Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
With a frustrated groan, I crawled into the sheets that smelled of him and pulled Squishy close. Much to his huffing disgust, but I needed the comfort the chubby little animal brought. I’d fucked up. Being around Wolf, living in his house, even sleeping in his bed… I could handle it just so long as lines weren’t crossed. So long as there was no hope. Hope was dangerous. That kiss in the bar parking lot, I had been able to put down to alcohol. A regretful error on his part. But this was different. We were both sober. I had started it, and it had gone much further than a kiss.
As I lay there, in Wolf’s bed, with his dog, I’d never felt so alone. I wanted nothing more than to go home. Where I could pretend, once again, that Wolf Brookes didn’t exist, and that I could possibly live and be happy without ever feeling that again. But I still had three weeks. Unless… I thought of the little drug-filled penguin stuffed in the bottom of my backpack, then immediately shied away from it.
No, he’d helped me. I couldn’t do that.
I had to wonder if this wasn’t all part of some punishment for what I’d done to him. Yet, even feeling as awful as I did right then, if I could go back to that barn, I knew I would kiss him again. If I didn’t get out of this house, Wolf would eventually break me. I would let him.
Coming here was purely a matter of self-preservation, avoiding jail or expulsion. I wasn’t sure if I was saving myself anymore. I had a choice. Use the penguin and condemn Wolf to save myself. Or condemn myself and save Wolf.
Early morning sunshine spilled through the kitchen window as I did the dishes. It was a Saturday, and the house was blissfully peaceful. The guys were probably still asleep, except Wolf, who was absent from the couch—unless he’d slept somewhere else. With someone else.
I rubbed at my chest as a nasty feeling spread through it. I’d been avoiding him for the last three days, but I knew he was avoiding me just as much. Would he sleep with someone to put distance between us? I pushed the thought from my mind and focused on cleaning so I could run away to Dayton for the weekend. I was excited to go home and see my parents. Thanks to Wolf and a new Lonely Fans subscriber, who had randomly tipped me fifty bucks for nothing, I could replace my mom’s grocery money that she’d used to buy Dad’s meds. Thanks, ToesToesToes123—at least until they asked for a video of me jerking off a phallic object with my feet.
“You off to Dayton?”
I jumped at the sound of Cassie’s voice, dropping the plate I’d been washing into the sudsy water. “Yeah. After I finish these stupid chores.”
She moved beside me and poured a cup of coffee. “Surprised they let you off.”
“Yeah, well. Guess Rogue felt generous.” My gaze swept over her Roller Burger uniform. “You’re up early.” Roller Burger didn’t open until eleven.
“Had to drive Mr. Generous to the ER.”
“Why?”
She lifted a brow as she took a slow sip of her coffee. “Allergic reaction.”
“To what?”
“Who knows?” Oh, she knew. And the fact that she did said a lot about how stupid Rogue was to expose his weaknesses.
I deadpanned her. “I hope it’s not serious, Cassie. If you kill him…”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a little swelling. Well, quite a lot of swelling, but just like his lips and eyes. He can breathe.”
In the past week, she’d turned all the man’s clothes pink, spiked him with laxative, unleashed rats in his house, dusted him with itching powder, and now given him a visit to the hospital. If he didn’t let us go soon, he had a death wish.
“Anyway, I’m going to get a shower.” She drained her mug, then rinsed it in the sink. “Tell your parents I said, ‘hi.’”
After she left, I went back to the dishes. I had just stacked the last of the plates in the cabinet when scratching came from the back door. I found Squishy peering in through the glass. My gaze drifted across the yard to the lawn chairs where Wolf sat. I’d somehow missed him out there while I was cleaning. I hated the tiny bit of relief I felt that he wasn’t in some girl’s bed.
Squishy scratched again. “Sorry, Squish. Need to avoid your owner for a little while.”
The little dog turned around and headed down the porch like he understood. He trotted over to Wolf and hopped onto the spare lawn chair. The way Wolf patted his head made something in my chest go soft. Yeah, I needed to get the hell out of there. I grabbed my backpack with my change of clothes—and the penguin I couldn’t leave here—from the kitchen table and left through the front door.