Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
It’s been eight years, and the chasm of time between us feels wider. She’s not a little girl anymore, and I’m no scrawny teen. How did I not recognize her? Her likeness is obvious as I look at her now, and the day we discovered she’d moved out with her dad comes back to me like a slap. At the time, her departure had trawled up memories of the house’s emptiness after Dad died. For the second time, I was engulfed by an echo that lingers with sudden absence, like the house held the scar of the previous occupant even though they were gone. Riley hadn’t lived with us for long, but it was enough for me to miss her when she wasn’t there anymore.
Riley.
She looks so different now: confident, put together—the same face but with a womanliness that’s sharpened some edges and softened others. Watching her feels illicit, but I take my time, following her a little to soak her up. Riley’s here. Hayes was right. She’s real and so fucking hot.
The sway of her hips swells my dick again, and I lick the center of my lips, remembering her in her one-piece and how gracefully she glided through the water. Trying to pull together the memory of the nerdy girl we lived with and this woman, who’s flipping my switches in a way I doubted my body was capable of, is unnerving. Gone is the apathy when I think about sex. My arousal swells easily when she’s my focus. How the fuck does that work?
Maybe it’s the hint of the familiar leftover from eight years ago.
Or maybe it’s just that she’s what I’ve always preferred. Pretty in a fresh, natural way, with a body the polar opposite of mine: soft, curvy, delicate, sweet. I’ve always had a thing for girls with some meat on their bones, but most of the skate chasers that are jumping at the prospect of taking my dick aren’t like that.
Maybe it’s that Riley ticks boxes I haven’t been addressing. Her sassiness and humor tickled me, and her immediate rejection of Jacob was strangely intriguing.
Before I take the time to think through my actions, I cut across the quad, slipping into my easy smile as I get close. Glancing over her shoulder, I find Riley is checking out a ridiculous hockey channel called Icing the Cake. I only know about it because one of the girls I fucked recently played me an episode about Jacob. I haven’t shared it with him yet because I don’t want to piss him off before a game. The dude hasn’t been himself for the past few days and could do without facing more criticism.
“You don’t have to look for me on social media when I’m here in the flesh,” I say, lowering my voice the way girls like.
Riley flinches, glancing up, brow furrowing. Her expression shifts from annoyed to only slightly less annoyed when she recognizes me.
“Shawn Drayton.” She crosses her arms and scrutinizes me like I’m a creature post-dissection. “Quit sneaking up on girls. It’ll get you on the creep shitlist.”
I hold up my hands. “No creeping here. Just thought I’d say hello now I know who you are.”
“Shouldn’t you be prepping for your big hockey game instead of peering over the shoulders of unsuspecting women?”
I chuckle. “Don’t worry, Johnstone. I’ve got it under control. You think I’d be out here wandering the halls of academia if I didn’t?”
Her eyes roll, but there’s the faintest hint of a smirk. “Do you even know how to spell ‘academia?’”
“Ouch.” I press a hand to my chest, playing it up. “Maybe I should tell Coach you compromised me emotionally and sit out tonight’s game.”
“Right.” She slips her phone into her bag, clearly preparing to leave. “Somehow, I doubt a dent to your ego would keep you off the ice.”
She continues walking, and I lengthen my strides to keep up. My ego? Why the fuck is that suddenly a point of discussion?
“Hey, wait up. Why didn’t you tell me who you were at the pool?” I fall into step beside her. “I told you I thought you looked familiar, and you wouldn’t tell me your name. Why?”
“Why should I?”
“Because… well…” I’m stumped for a moment. Am I abnormal for thinking it’s weird she didn’t want us to know who she was? I blame Jacob. He went hard on the seduction if you can call it that, and it pissed her off. Then I made her blush with the outline of my dick. It’s hardly the opening for a heartfelt reunion between ex-sibs. “It’s been eight years. We should catch up sometime. Grab a coffee, talk about life and all that.”
“Life or your dick?” She raises an eyebrow, her gaze skeptical. “We shared a house, Shawn. Not for very long. I barely remember it.”