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)
Wolf tossed his wrench in his tool bag. “I’m going to kill you and Cassie…”
“Rogue has traps. Either they’re the world’s smartest rats, or he is really stupid.”
“Fucker is smart but has zero common sense. He’d get run over if he crossed the street unassisted.”
I laughed when I pictured Wolf holding Rogue’s hand.
“Wolf!” Rogue shouted again.
“Calm your tits, I’m coming.”
I pushed to my feet. “It’s like you attract needy people. Hendrix, Rogue…”
“Well, I attract you. You saying you’re needy?” He clapped an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me against his bare, sweat-slicked skin.
“Gross, you’re sweaty and greasy.” I tried to push him away, but he pulled me to his chest. I didn’t know how it was possible for a guy’s sweat to smell good. Maybe my brain was just broken for Wolf.
“Didn’t complain about me being sweaty this morning,” he said, his lips brushing my neck on the way up the steps. The heat of his breath sent a shiver through me. “I like it when you blush.” Which was all the damned time around him.
He opened the door to the sound of Squishy’s Shiba screeches mixing with one long, drawn-out, high-pitched man scream.
“It’s bloodthirsty!” Rogue’s voice came from the kitchen, followed by an outburst of raucous laughter from the other guys.
Another string of horrified screams rang out that sounded more like a young girl getting murdered than a man running from a rat.
“Fucking rich kids, I swear to…” Shaking his head, Wolf headed for the kitchen, and I followed.
Squishy bark-screamed at Rogue, who was crouched on the countertop, wielding a spatula. Petey leaned over the sink, his finger under the running tap. While Bellamy leaned against the fridge, laughing so hard he was doubled over. Three men versus two rats, and this was what happened. Pure chaos.
“What in the actual fuck?” Wolf frowned, taking it all in. “It’s a rat, not a mountain lion.”
Bellamy sucked in a breath and wiped tears from his cheeks. “I could have caught the thing if it wasn’t for these two princesses here.” He thumbed at Petey and Rogue. “Fucking funny, though.”
Wolf stepped into the room, and Cassie seemed to appear from nowhere, wedging herself into the doorway beside me. “I’m capturing this image for my happiness spank bank.” Her phone camera clicked.
I stared at the ridiculous image of Rogue on the counter, captured for all of eternity. “What is a happiness spank bank?”
“You know, when you’re sad and need a little joy.”
“And where is the spanking coming in?”
She winked. “Well, spanking always makes me happy, Jade.”
I really needed to learn not to ask questions with her.
Squishy suddenly bolted across the kitchen, claws scrabbling over the tile before he squeezed his face in the gap beside the refrigerator—presumably where Goose and Maverick were hiding.
“I can’t deal with this,” Wolf said, then yanked the fridge from the wall like it weighed nothing.
“Get the rats, Dog!”
I watched in horror as Squishy let out a banshee war cry and shot into the fray. Wolf was right there with a Coors Lite box. As though he’d been doing it all his life, he caught the poor creature running for its life, then shot to his feet, tipping the box the right way up. We all stared at him in stunned silence. I did not expect to be adding “rat catcher” to the list of things I found attractive in a man. Mechanic, thief, footballer, rat wrangler…was there anything he couldn’t do?
“That’s one.” Wolf held the box up like a trophy. “Bell, you get the other one.”
“Put it in the microwave!” Rogue shouted from the counter.
Horrified, I snatched the box from Wolf. “I’ll microwave your pathetic little balls, Rogue.”
Wolf looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “What are you going to do with them?”
Well, I hadn’t thought about that. I wanted to argue that they had names, so they were practically pets, but the idiot on the counter thought they were actually wild. We really didn’t need to piss off Rogue anymore by revealing our rat exploits. “I don’t know. Not microwave them.”
A few seconds of hard stares passed between Wolf and me. “Right…” Then he took the box back and moved past me.
“Wait!” I hurried after him as he strode toward the door. “What are you doing?”
“Letting it out in the yard. Freedom from attic oppression—” He waved a dismissive hand as he pushed the front door open to the humid heat—“or whatever bullshit you’d say.”
“No!” I grabbed his arm before he could descend the porch steps. “They’ll get eaten by snakes, or cats, or…other rats. They don’t know how to fend for themselves.” Yes, I felt guilty for the rats. But we—well, Cassie—had been the ones to buy them, so we were kind of responsible for them. “It would be like sending a Barrington kid to Dayton High.”