Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He immediately noticed Elliecomb, my Thoroughbred, tied to a post by the front porch. He stopped and turned to me.
“Yeah, so I was thinking you deserved a day off.”
“Really? And you thought you would just whisk me away on a horse and have your way with me?”
“That sounds about right.” I untied Elliecomb from the post, hopped on, and urged him to get on behind me. I thought he might struggle, but it seemed like he had something to prove in showing me he could do it, and soon he was right behind me, his body tucked close to mine.
“Hold on real tight now,” I told him, and he hooked his arms around me. “That’s all you’ve got? I expected more from you, Cozies.”
He snickered against the back of my neck before pulling even tighter.
“There we go. That’s the way a man needs to be held,” I said, turning so that our noses just barely touched, his lips close to mine, reminding me of those moments I’d shared with his wet mouth.
I let myself enjoy those memories briefly, our gazes meeting long enough for me to realize I’d just been sitting there, staring like an idiot, and I needed to get moving. I led Elliecomb through the property, toward a path in the woods. It had been some time since it’d been cleared, so I was cautious as we made our way through. Cohen made a few comments about the mystery spot we were heading to, but I wasn’t going to tell.
When we finally brought Elliecomb to a stop, I glanced over my shoulder. “Here we go.”
He searched around. “Um…is this where you’re planning to kill me and hide the body?”
I laughed. “Just get down, and I’ll show you.”
He eyed me skeptically but went along with it.
“You got to learn to trust me, No Good Mitchell.”
“I thought we established that I do trust you.”
“Touché.”
I hopped down and led Elliecomb to a tree to tie her to. Cohen was still searching around, as if he was actually wondering if this was where I was planning to hide his body.
“Come on,” I told him, leading him a little farther down the trail, to a tree with bolts sticking out the sides. I indicated the deer stand a couple of yards up, which didn’t seem to curb his skepticism, but he followed me up the stakes that had been nailed up the trunk.
“You could have just asked me to climb up there and jump off, if this is how you’re planning to get rid of me.”
I laughed as we reached the top and crawled onto the planks making up the stand. We had a good bit of space. It’d been made for several people, and there was a blanket, a lantern, and a few other miscellaneous items in the corner.
Cohen caught sight of the creek, his gaze fixed on it before he continued glancing around. “This is a pretty view.”
“One of the best views on the property.”
“Wait a minute,” he said, his expression full of suspicion. “How do you know about this spot? This is Mitchell property.”
“Well, best way to never get caught being up to no good at the O’Ralleys was to be in the last place an O’Ralley would ever look for you.”
“What kind of no good would you be up to?”
“If you’re patient, I’m sure you’ll find out.”
“A straight answer would be nice for a change.”
“Well, I told you I’m having struggles with straight these days.” He shook his head, but I opted to share. “This is where I’d bring girlfriends, and we’d…play around.”
“You’d hook up in here?”
“Well, yes, but usually it was just making out…or a little more. Hindsight, I got the idea when I was out here with a buddy when I was thirteen. We were up here, and he wanted to show me a cool trick he’d learned.”
“What kind of trick?”
“The kind you get at thirteen and never stop playing.”
Cohen threw his head back, releasing a howl of laughter. He was such a strange mix—there was sadness and pain and then this lightheartedness. It was intriguing as hell.
“I thought you said you’d never messed around with a guy before,” he said, his tone playfully accusatory.
“I said I’d never fucked a guy before, which is true.”
“Wow. I’m going to be a lot more specific next time I ask you anything,” he said, grinning and shaking his head. “So you and this guy would come up here all the time and jerk off together?”
“Not all the time, but most of the time.”
“But you never did more than that?”
“No. We didn’t think about it much, other than it feeling good. We were good friends. His name was Buddy, and we’d come up here and do that together. Seemed very innocent. He’d ask me to lick his nipples sometimes. And we’d get our mess on each other because we thought it was funny.”