Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Good morning,” Winslet said as I entered the kitchen.
“Good morning,” I replied, glancing around to see Oz seated at the table beside her, Ransom making a plate of food at the stove, and Noa at the espresso machine.
“Got another letter for you from Calvin,” Oz said, nodding his head to an envelope on the table.
I’d written him back two days ago and given it to Winslet. I wanted to take his letter and go back to my room to read it, but then again, there was the passing-Forge thing.
“Thanks,” I told him and went over to get it.
I knew they read the letters. They had to print them out for me. Forge had handed me the last one, and it hadn’t even been folded or in an envelope for privacy. Not that Calvin would say anything that I didn’t want them to read.
“Forge showed her his junk. She’s a little rattled,” Ransom informed the rest of the kitchen.
Oz’s brows shot up. “What?” His tone took a cold edge.
“I walked out of my room and—”
“Jesus, she’s not a kid. She’s seen a naked man,” Forge’s voice cut Ransom off, and I jumped, startled by the sound of it.
Needing to do something other than stand here and continue to look awkward, I put the letter in my back pocket and walked over to the espresso machine. Noa was trying not to grin at me over her coffee cup. She hadn’t been the one shocked by a pierced penis in a hallway first thing in the morning. But then she wrote sex scenes it probably wouldn’t have phased her.
“What the fuck did you do?” Oz demanded.
I winced, and Noa broke into a grin.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “It’s funny though.”
“I sleep naked,” Forge told him, as if that explained it.
“And?”
“I had just gotten out of bed. I forgot I didn’t have on boxers when I opened the door.”
Silence.
Until Noa spit her coffee back into her cup and burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry!” she said. “But this just keeps getting funnier.”
I just wanted everyone to stop talking about it. Turning back around, I smiled at Oz, which was hard because he could be intimidating. Especially when he was scowling. “It wasn’t a big deal. Really. I’ve seen naked men before. It was shocking,” I admitted, then shrugged. “But it’s fine.”
“Fine?” Forge asked, sounding offended. “Pickles, nothing about my naked body is just fine. It’s a work of fucking art.”
My gaze swung to his, and Noa laughed again.
“Jesus,” Oz muttered.
“Why are we talking about Forge’s naked body?” Kash asked, walking into the kitchen. “And a work of art is a bit of a reach there, brother.”
Eh, I don’t know about that, Kash. But I wasn’t about to say anything.
“I can strip down right now if I need to prove my point,” Forge told him.
“Already told you I didn’t want to kill you today,” Ransom reminded him.
Forge rolled his eyes and headed over toward me or the espresso machine. I was frozen and knew I needed to act casual.
“Or you can tell my baby brother how good I look naked.”
I swallowed and let out a nervous laugh that sounded forced. “Uh, um, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
He flashed a cocky grin before reaching past me to take a mug from the cabinet. “Although you didn’t look long enough,” he added quietly.
There was a flutter in my stomach that I hadn’t expected. One that I’d only felt with Calvin. But that was years ago, back when I thought that we might become more. I had long since let that go.
“Bane, Halo, and Hawks come back today,” Oz said.
I wanted to sigh in relief at the subject change. They had planned to return on Monday, but Halo’s horse won, and they’d stayed an extra day to celebrate.
“Linc called a meeting at his place once Bane is back. Info on the issue with Telos.”
I spun back around and looked at him. He glanced at me, then back at his plate as he filled his fork. I wanted him to elaborate, but he didn’t.
“Who’s staying at the house with the girls?” Ransom asked.
“You,” Oz replied.
When no one said more about it, I realized I was going to have to wait until they decided there was something for me to know.
“How are you feeling?” Noa asked Winslet.
“The sick is almost over,” she replied. “That was the hardest part.”
I moved back as Forge took his coffee and went by me to go get a plate. It was really hard not to look at his crotch. I was now curious if I could see how big it was in jeans. I hadn’t looked in that area before. Quickly, I turned to the espresso machine and busied myself with making a cappuccino the way Winslet had shown me.
Fifteen
Forge
It had been a couple of years since anyone had smoked a cigar in this room, but the faint scent still hung in the air. I was sure that Luther still snuck one in from time to time inside the house, but I doubted he did it where Linc could smell it. Once Linc had moved his wife and daughter into the house, all smoking inside had stopped.