Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
One fair eyebrow rose in a perfect arch, challenging me.
Like what you see?
Fuck no, I don’t. You’re not my type at all.
“No problem, Parker,” I managed.
Trevor snorted, so I shot him my second-most-annoyed glare. The first was reserved for Ryder and Ryder alone.
“I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” Parker said as he turned.
Trevor cocked his head and didn’t bother to hide his sigh as he watched Parker’s ass stride out of the staff room.
“Got a little thing for the bossman, do you?” Ryder asked with a grin.
“I do,” Trevor answered, making my jaw drop. The worst-kept secret in the place was Trevor’s ginormous crush on the head honcho, but I’d never heard him admit it out loud. “So keep your hands to yourself.”
Ryder lifted said hands in surrender, chuckling. “Not a problem, man. He’s not my type. Too intense.”
“Exactly.” Trevor winked and shivered. “Exactly.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing aloud. Ryder didn’t need to know Trevor and I were close, or he’d set out to become even closer friends with him. And while I tended to agree with Ryder about Parker’s intensity, I’d be keeping that factoid to myself as well. I had enough baggage of my own without having to crack through some mysterious man’s walls.
No one said anything else for a few moments. I frowned at Ryder across the silence while he stood there with that shit-eating grin as though he had no idea how I could possibly be unhappy with his presence.
“Uh, okay, well, I’m gonna get my tables set up and let you two get, uh… get started with Ryder’s training.” Trevor grabbed his bowtie and shoes and ran from the room like the floor was crumbling beneath his feet.
Lucky bastard. I guess I wasn’t the only one to notice the thick tension and wish I could be elsewhere.
With Trevor gone, I let my frown turn into a full-blown sneer. I’d play nice-ish around the rest of the staff but had no plans of being friendly when we were alone.
“What the fuck are you doing, Ryder?”
“Oooh.” He snickered. “I like how you say my name all snarly like an angry lion.”
I walked toward him, stopping when the fresh scent of his expensive cologne invaded my senses. God, that was nice. Why couldn’t he smell like shit?
Too close. I needed to step back, but I would rather die than let him think I couldn’t handle being in his space. To prove that point, I leaned even closer. “Cut the bullshit. Be real for five-fucking-seconds.” Shit, my eyes wanted to roll back from the heavenly aroma. My dick also tried to get involved with a nice little twitch, but I bit the inside of my cheek hard to shut that down.
Ryder shrugged. The movement bunched his round shoulders, showing off his delts. I forced myself to look back at his face, but that was barely better as he had a damn dimple on the right side next to his damn perfect lips when he smiled.
It’d be so fun to stick my tongue—
Nope.
It’d be great to lick some other guy’s dimples, and if I survived this night, that’s what I’d do. Finding someone to fuck would become priority number one. Maybe I’d even take a night off this weekend and hit up someplace where I could find a hookup.
Though it would really hurt to lose those tips.
“I need something to occupy my time until next semester. And I told you the other night, I think I’d be good at this.” He winked. “Better than you.”
“We’ll see about that. And by the way, you look ridiculous in those shorts.”
“You think?’ As he peered down his long body, he ran a hand over his abs, stopping right at the waistband of the shorts. He slipped a thumb inside, then patted the area right above his impressive bulge.
For sure, it was too much to hope he had a tiny dick.
“I kinda like how I look.”
The simple yet loaded statement snapped me back to reality. “Of course you do.” I sighed. We couldn’t stand here and go back and forth all night, or we’d—I’d—miss critical tips. Ryder didn’t need a single extra dollar. “Fine, if you insist on this insanity, here’s how it’s gonna go. I will show you the ropes and ensure you have all the necessary information and training, but that’s it. We’re not gonna make small talk or become buddies, and we won’t play stupid pranks on each other like we used to. I’ve worked here for over a year. This job is important to me, and I refuse to fuck that up because of you, got it?”
“Yes, sir!” He snapped out a salute.
My teeth would be ground to nubs by the end of the night.
“Once you’re on your own, that’s it. We don’t talk anymore. We’ll be nothing more than moving furniture to each other.”