Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Any time. Want to tell me what you’re after besides going up? How many rooms, open floor plan, any pictures you have for inspiration?” Shae immediately pulls out her phone, and Coralynn digs through her purse, pulling out scraps of paper. This takes up the bulk of the morning. We only break for refills, ordering food, and even then, we work through it all.
It's not until Coralynn adds in her requests that we stop working. “I want windows, a lot of windows, on the top floor. I’m not sure if that will work with the historical society, but if we can bring in natural light, it would be amazing. Now, that’s all I have as far as input goes. Thank you for brunch.” She stands up, pushes her chair in, and I can tell Anthony is about to follow her lead.
“You’re welcome. We can always do skylights if the historic society doesn’t want us taking out the brick,” I follow up, having dealt with them in the past. It’s a necessary evil, and it can sometimes take a lot in order to meet on common ground.
“Perfect. Well, I’ll see you all later.” Coralynn gives us all a finger wave. It has Anthony pulling his wallet out, tossing a few bills on the table, and standing up pretty abruptly.
“Go, go, go,” Luke chimes in. “Get your girl. At least someone at this table has balls.” I ignore my friend.
“Later, Anthony. I’ll get the plans emailed to you and Coralynn when they’re ready.” Shae remains quiet, hand covering her mouth, probably to hold back her laughter with all the bullshit Luke is stirring up. I swear, if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume Jagger were sitting in his place right about now. “I’m out of here. The peanut gallery has worn out its welcome.”
There’s too much shit swirling in my head, mainly about making a phone call to Jude, having him pull up Serena’s records, and going down a rabbit hole without leaving any footprints, unlike if I were to do it at work. The only problem with that is I’ll fixate on every ounce of information, and it won’t take the edge off from me needing to take my cock in hand. It’ll only spur me on that much more. Monday can’t come fucking soon enough, and that’s saying something because I shouldn’t want her. My rules, her uncle's warning, they’re all spinning in my head, going a million miles an hour. The more I try to deny it, the more I need and want Serena Beck.
“Luke can have that effect on people. Thank you again, Crew. I’ll put duct tape over his lips next time we meet up,” Shae says. I highly doubt she’ll do it. It’s appreciated regardless.
“I’ll bring the supplies.” I put my things away in my backpack, grab my phone, and make to leave.
“Now you two are going to talk about me like I’m not here. And I was going to pay for our food.” Luke acts like Anthony didn’t leave more than enough for him and Coralynn and I wouldn’t do the same.
“Sure you were.” I add cash to the table, bend down to kiss Shae’s cheek, and shake Luke’s hand. We say our goodbyes, they stick around, and I head back to my place for the day. There’s other shit I can catch up on before I head to my parents’ house and do my weekly check-in. Usually, Mom has a honey-do list, and with Dad recovering from his last stint in the hospital for diabetes, it’s up to me.
Mom has him on a strict diet and monitors him morning, noon, and night now after she found out Dad was sneaking snacks and sweet treats. Needless to say, neither of us were too pleased. We came up with a plan: I come over once a week, help where it's needed, and Mom cooks or dad grills.
It works, and it’ll keep my mind and hands occupied from going after Serena in a way that could cause nothing but problems.
6
SERENA
“Finally. Our schedules combined really suck lately,” Talia greets me as I walk across the street with Mackie’s leash in my hand. He’s pulling me in the direction of his mom, and while I’ve been a good substitute, there’s no doubt in my mind who his first love will always be. Mackey’s butt shakes in happiness once he’s trotted up the front porch steps and is in front of Talia.
“Yeah, well, mine are now bankers’ hours to the core. At least you have a few days off a week.” I counter, making my way up behind Mackie. She already has a charcuterie board on the small coffee table, as well as two glasses and an open bottle of wine. My weekend has come and gone in the blink of an eye. That old saying, Time flies when you’re having fun. Although, what I did was anything but fun: I cleaned my house, took Mackie for a walk morning, noon, and night. Then he went on a car ride where I used the last bit of my gift card for a coffee and a pup cup before heading to my parents’.