Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
I have to smirk. Even after a mind-numbing orgasm, she’s still able to come up with another smart-mouthed comment.
My eyes move to her cuffed hands, and a brief thread of guilt pins me. Did I make a mistake? My life is a mess. What am I dragging her into?
I want to say something, anything, but before I can open my mouth, there’s a loud knock at the door. “Rawls!”
Fuck me.
“Yeah?!” I bark roughly. Briar somehow manages to twist in a way that drops her shirt down, obscuring her flawless form from me, like a shade being drawn over the sun.
“Some, uh…paperwork came in on your case.” He’s referring to my internal investigations case. Excessive force against my mom’s attacker. “You’re gonna want to see this.”
This case has been dragging on for too long. I should have had my review by now, but somebody is intentionally trying to fuck me over.
“Coming!”
My stomach tenses. Briar is clearly a smart one and notices something in my reaction. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Cop stuff.”
No need to involve her. She doesn’t belong in this world. My filthy world, filled with murder and deception.
“You’re lying.”
I lick my lips as I unlock her cuffs. “You a mind reader? Don’t tell the department. They’ll make you work here. You’ll have no choice.”
“Like the choice you gave me?”
Unable to stop myself, I lean in and kiss her, roughly taking her lips in mine. “You broke the law. I’m a cop following procedure.”
As I open the door, I hear her shout after me. “Hey, who’s gonna bring me back to my car?”
I step out of the room, knowing my life as I know it has changed. Thanks to her. To Briar.
I’m addicted. And God help anyone who tries to take her away from me.
4
BRIAR
My body is still buzzing. A day later, mopping down the grimy counter at the truck stop, I’m still buzzing. Every time I move, I feel it. The ghost of pressure, heat, a pulse from where his mouth was. I nearly drop my rag.
Just thinking about him pulls my mind away from what I’m doing. He’s not even here, yet he’s the ultimate distraction. I’ve touched myself before, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. What Gareth gave me was the whole shebang. And he woke something up inside of me.
I still can’t believe it happened either. It’s like a dream. A fantasy I didn’t even know I had, and it came true.
My toes are burning, stuffed into a pair of shoes that are a size too small. I’m dying for something to eat too, and the rice cakes I brought from home just aren’t cutting it.
“Hey, can I get a warm-up over here!” The gruff voice shakes me out of my reminiscing. It’s Ross, a regular, who always toes the rudeness line. He’s a dick but not quite enough of a dick that he gets thrown out by Tony, the owner.
Normally, he doesn’t annoy me that much. But tonight, he’s hitting on my mom. And she seems to be falling for it. I try not to watch as she fawns all over his filthy arms, sweat-stained T-shirt, and denim vest. I just refill his coffee and walk away.
Behavior like this is probably why I don’t know who my father is. I’ve learned to deal with it over the years, but the thought of Ross coming back to the trailer tonight makes me sick to my stomach.
Thankfully, just as I’m about to lose myself in the horror of those thoughts, Sarah bursts through the door, waving a yellow daisy in her hand.
“Y’all serve cheeseburgers in here?” she calls out, striding up to the bar with that confidence I always envy. I’m smirking as she perches on a stool and hands me the flower. “Because I could use some meat!”
“That’s what I’m talking about—”
“Shut up, Ross,” she snaps. I have to turn away to hide my laughter, and I quickly go to the soda machine and fill her a glass of Sprite.
I trade it to her for the flower, which she slips into the breast pocket of my apron. She’s always bringing me silly little gifts, ever since we were kids. I have an entire drawer at home dedicated to them.
We’ve always been polar opposites, which is one of the reasons I think we get along so well. I’m quiet, she’s loud. I’m an introvert, she’s an extrovert. Men are a foreign species to me, while Sarah makes her living off them. She works as a receptionist at an art gallery during the day but strips at night and makes a fortune.
I can’t even imagine having the guts to do what she does. Just being in the interrogation room with Gareth, knowing there could have been men on the other side watching us, had my heart racing.
Then again, there was something hot about it…the idea of them watching, wishing they were him, when in reality, only he could have a taste of me.