Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
She stares at me for a long, silent moment and then dips her head, hiding her eyes behind her hair. "I feel like a jerk for yelling at you now."
"Feel free to be pissed while you eat. Doesn't bother me any." It's a lie. I want her laughing and smiling, not growling. But at this point, I'll take whatever I can get. I'm that desperate for five minutes of her time.
She shuffles toward the table before sinking into her chair. I watch the way she peers at her plate, turning it around like she expects the chicken to jump up and bite her.
"It's just chicken, Chloe." I plunk a wine glass down beside her, making her jump a little. "I didn't poison it."
"You might have," she mutters.
"Out of the two of us, you're more likely to do the poisoning."
"Why? Because I'm a woman?"
"I mean, statistically speaking…" I circle the table before sliding into my seat just in time to catch her scrunching up her face at me in a scowl. "But that's not what I meant. You're the one who has been mad as hell at me since we were teenagers."
She rolls her eyes, reaching for the wine. "You're imagining things."
"Uh-huh." I cock a brow at her. "Last time I saw you, you told me to go fuck myself. The time before that, you threatened to hit me with your car. The time before that, you said—what was it? Oh, that's right. I swear to God, you make me want to gouge my own eyes out," I say, mimicking her voice.
Her lips curve into a grin, a soft laugh of protest escaping as she fills her glass to the brim. "First of all, I do not sound like that. Secondly, that is not what I said. And third, it was five in the morning, Trystan. You can't expect anyone to be rational before the sun even rises."
"I'm rational before the sun rises."
"That's because you're an actual psychopath." She lifts her glass to her lips, amusement dancing in her gorgeous eyes. "You like getting up with the chickens. You do manual labor with the chickens. That's unnatural, no matter how you slice it."
"Eat your damn chicken and hush," I say, chuckling. She has never been a morning person. Even as a kid, getting up early used to piss her off. And I always loved waking her up before the sun just to listen to her grumble and growl. I always had her laughing before it crested the horizon.
God, that laugh made me feel like a giant.
She takes a sip of wine, and then her eyes widen. I watch in amusement as she drinks half the glass before setting it down.
"That's good."
"Yeah? You like it?"
She nods, her tongue flicking along her bottom lip to gather up every last drop. And I barely bite back a groan. I want to be the one licking wine from her lips. I want to taste it on her tongue. Christ, not even beating off in the bathroom today helped alleviate the ache in my balls.
I doubt anything ever will. Until she's beneath me, moaning my name, I'm going to be permanently hard. I accepted that shit a long time ago. But fuck my life, you'd think it'd get easier at some point.
Spoiler Alert: It doesn't.
"What is it?"
"What?" I ask, still wrapped up in images of me licking wine from various places on her body, to remember what we were even talking about.
"The wine."
"Ambrosia Kisses," I mutter, spinning the bottle so she can read the label. "Ridley crafted it in Italy and imported it when he came home. I guess it's got something to do with Paisley." I shrug, not really clear on the details. Ridley's tight-lipped about the wine, but it's damn good.
Chloe's expression softens. "I can't believe your cousins are all getting married," she says. "First Jareth, then Ridley. Now, Haven says Bastian will be the next one with an announcement." Her lips curve into a wistful smile. "I still remember all of you having paintball wars on the vineyard when we were kids."
"Uh, Bastian never had a paintball war."
"He supervised," she says, her smile growing.
"You did, too." I take a sip of wine, eyeing her over the rim. "At least long enough to figure out where everyone was hiding so you and the girls could kick our asses."
A bright peal of laughter spills across the kitchen. "Don't blame me. You're the one who kept falling for it."
"As if I was going to rat you out," I say, grinning at her. "I fucking loved watching you win."
She glances away from me, her cheeks pink. And then she grabs the bottle of wine like she isn't sure what else to do with herself.
"You're going to be drunk soon if you keep drinking like that," I murmur, watching as she downs another entire glass.