Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Hot tears stung at my eyes, and I sniffled and rubbed my nose to ward them off. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to give Lucien the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to me. But they came out in a flood anyway, racing down my cheeks faster than I could wipe them. Eventually, I gave up. It was kind of cathartic to let it all out. Because once I finally stopped sobbing, I was only left with the resolve to keep fighting and do even better.
The door jiggled behind me, and I turned to see Lotto and Frankie’s worried faces as they tried to open the locked door. I wiped the remnants of tears from my cheeks and stood, letting them in.
With one glance at my reddened eyes, Frankie knew. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Me first,” I said, certain my smile didn’t reach my eyes. “It’s fine. I dealt with it.”
“I should have been here. He should have been talking to me.”
“He came when I was alone for a reason.”
Frankie raked a hand through his hair. “He practically hung up on me when I told him you were here, and I was on the way.”
“Fucking asshole.” Lotto dragged his fingers over my blotchy cheeks. “I’m sorry, angel. I should have been here, too. But…”
Silence hung like heavy curtains. The ‘but’ was the missing piece of our foursome. Bones. He’d been taking Pinstripe’s shitty record the hardest out of all of us. No matter what we said, he was down in the dumps about it. It didn’t help that he still had the splint on and was unable to do basic things without difficulty.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m a big girl; I can handle it.” When Frankie narrowed his eyes on my red-rimmed eyes, I rolled them. “Big girls can cry, too, you know. It doesn’t mean I’m weak.”
“I definitely wouldn’t call you weak, angel.” Lotto’s smirk held so much more meaning since I’d beaten his ass red. The memory sparked flames in my stomach.
“I’d call you the opposite,” Frankie muttered. “Too strong for your own good. You don’t have to do everything alone.”
“And I don’t need your help with everything either. We’re a team, but I made this bed. I’m the one who rushed us into the decision without a second thought. I need to lie in it.”
“That’s not the bed I want you to lie in.”
“Oh yeah?” I grinned and pushed his shoulder with mine. “What were you thinking? ’Cause I have both a couch and a bed that’s big enough for the four of us. Could we take the day off?”
Frankie chewed on his words for a bit, but when he glanced at Lotto and saw Lotto sported a similarly pleading expression, he sighed.
“Fine. But only one. I’ll tell River and Teo.”
“I’ll go get Bones,” Lotto said. There was a smile on his face as he pulled out his car keys. “Meet you in a bit.”
“Then let’s go, Mr. Chauffeur.” I grabbed Frankie’s arm and squeezed. “And take me to paradise.”
We were a mess of limbs. I wasn’t sure where I ended or where someone else started, but I didn’t care. I was tucked in Frankie’s arms on the couch with someone’s legs thrown over mine. Based on the socks, one was Bones, and the other was Lotto. Our pizza was gone, as was our beer. On the TV, the ending credits of Rocky IV rolled. Lotto clicked it off.
“I think that’s enough Rocky for the night.”
“There’s still two left,” I argued. I didn’t want them to leave just yet. Simply being with my favorite people made me feel so much better.
“But we just watched the best one.” Frankie dragged his hand up my side.
“True.”
“I wish that shit worked out in real life.” Bones sighed. “Rocky would never have beaten Ivan in the Circuit. He’d probably fuck up his hand before the match even began.”
Lotto sighed. “Bones.”
“I’m being serious. This is all my—”
“Don’t even start,” I snapped. I leaned forward enough to flick my finger against his forehead. “No pity parties tonight.”
“Hard not to have one when you can barely take a shower on your own.”
“That’s why I’ve been helping you,” Lotto reminded him.
“Oh?” I grinned. “Helping? How?”
“Oh, you know,” Bones said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
Lotto’s hand came out of the body pile from somewhere. He set it on Bones’ chest and pushed his back flush against his front. Bones gasped and leaned back into Lotto; my sharp intake of breath mixed with Frankie’s low exhalation.
Lotto pushed Bones’ shirt up until his pecs were exposed to the air. “First, I wash all over here.” He dragged his fingers over Bones’ chest and circled around his nipples. “Paying extra attention to his nipples, of course.”
“Of course,” I murmured and leaned back into Frankie.
“Maybe we should follow along with this lesson,” he growled into my ear. Not even a second later, my shirt was up, and my bra was pushed down. Frankie cupped my breasts and traced the same pattern as Lotto until my nipples hardened. His low chuckle masked my pleasured gasp. “Then what, Lotto?”