Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“Wait, I didn’t say this —”
She hung up the phone before I could counter and I groaned. Of course, she would try to slip that last point in. She wanted me over this weekend and my mind was rushing in with excuses and reasons not to go. I looked over at Kevin, who was devouring his eggs, and I sighed in frustration. I missed my parents more than I could stand. I had to drop out of culinary school and take a job waitressing to support my younger brother and all I got in return was his sassiness. I understood it. He was hurting, just like I was. I didn’t ask anything in return. But man, I really needed a break.
So, I picked up the phone and called Cassie to ask her for a favor.
***
Two Days Later
I found myself looking out the window of the car Crystal had dumped me into. Looking out at all the hustling bodies was a far cry from Poconos, Pennsylvania. The last couple of years had really taken a toll on both my brother and me and I needed this time away. I knew Cassie would plan a lot of things for her and Kevin to do to help him decompress as well. I lost my parents when I was nineteen, but he was only eight.
My heart ached for him as I continued to look out the window of the car.
People were just going about their business. Some were shopping for Christmas gifts, while others were walking hand in hand with their lovers. Me? I was about to get yanked out of the car by my best friend and dragged into a very eclectic and unique shop so I could get an outfit for something called a Whips and Chains Masquerade.
Only in New York, I guessed.
Crystal was squealing and walking through the aisles while I stood there, fingering the fabrics of the very revealing dresses. Was she serious? Did she actually expect me to put myself into one of these and go out into public in it?
I barely even had time for showers, much less sex.
What a weird week this was turning out to be.
“What do you think?”
Crystal came striding out of the dressing room in what could only be described as a red vinyl car seat. She had shiny fabric wrapped around random parts of her body while revealing the parts she really needed to cover up. It barely covered her ass, and it most certainly didn’t do anything to cover her chest. I blushed just looking at her in it.
“You really are a virgin, aren’t you?” she asked, giggling.
It wasn’t that I wanted to be. It was just that I didn’t have any time. I studied hard my first year of culinary school to try and sink my claws into a full-ride scholarship. When my parents passed away and Kevin needed a caretaker, everything else went to the back burner. I didn’t date because of my schoolwork and then I couldn’t date because I needed to work to make ends meet.
So what if I was a virgin?
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” I said.
“You don’t even like girls, and you can’t look at me in this dress. Does it look that bad?” She looked at herself in the mirror, frowning.
“Nope,” I said.
“Then you’re just embarrassed,” she said, grinning.
“Of course, I am. I don’t want to see my best friend’s tits.”
“My nipples are covered!” she exclaimed. “But still, I see what you mean. Time to try on another one. Which ones are you gonna try?”
“None of them,” I said.
“Nope. You’re not leaving until you have an outfit for this party.”
“I didn’t even agree to go to this party,” I said. “You just dragged me out here after springing it on me right after I landed.”
“Trust me,” she said. “You need this just as much as I do.”
“Whatever. You wanna know what I think? I think we’re crazy for doing this.”
Crystal’s cousin, Elizabeth, had popped up in her email inviting us to this stupid party. Crystal kept telling me about how her cousin had been diving into the world of BDSM clubs, and how Crystal had become curious herself. She hit me with two glasses of wine the moment I walked into her penthouse and, an hour later, we were back in her car and driving to this stupid store. She kept talking my ear off about how it was going to be so much fun, and maybe she’d meet some hot guy that would tie her to his bed, and all I could do was gawk.
Tie her to a bed? Was she joking? Excuse me while I laugh hysterically.
“Crystal! That looks fabulous on you!”
“Eli!”
I sighed the moment I heard her voice. Of course, her cousin would find us in this shop.