Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Liam.
I hated how my gaze shot around, looking for someone who will not be named. And not only because he’d been starring in all my sweaty, needy dreams, despite my decision to dislike him until the end of time.
But he wasn’t there.
Neither was Charlotte.
Liam was in my neighborhood alone.
“Liam, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
“Hey, Alara,” he greeted me as he reached down to scoop up the demanding Tuna Roll.
“Are you here looking for me?”
“Uh, no.”
His gaze moved past me, then quickly away. His feet shifted. His posture was tight enough to snap.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
To that, his lips twitched. “I was taking a walk.”
“Sure you were. Now, the question is, are you here to buy drugs? Meet a girl? Steal shit?”
“I have my own money.” He puffed up at that. “And I don’t have a girl.”
“Drugs then. Great.”
“It’s not drugs.”
“What is it then?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re acting shifty as fuck, so it’s something.”
A muscle ticked in his cheek.
“Come on, dude. Don’t make me be a narc.”
“You gotta do what you gotta do.”
He walked past me, dropping Tuna into my arms, then continued down the street while my dog cried for the love of his life.
I reached for my phone, hating that the kid was making me do the unthinkable.
Reach out to Christopher freaking Costa.
The phone rang twice before he answered.
“Alara?” Was that pleasure in his voice? Or my own wishful thinking? “Is everything okay?”
“Your pain-in-the-ass nephew is making me be a rat, and I hate him for it.”
“What? Liam?”
“Yeah. Liam is on my street and being sketchy as hell. He won’t tell me what he’s up to, so I thought you might want to know.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
I hung up.
On him.
On the flutter in my chest at his voice.
On the flip-flop sensation in my stomach at the prospect of seeing him again.
But I didn’t have to see him.
I could just lock my shop and disappear into the back room.
That is until there was a knock on the door.
And there was Christopher.
Looking hotter than he had any right to look in a pair of basketball pants and a tee.
And next to him, a very eager-looking Charlotte.
“Do you mind watching her for a few?” he asked when I unlocked the door. “I have a feeling whatever Liam is up to, I don’t want Charlotte involved.”
“I’m old enough to stay home alone,” Charlotte said. But nothing about her demeanor suggested she would have liked that.
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, we need to talk about that plot twist at the end of book one.”
Charlotte moved inside, and over the top of her head, Christopher caught my eye.
Thank you, he mouthed.
I hated how my heart fluttered a little at that.
I gave him a nod.
The box was going to have to wait.
CHAPTER NINE
Christopher
I was suddenly reminded of a term my father used to use all the time: You give someone an inch, they take a mile.
He usually meant it about some business dealing or another, but with a secretive teenager who refused to let me in on anything, it took on a new meaning for me.
Because I’d been trying not to hold the reins too tightly with Liam. He was a teenager. He had a right to some freedom. Maybe even a little secrecy. Especially after everything he’d been through.
But some shit was already not lining up for me with him.
Sure, my money had loosened up a bit now that I was back at work, so I was giving both the kids an allowance. Charlotte, because she helped me out around the apartment, keeping things tidy. And Liam because I did rely on him to watch his sister here and there if I was running late or had a side gig to work on to make some extra cash.
So he had some money in his pocket to spend.
That said, he was bringing in what felt like too much. Too many bags. Too much fast food.
I hadn’t questioned it at first because I had no proof, and I knew one surefire way to push the kid away further would be to accuse him of things without any evidence to back it up.
And, yeah, I’d honestly been too busy to look into it.
I gave the inch.
He was taking the mile.
I’d honestly been excited when my phone rang and I saw Alara’s name on the caller ID.
She’d been strategically avoiding me for two weeks. How, when I had to show up for the bag? Once, because she ‘ran into’ Leo and gave it to him. And another time because she ‘dropped by’ Brio’s place and gave it to him.
She was pissed at me.
I got it.
She’d taken a chance.
And it hadn’t gone her way.
Fuck, it hadn’t gone either of our ways.
I didn’t want to push her away.
I wanted to pull her deeper into the alley, pull her pants and panties down, and slam into her until we were both weak and satisfied.