Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 164910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 825(@200wpm)___ 660(@250wpm)___ 550(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 825(@200wpm)___ 660(@250wpm)___ 550(@300wpm)
We kiss in between smiles.
“Iron did that enough for all of us,” he jokes.
“Yeah, I noticed.” I chuckle.
He jerks my chin up, forcing me to face him. “Oh, did you?”
My heart races, seeing the jealousy in his eyes. “Well, you were the one I was dying to see, though.”
But I can hardly contain my grin. I’ve waited a long time for him to be possessive of me.
“You know, I was worried you’d leave town while I was away at school,” I admit. “You were on my mind for a long time.”
I was dying to get back here to him.
“I might’ve been gone.” His voice falls to a whisper, holding me close. “But I kept finding things to hang on to. Seeing you from time to time over your last year at Marymount. Watching Iron get arrested and waiting for his return. Then your father’s threat to our land…” He holds my eyes. “I kept telling myself that I could go once one problem or another was solved.”
I dart my eyes to the right, to the parentheses drawn on his wall, next to his door. Solve the problem in parentheses first.
“That’s what that means?” I ask, gesturing to the symbol.
He just gives me a small smile. “Every time I hit it, I’d tell myself I was free as soon as I dealt with this or that. If I could find one thing to hang on to—one goal to wait for—then I could make an excuse to stay. Turns out I didn’t really want to go.”
“And now?” I ask. “What’s in the parentheses now?”
“Your happiness.”
No hesitation. No thinking. He just says it.
That’s his goal now, and fuck. I crash down onto his mouth, kissing him.
I didn’t think it was possible to fall for him more, but I’m going to love finding out. I feel like there’s so much more to know about him, and I can’t wait for every minute alone with him.
We hold each other, our lips brushing as we just stay there for a moment. I want to just crawl into bed, but we do have other problems to solve together.
“We don’t have much longer,” I warn him. “We have maybe till Monday to figure out how to get rid of my father.”
He sighs, releasing me and handing me a pair of Army’s clean pants. His waist is more my size. “I know,” he says as he kisses me again.
“He’s planning right now,” I point out as we get dressed. “I wouldn’t put it past him to set all of this on fire. Now that he knows what you have…”
“We have intel on him.” He hands me a T-shirt. “Videos of his affairs, deals with partners of questionable criminality, and white-collar shit.” He combs his hand through his hair. “None of it can put him away.”
He flexes his abs as he walks over to grab his wallet and stick it in his back pocket. I hold back my groan.
“CEOs only go to prison when they lessen shareholder value, Dallas.”
I fan out the sheets and fluff the comforter, even though it’s already dark.
We won’t be going to bed yet, though. He wants a little fun at Fox Hill, so why not? I’m in the mood to sneak around right under their noses.
“You didn’t get a camera in the Wolfe Room?” I ask.
I already know he didn’t, otherwise he would’ve said, but I expected that was one of his goals when he challenged me to get him in.
He inhales a deep breath. “Anything that’s going to work independently needs wires or solar power.”
The Wolfe Room is underground.
“Anything else,” he continues, “I’d have to bring in and directly point it at the crime. And I’d have to let it happen.”
Yeah, I see the dilemma. I’ve never witnessed a crime in there, but Anna-Katherine is proof that they do happen.
“The rest,” he sighs, “no one’s going to give a shit about.”
I take a seat on the bed and catch him by the waist as he moves in.
He’s right. No one will care that my father sleeps around or that Mitchell Kenmont likes to screw his daughter-in-law. Consenting adults and all. In the current climate, men just grow more popular for that behavior.
“We have bigger problems, though.” He strokes my hair as I look up at him. “Fucking a teacher is bad enough, but what’s Father McNealty going to say when you’re fucking a male teacher?”
I rumble with laughter. Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. A booster in charge of sponsoring the position Dallas holds at the school, in addition to being gay in a religious environment, has some conflicts of interest.
I rest my chin on his stomach, tipping my eyes up at him. “There’s a donation for that, I’m sure.”
No worries.
Leaning down, he kisses me, and if we don’t get out of here, he’s not going to get blown by an upstanding member of Fox Hill Country Club in their locker room.