Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“I will, but I’m not kicking you out of your bed. I’ll take the couch, that’s if they even have tickets. And, Jude, you have to swear to me that you won’t buy them. It’s only if they have extras.” I look up into his dark chocolate eyes, intense and captivating. The brown carries a hint of gold, making them all the more inviting.
“I won’t buy the tickets. The sleeping arrangements, we can argue about later.” He licks his lips. My gaze locks on the movement, more than ready to have them on me again. “Truce?” He tips his head to the side, and no sooner do I nod than his mouth meets mine. There’s no more talking. Heat instantly blooms in my chest, my breath catches, and when Jude cradles my jaw with both hands, gentle yet possessive, I press closer, anchoring myself to him as he deepens the kiss, slow and hungry like we weren’t just in a clench within the festival. His tongue sweeps across mine, the heat leaves me trembling, and through it all, Jude holds me steady.
7
JUDE
“Foxy, don’t be mad at me,” I answer the phone the next day on the first ring. I’m hoping like hell Ronnie doesn’t change her mind and stay at home after this call. As much as I wanted to stay on the phone with her until she was safely behind her apartment door, I refrained.
Fuck that. I didn’t at all. Instead, I used my hack like I’ve done from the very beginning I realized she meant something to me. The whole time Ronnie drove home and away from me, I watched the screen like a hawk, unable to breathe easily the whole time. The only reason I was able to exhale and stop looking at the screen was because I saw Ronnie park her car. And thankfully, she texted me once she was safely inside her apartment
“Jude, what did you do?” she asks with exasperation. I can hear her moving back and forth in her apartment and hope she doesn’t stop what she’s doing.
“I went to the ticket office.” I take a drag off my cigarette. I’ve never been one to chain smoke, and while I’ve been able to stick to my two-a-day habit for years now, I’m at my max for the day already.
“Please tell me you didn’t buy the tickets. You know I can’t pay you back.” The forlorn tone in her voice tells me that she really would be upset had I gone behind her back.
“Not at all. They had a few of those influencer people back out of the RV area and opt for hotels. Sucks for them, works for you. Only got one issue.”
“What’s the catch? Because there’s always a catch.” Ronnie isn’t wrong, and this could make everything go sideways.
“There are two options: you park in the overnight area, where the price is steep, as in forty dollars a night, the next three nights, which I already know you won’t let me pay. And then there’s one more option.” It’s a hell of a lot more doable.
“So, overnight parking with taxes and fees would be about a hundred and fifty on the high side.” She hums it over, probably weighing her options on if it’s worth it between driving back and forth or not.
“Yeah, kind of steep, if you ask me. Especially since you’ve already paid for day parking, they wouldn’t comp that. Believe me, I tried. They do have a spot in my camping lot, a few rows back, no charge to use that.” She will still be out the daily parking fee and there’s no way they’ll return it. She can try and sell it in one of the many groups on social media, but that’s a topic I’ll leave up to her.
“Oh, so, essentially, all these upgrades are free?”
“Yep, no money coming out of your pocket, and you won’t have to drive to and from every day.” She pauses in moving around. I assume I’m on speakerphone since she answered the call.
“Okay, well, then, I guess it’s going to take me a bit longer to get out of the house. Plus, I’ll need to pick up extra drinks and food.” I hear her plop down on a piece of furniture, probably the chair she keeps littered with clothes that I noticed during our FaceTime call.
“You tell me what you want, I’ll get it ordered. There’s a big box store right across from the festival. You can pull up, and it’ll be ready. One less thing to worry about.” I packed plenty, but I’m learning a thing or two about Ronnie. She pays her own way. If you pay for one thing, she’s paying for the next, preferring to trade off the expense. A fact that pisses me off. Ronnie works damn hard for her money, her hours are shit, the people can be dicks, and how her brother and father allow her to close at night with neither of them there blows my fucking mind. Then again, she’s the type of woman who will do whatever she wants, when she wants.