Generous with wisdom. You fuck up, not so much. You fuck up when it comes to protecting a woman, seeing as he loves his wife and two daughters and he gets how big that is, he was rightfully pissed.”
I couldn’t think of what to say, so I said, “Oh man.”
“I was pissed too,” Javi told me. “Cody’s my boy. I taught him better than that.”