Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
There was no way that this was just Calvin’s best friend. That was utter bullshit. A man wasn’t just friends with a woman that looked like that. I hadn’t gotten past her damn face, and I was already imagining bending her over the portion of the sofa she stood behind and fucking her.
I reached for the bottle between my legs as my eyes traveled down what I could see of her body, then muttered a curse as I took a long pull of the whiskey. Big tits. Best friend, my ass.
Tearing my eyes off the girl, I looked back at Calvin, who was watching me with uncertainty.
You brought her here, dipshit. She’s a smoking hot piece of ass. We aren’t blind.
“Best friend, huh?” I asked with a smirk, and his gaze darted to her.
“Forge.” Oz’s tone was a warning, but I did not care. He could suck a dick.
“What?” I asked, grinning at him. “You don’t believe that shit either. Unless our dear cousin is gay.” I looked back at him. “It’s okay if you are. To each his own and all that shit.”
“Jesus Christ,” Kash muttered.
“You can just call me Forge, little brother,” I replied, then looked back at the girl. “Is it a best friends with benefits thing?” I asked her.
The instant reddening of her cheeks made me chuckle.
“Go sleep it off,” Oz barked at me.
I ignored him and winked at her. “I’m just getting to know our new housemate.”
“Forge, Kash,” Winslet said cheerily as she entered the room. “I didn’t know y’all had arrived.” She walked to the large coffee table and put a tray of cookies, muffins, and some slices of lemon cake down. “I just need to go get the plates,” she informed us.
“Why don’t you take Elsie with you?” Oz told her.
Winslet kept her smile, but I could see the question in her eyes as she looked back at my brother.
“He wants to get her away from me,” I drawled, then held up the bottle in my hand. “I’ve been drinking.”
She cut her gaze at me, and then without missing a beat, she looked over at Elsie. The name didn’t fit her. It sounded young and cute. She was more siren-like. I was gonna need to give her a new name.
“I can show you how to use the espresso machine. It’s fabulous once you get the hang of it. That is, if you like coffee,” Winslet told her.
She nodded. “I do.”
Winslet began to chatter on about nothing important as she walked back over toward Elsie. But Elsie wasn’t paying her much attention either. Her gaze was back on me. I puckered my lips at her as if to kiss the air, then took another drink.
This might not be so bad after all. I needed a distraction, and she was proving to be just that.
Four
Elsie
We hadn’t made it to the kitchen yet when Calvin called out my name. I spun around to see him hurrying after me. Relief at the sight of him and hope that he’d changed his mind about my staying here were instant. I was sure that the woman I had been following was very nice. She appeared to be. Her smile was genuine, and her brown eyes were kind. But she wasn’t enough to make me want to stay here. I’d already been apprehensive about things when the one they called Forge came staggering into the room.
Calvin smiled at Winslet, looking over my shoulder. “I, uh, need to talk to Elsie,” he explained with that charming smile of his.
“Of course,” she replied, and I heard her footsteps continue on as Calvin’s gaze came back to meet mine.
“It won’t always be like that,” he said in a whisper. “He’s just drunk. Oz is the oldest, and he will handle him.” Calvin reached out to take my hand in both his and squeezed it. “This is the safest place for you. The security when we entered the gate? You saw that. No one is getting in here that they don’t allow. And Winslet seems nice, doesn’t she? There are two other females who live here. Kash’s girlfriend and Bane’s wife. Bane owns the house, and they have a little boy. You’re gonna be okay here. I swear it.”
That sounded reassuring, but what about Forge? Did he live here too?
“I’d stay with you if I could. But I’ve got that internship, and filming starts next week. You know I have to be there,” he continued.
I nodded. I understood, but the scared little girl inside of me who had become an orphan overnight wanted to beg him not to leave me. I wouldn’t though.
“I’ve got to go meet with Bane in his office,” Calvin continued. “He was on his way home. They need more information about things so that they can help keep you from danger.”