Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
God was good.
As I dipped the plunger into the toilet, the water breached the rim and ran down the sides onto the floor, along with soggy toilet paper and a turd. “Crap, uh crud.” I wrinkled my nose, quickly jumping back to avoid getting my shoes wet.
“Oops,” Josh mumbled, eyes wide and unblinking.
I glanced over my shoulder at his guilty face.
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.” It was all his fault, but I didn’t want to make him cry.
Leaving the plunger in the toilet, I lifted Josh off the counter and abandoned the mess. “Let’s go back to your house.”
He took off running when I set him down outside our front door. I jogged after him through the orchard, down a hill, and up another.
“Hey, did you get a snack?” Kyle asked, closing the back of the moving truck.
“I pooped,” Josh said.
Kyle looked at me, biting his lower lip and shaking his head.
“And the water went up up up.” Josh pressed his hands to his cheeks and made an O with his lips.
Kyle’s gaze flitted between us.
I found my fake smile like it was no big deal, like my dad wouldn’t come home to a mess on the bathroom floor. It wasn’t the first time I’d abandoned a clogged toilet. But it was just the first time it wasn’t my fault.
“He clogged the toilet?” Kyle asked.
Pressing my lips together, I nodded.
Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m so sorry. Did you get it unclogged?”
“Of course,” I chirped.
“No. We ran,” Josh called me out before sprinting into the house and leaving me alone with Kyle.
With a nervous laugh, I shook my head. “We didn’t run. It’s fine.”
“I feel really bad,” Kyle said, sliding his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “You did me a favor and got way more than you bargained for. I’m—”
“It’s fine.” I waved it off because he was so hot, handsome, sexy, and every other word that described the man of my dreams. We didn’t need to discuss runaway turds when I wanted to know if he liked younger women who had a penchant for trouble, enjoyed a few drinks, and thought nonstop about sex.
“Well, if you ever need help with math …” He didn’t finish.
I forced my gaze to his face, and he smirked. Was he making fun of me?
“Or any other favors. I owe you one.” He winked.
Heat crawled up my neck, so I looked away and tightened my ponytail. I was not the butt of anyone’s joke, no matter how hot they were. “What if you tell my mom you need a babysitter tomorrow night.” I pulled my shoulders back and slipped my fingers into my back pockets.
“But I don’t.”
“Even better.” I returned my version of a smirk, but I didn’t go so far as to wink.
“You’re grounded,” he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck like he just remembered what my mom had said.
I nodded.
Kyle twisted his lips. “You want me to lie for you?”
“Lie is such an ugly word. I like your word better.”
He chuckled, gazing at the ground between us. “What’s my word?”
“Favor. Let’s not think of it as a lie. Let’s think of it as the favor you just promised me.”
“Aiding and abetting?”
I laughed. “Abetting implies you’re encouraging me. So just aiding.”
Kyle’s eyebrows peaked.
“Just because I didn’t understand the inversion function of the cosine doesn’t mean I don’t know what abetting means.” I learned the meaning of that word a few weeks earlier in a movie.
“Arccosine is the inversion function of the cosine,” Kyle said.
I rolled my eyes.
“What are your plans for tomorrow night?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Yes. It matters. I can’t aid you if you plan on doing something your parents don’t want you to do.”
“My parents don’t want me to leave the house, laugh, or have an original thought.”
He narrowed his eyes for a few seconds and smirked. “What did you do to get grounded?”
“Does it matter?”
He slowly nodded. “Yeah, it matters.”
I sighed. “I had a few drinks.”
“Driving?”
I shook my head. “By the creek.” I gestured to my right.
“Are you going to drink tomorrow night?”
“No.”
Maybe.
“Drugs?” he asked.
I grinned. “No.”
“Unprotected sex?”
All the blood in my body surged to my head until I felt my pulse in my burning cheeks. Was he making me an offer? “I’m a preacher’s daughter. What do you think?”
His smile beamed. He was so sexy. “If you hadn’t confessed to drinking by the creek, I would have assumed you were a rule-follower. A perfect angel. But I’m getting more of a rebel vibe now.”
“Pfft. Angels are just rebels in disguise. I’m going to the bowling alley with friends. We bowl between memorizing Bible verses and exclusively snack on Gold Fish, Animal Crackers, and grape juice as a nod to Jesus.”
Something on Kyle’s face changed as he paused before responding. He rubbed his fingers over his mouth but grinned anyway. Then, his fingers curled into a fist as he laughed. “Eve …” he said, shaking his head.