Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
“Are you okay?” my mother mutters.
I scoot aside and look at the coffee on the floor. “Yeah. I didn’t get any on my lap, luckily.”
“Let me go grab some paper towels.”
She immediately rushes off toward the counter, pushing past the suited man with slick blond hair to grab some of them, and I watch intently as she smiles at him.
He talks to her and then grabs the towels himself, handing them to her with a smile. She blushes and says something back, but I can’t hear it over the hubbub from the other customers.
Caleb narrows his eyes at my mother but doesn’t say a word.
When he looks at me again, I grab the menu on the table and hide behind it. Even though he’s already seen me, I don’t want to give him more reasons to come close.
I peek over the menu. My mother continues talking to the man, seemingly forgetting about the coffee spill on the floor beside our table and her half-eaten cake. They’re laughing and exchanging looks, and Caleb seems awfully annoyed by the whole ordeal.
A smile forms on my face.
But she seems enamored by the man beside Caleb, so much so that she pulls out her phone and shows something to him. I can’t tell what, but he immediately pulls out his phone too.
Are they exchanging numbers?
I push the menu to the side to get a better view, but the second I do, Caleb grabs the man’s shoulders and pushes him away from my mom.
“Let’s go, Dad. The line is way too long, and I know a better place.”
He ushers his dad away, but not before his dad says goodbye to my mom.
Right before Caleb exits, he throws me a final glance, a warning of sorts, but I let it slide off my shoulders. I just stare back until they’ve disappeared through the door, and the bell rings again.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
I’m glad they didn’t order anything because the only free seat left is next to us.
My mom strides back with a gleeful smile on her face.
“What happened?” I ask. “You look like you’re radiating.”
“That man. Oh, he was so handsome,” she murmurs, and she practically falls into her chair, dreaming away.
“Mom.” I gently pry the paper towels from her hand.
She shoots up from her chair. “Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie, I completely forgot.”
I chuckle while we both get on our knees to clean up the mess. “It’s fine, Mom, I get it. You got swept off your feet.”
She sniggers like a schoolgirl. “It’s been a while since I last hit it off. Do you mind?”
“No, not at all,” I say as we rise again, and I ditch the soaked towels on the table.
It’s been a while since my mom last dated anyone.
I mean, not since …
I swallow away the lump in my throat.
“It’s fine.” I wave it off like it’s no big deal even though I know full well who the man she just gave her number to is attached to. “When are you two meeting up?”
CALEB
A few days later
I chew my cucumber stick vigorously, swirling my tongue around the stem while watching her intently.
The cafeteria is noisy today, but I filter through the chatter just to focus on the girl in front of me.
She’s wearing that same beige dress again from the night of our party at the Tartarus House, and the more I look at it, the more I remember it vividly from those few seconds I saw Ares approach her in the maze.
Crystal Murphy.
A girl so innocent yet …
That pretty blond hair and picture-perfect face are such a distraction that I’m starting to wonder if I should do something about it. Make it messy, with pretty pink lipstick and black mascara smeared all over her face while her hair is a bungled mess from all the cum.
My hard-on twitches in my gray sweatpants at the thought.
I normally never get so excited about girls. But I have to control myself.
She sits beside those bastards from the Skull & Serpent Society, the actual fucking leader Felix and his girlfriend, Penelope, along with some more friends.
It’s them versus just me. Blaine and Ares have classes.
But if I approach her now in front of all of them, they’ll probably kill me for even trying to get near.
No, I need to wait until she’s all alone.
Defenseless.
Scared.
So I can punish her for showing up to that same goddamn café I was at with my dad.
Was it a coincidence?
I could’ve sworn I saw a few blond hairs disappearing behind a wall the second I ended my conversation with Blaine. But when I went to look, no one was there.
Was it all my imagination?
I take another bite and finish up the sticks until nothing is left. But I’m still hungry as hell, so I continue to my little bowl of pudding, scooping up some of the strawberry whipped cream and dipping it into my mouth.