Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Yara’s beautiful green eyes widen as she looks at me. Looking at her just feels so right. Here. This is where I’m meant to be.
“W-who?” she whispers.
“You, Yara,” I say, leaning in. She opens her mouth slightly, ready for what she knows I want. And what I want is to kiss her - to kiss those beautiful, juicy lips. But I can’t. Not yet. “But I can’t have you.”
“What!?” she gasps. “Lyle, why? Do you think I don’t like you? Because I—”
“No.” I smile. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” She looks hurt, confused. And that’s the last thing I want for her. I reach out and take her hand in mine. I can see it comforts her, but it only makes holding back on my part even harder.
“I’m still with Delilah, Yara,” I reply. “Technically. If I were to make a move on you right now, I’d be a cheater, and I don’t want you to think of me that way. Understand?”
A tiny smile and sense of relief fills her gorgeous face. She nods her head. “I understand.”
“Do you have any plans tomorrow night?”
She smiles at the silliness of my question and shakes her head. “I did, but I could move them if you had something in mind…”
“Well, I was thinking that tomorrow night, you and I could go out for dinner.”
Her blush deepens. “Are you sure you can make that work, Lyle?”
I nod, stroking the red on her cheek. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I’ll make it work. But first, let me explain to you why I’ve been with her in the first place.”
5
Yara
My alarm wakes me, and I open my eyes to the two glowing squares of light on my ceiling that are there every morning from the sun that comes through my windows. For some reason, they seem brighter today as I get up and go to the bathroom to start my morning routine.
Going to dinner with Lyle tonight, I think as I shower. I couldn’t be more excited, but I also don’t see how he’s going to make that happen. Delilah is my boss, and he also lives with her. I live right next door to the house he shares with her, and they’re in a relationship that he’s been forced into by the local drug kingpin.
Part of me was so relieved when he told me the story of how her father came to him and forced them into dating, as it meant he never was into her in the first place, but another part of me now wonders how in the world he’s going to ever leave her.
But he said he would make it work, so I guess I’ll take his word for it.
I want to make myself look extra nice today, but I know that will only raise questions at work. Delilah will want to know why I’ve put in all the effort, who it’s for, and then I’ll have to start lying to her, and that’s the last thing I want to do while juggling all my other responsibilities.
So I put on my normal work clothes and start walking. I figure I’ll come back and change once my shift is done. I’m going to want another shower then anyway to get the smell of the diner off me.
I can’t stop thinking about Lyle the whole way there. He was this close to kissing me last night, and I was totally ready to let him. His eyes had me hypnotized. The way he was slow-walking toward me, speaking slowly, charming like a prince…I would have let him do whatever he wanted to.
But when I think about how he held back, I can’t help but smile. A warm, fuzzy feeling fills me up inside.
“If I were to make a move on you right now, I’d be a cheater, and I don’t want you to think of me that way.”
Those were his words to me, and I realize just how right he was. If he had kissed me then, no doubt it would have been incredible. But I would have always had that thought in the back of my mind that if he was able to cheat on Delilah, he’d have been able to cheat on me.
So what if he wasn’t with her voluntarily? It still shows a lot of character for him to break up with her first.
The fact that he waited just means that when our lips finally meet, it’s going to be so much sweeter.
When I get to work, I don’t even have to go inside to know that something’s wrong; I can hear Delilah screaming at the back of house from outside.
“What are these dishes? These look clean to you? We’re serving people here, Nate! Not pigs! And Max, I thought I told you to have the soup ready an hour before lunch? Andy, you’re supposed to remind him of that, aren’t you? You’ve been here the longest.”