Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Well, fuck.
I didn’t need to see his expression to know he wasn’t buying what we were selling. But I stopped the video and slowly turned my shoulders so I could give him my attention.
His eyes were piercing and full of animosity as he glared back at me. He disliked everything about this situation. How I was in her room, and why we were weirdly sitting on the floor behind her bed, and that she’d lied about what we were doing.
But he didn’t have any proof that we’d done something wrong.
We’d followed his rules. The door had been left obnoxiously wide open.
“I think it’s time for Preston to head home.” It wasn’t a request from him. This was a decree.
“What? Why?” Confusion drove her focus to the clock on the nightstand. “It’s early. My curfew isn’t for another ninety minutes.”
Curfew?
Sweet Jesus. The poor girl.
Mr. Novak shifted on his feet and put a hand on his waist. “I need him to move his car so I can back out of the garage.”
As far as lies went, it was plausible—but this reason was also bullshit.
When we’d returned from mini-golf, I’d made sure to keep my Charger to one side of their wide, long driveway, and I’d also parked more than a car’s length away from the garage. There was plenty of room to back out.
Unless the asshole didn’t know how to drive.
“Where are you going?” She sounded just as skeptical as I felt.
“The store.”
Hmm. So descriptive and believable.
“For what?” she demanded.
His story was likely as true as when she’d said we were just watching videos, but I couldn’t exactly call her dad out on it.
But I could make him uncomfortable.
Thank fuck I’d worn this pair of shorts tonight. The canvas was thick and heavy, meaning my flagging erection would be pretty easy to hide. I set the pillow aside, and as I stood, I dug my car keys out of my pocket and used that as an excuse to adjust myself while my back was facing him.
“It’s okay.” I turned toward the door and the man lurking there and forced casualness into my voice. “I’m ready to call it a night, anyway.”
“You are?” She sounded surprised and disappointed, and I got that. I would have rather stayed where we were, too, but now her cockblocking dad was here, and I was sure he’d find other reasons to come upstairs and interrupt us if I stayed.
And finding out she had a curfew? Well, that ruled out her coming over to my place tonight because I didn’t want to rush things. I couldn’t do that if I was worried about getting the good girl home in time.
I leveled my gaze at Mr. Novak. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
He stared right back at me dead in the eye. “Great. I’ll walk you out.”
I nodded and offered my hand to help Sydney up from the floor, but she stared at it like the conversation had moved too fast for her.
“Thanks for dinner,” I said. “It was awesome.”
She seemed conflicted. She was pleased I’d enjoyed her food, but she was unhappy I was leaving, and she sighed before finally accepting my offered hand.
“You’re welcome.” As soon as I had her pulled to her feet, a smile ghosted across her lips. “Thanks for letting me win at golf.”
Her comment landed a direct hit, and I chuckled.
If the roles had been reversed, I would have said the same thing to her, and fuck me. It made me hot for her all over again. And it also made a devious idea pop into my head. I didn’t just want to make Mr. Novak uncomfortable . . .
I wanted to go for the jugular.
My hand tightened on hers, holding her in place as I leaned in and planted a kiss square on her lips. She was too stunned to move, and it was unclear who was more surprised by what I’d done—her or her dad.
When I pulled back, her eyes were hazy and unfocused, and it sort of looked like my kiss had left her drunk. I shouldn’t have liked that idea, but warmth rolled through my chest.
“Talk to you later,” I said.
Her voice was uneven, still adrift. “Yeah.”
Mr. Novak was silent as he marched down the steps, but he wordlessly demanded I follow him. His swift feet carried him toward the front door, and I had to move at a fast clip to keep up.
Shit, this guy couldn’t wait to be rid of me. He jerked the door open and then set the full force of his disapproving glare on me.
“Just friends, huh?” he said bitterly.
I nodded, and since he threw our lie in my face, I did the same to him right before ducking outside. “Have fun at the store.”
I’d barely hit the first porch step when I heard the door shut behind me, and a grin burned across my lips. Once I was seated behind the wheel of my Charger, I thumbed out a text message to Sydney.