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)
I shrugged. I would probably be glad to be woken up from whatever nightmare I’d been having. “I don’t mind.”
“I do. Drop that one, Elsie. You won’t win.”
I started to argue anyway when we turned the corner, heading toward the pool area, when all words and thoughts vanished at the sight of Forge. He was standing there, leaning a shoulder against one of the columns that held up the covered area. Dark sunglasses, shirtless, in a pair of athletic shorts that hung loosely on his hips. It was the cigarette between his lips that startled me the most though. I already knew how droolworthy his abs and chest were. I’d not known he smoked. And of course, he even made that sexy. Something I hadn’t thought was possible.
Calvin raised a hand to wave at him. “Hey,” he called out, smiling.
I remained silent. My mouth had gone dry at the sight of him. It had only been days, but felt so much longer. The last time I’d seen him wasn’t a good memory. The closer we got, the more anxious I became. It felt as if his gaze was boring into me, but I couldn’t be sure of that since the glasses covered his eyes. He didn’t respond to Calvin’s greeting, only took the cigarette from his mouth and held it to his side as he remained in his relaxed position.
Letting my gaze travel down his chest, over the artwork displayed across his sculpted form, I realized he was glistening. His hair wasn’t wet, was it? My eyes shot back up to check and see. It seemed slightly damp in places, but more like he’d been sweating rather than swimming.
“Those will kill you,” Calvin told him in a joking tone once we were a few feet away.
“Lotta fucking things will kill me, eventually,” Forge drawled, but it felt as if he were looking directly at me.
Calvin chuckled. “Good point. How’s—”
“Did you eat something?” Forge interrupted whatever Calvin had been about to say.
He was talking to me. We didn’t need to see his eyes to know. The intensity of his stare caused goose bumps to break out down my arms.
“I, uh … yes,” I stammered.
“Brought her favorites,” Calvin stated proudly. “She can’t turn those down.”
Forge didn’t appear to care, or he was just purposely ignoring him. He stood there silently, lifting the cigarette back to his lips. He took an effortless inhale, yet it was slow and deliberate.
“Spoke with Oz this morning.” Calvin continued talking because he wasn’t good with silence. It made him uncomfortable. “He says Elsie can leave soon. We were going to go watch the funeral video. Do you know where we can find it?”
The only sign that Forge had even heard him was the small tic in his jaw and the vein on his neck that suddenly appeared. “You ready for that?” he asked, his tone just on the edge of threatening.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready. But if I was leaving soon, I needed to watch it. Move past that. Accept things. Stop living in this limbo.
“I think it’s time,” I told him, my voice just above a whisper.
“You think it’s time, or he does?” Forge asked pointedly.
I could see Calvin tense up from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t look at him. For starters, taking my eyes off Forge was literally impossible, and secondly, I feared if I even tried to and looked at Calvin, he’d be in danger. Which was probably irrational, but there was a warning going off in my head, and I heeded it. Something was off with Forge. Right now, I wasn’t sure either of us was safe.
“I do,” I replied. That lie was what he needed to hear.
Forge straightened and walked over to the bar to put out his cigarette in an ashtray that sat on the corner, then turned back to me. “Let’s go,” he said.
Again, he wasn’t looking at Calvin, and I wasn’t sure he meant that “let’s” to include him.
“Thanks, man. We appreciate it,” Calvin told him.
Forge started toward the back patio doors. “There’s no we,” he replied. “I’ll be the one taking her to watch it. You can wait out here or in the great room. I don’t give a fuck.”
I glanced up at Calvin, whose gaze swung to me at the same time. He was frowning, clearly confused.
Well, join the club, buddy.
I hadn’t expected that either. Last time I’d seen Forge, he’d shouted at me to go away. Granted, he had been grieving, but still, he’d stayed gone. Not come back once.
I shrugged, but said nothing.
Calvin mouthed, What do you want me to do?
I cut my eyes back at Forge’s muscular back as it flexed with each step. I wanted him. I always wanted him. He wasn’t my best friend. He hadn’t known my parents, but … he eased the bad in a way no one or nothing else had been able to do.