Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
I exhaled and sensed him relaxing too.
I let one hand roam his back, and I couldn’t get over how good he felt against me. The thought of spending a whole night with him like this made me wanna push the envelope further, but I wasn’t going to. By the end of the day, I’d have two more hugs with him, and then I’d come up with a more appropriate challenge. Maybe I could suggest he started thinking about which Quinn to reach out to. He could write an email and let it sit there. He didn’t have to send it right away.
I reckoned the best thing I could do for him was push him toward his family.
A shiver ran down my spine when I felt his fingers brush over the back of my neck, and based on how he stiffened right after, I automatically held him a little tighter. I couldn’t help it. He’d probably done it by accident, but I didn’t want him to think I— Aw, goddammit. My phone buzzed.
“You’re vibrating.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, reluctantly releasing him.
He was quick to ease off and look away, and I pulled out my phone. Motherfucking phone.
Message from Shira.
I have an update. Come see me when you can. I’m in my office.
Fuck. It better be good.
“I, uh…” I cleared my throat. “I gotta head upstairs.” I should check in on Alex too.
“Okay. Um. I think I’ll go to the rooftop for some fresh air,” Leighton said. “The windowless thing messes me up sometimes.”
I nodded, feeling the same way. If the units across the hall hadn’t been taken, I would’ve moved us by now.
CHAPTER 6
September 29th, 2024
Leighton Watts
Ethan Quinn had uploaded approximately a hundred new posts since I’d last checked about two months ago. He was definitely prolific on social. Then again, he was promoting his fitness center, so he had to be out there.
I sat up straight in the lounger when I saw one of the photos.
His wife was pregnant again.
It was a regular gym selfie, aside from the small fact that he was lifting his laughing wife in the picture, rather than weights. And the caption read, “I’m working out for two.”
I grinned instinctively, sucked into a world I didn’t know, and I scrolled to the next photo where their toddler son was making a mean face and holding a one-pound pastel-yellow dumbbell. “Excited to become a big brother,” it said. The photo was also a reminder that all active service members and veterans could sign up for free physical rehabilitation training, something I’d seen him promote before.
But it wasn’t my world. I was just an anonymous account with no profile picture, no photos of my own, and I was sitting alone on a rooftop in Arlington, across the country.
Stop. Fucking. Settling.
Take a risk.
I swallowed nervously and shook my head to myself.
What would I even say?
What I really wanted, for more than one reason, was to ask Beckett to push me one tiny step at a time. Partly because it evidently got me hugged, and I’d almost lost my shit downstairs earlier. The moment his arms had wrapped around me, I’d wanted to beg for more and for him to never let me go.
He’d held me for over a minute.
Honestly, I was beginning to believe him too. He’d said life couldn’t be about chasing adrenaline rushes, and he might be right. Something had been about to unleash within me when he’d hugged me. I’d felt something bottled up starting to rattle, like pressure reaching the point where it needed to be released. Then his stupid phone had gone off.
I pulled up my knees a bit and rested my arms around them loosely, and I glanced around the terrace. It was a nice place, but people rarely came out here. One lounge area with low-slung furniture, and two round tables with chairs. Oh, and one of those pillar ashtrays in a corner. And up above, all clear skies.
The stars were out tonight.
The early fall was bringing cooler air too.
I took a deep breath and just sat there. Traffic was a faded background noise from seven floors below. Easy to tune out. I could only see one other building, a ten-story neighbor. The glass exterior was too high to look over.
If there hadn’t been surveillance in every public area in this building, I would’ve jerked off right here. I had too many new fantasies raging in the back of my mind.
Showering with Beckett had been fucking torture.
I fell back again and threw an arm over my face. Maybe I should sleep up here and avoid running into him more tonight. I didn’t even know how to ask him for a hug, much less twice.
The door was suddenly pushed open with too much force, and I saw Beckett coming out, looking like he wanted to murder someone. I sat up once more, my heart starting to race, and I wondered what was wrong.