Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
My lips pull into a hard line. “Then no. I would be curious as to who you were spending your time with and what you thought you could possibly get from him that you couldn’t get from me. However, we are not exclusive, and if you feel the desire to roam, then that’s your business.”
Her gaze falls to my chest, her stare somehow more uneasy than before, but that doesn’t make sense. I gave her the answer she was looking for. She should be thrilled that I wouldn’t stand in her way if she wanted to look for another man to fulfill those raging needs of hers. Yet the hollowness in her stare leaves me baffled.
I’ve spent a long time reading people, studying their every movement, learning their desires, and the look in her eye has me completely at a loss.
“What’s the time?” she asks.
My gaze shifts above her head to the clock on the wall behind her, and I immediately drop my stare back to her, trying to get a better read. “Almost eight.”
“Shit,” Tilly murmurs. “I have to go. I have plans with Chloe.”
She’s lying again. She just wants an escape, and I immediately take her hips and lift her off the counter before settling her on her feet and making sure she’s balanced. “Are you sure everything is okay?” I ask. “Nothing’s really on your mind?”
Tilly forces a smile, and as she looks up at me, I can’t help but feel that this is some fucked-up version of goodbye. “Everything’s great,” she tells me, pushing up on her tippy toes and pressing a kiss to my cheek. “It’s just been a weird night, but I’ll talk to you later. Let me know when you want to head down to Vixen next, and I’ll be there.”
With that, Tilly starts to sashay away, heading for the stairs to get her clothes, and as she leaves, a strange desperation pulses through my veins, and I find myself frantically trying to clutch onto something that wasn’t mine to start with.
All I can do is stare after her, not understanding what the hell is going on. She stops at the bottom of the stairs and glances back at me with the deepest curiosity in her bright green stare. “Hey, remember the other night at Vixen when we saw that woman with the three men down in the VIP room?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling an unwelcome tightening in the pit of my stomach.
Something sparks in her eyes, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s some kind of challenge. Then, as a wicked smile stretches across her face, those bright eyes flash with mystery. “Set it up.” And with that, she’s gone.
16
TILLY
Making my way into my apartment, I find my favorite little blowhole sprawled out on our new couch, and I can’t lie, Zeph knows how to pick out a good couch. Over the past week, Chloe and I haven’t been able to keep off it, even fighting over who gets to spend more time on it.
“Come on,” I tell her, striding straight through to my room and diving into the messy array of clothes in my closet. “We’re going out and getting fucked up.”
“Oooh, now we’re talking,” Chloe says as I hear her pulling herself up from the couch and striding into my open bedroom door. “But what’s going on? I thought you’d be spending your night playing the role of Zephyr’s slutty new step-mommy.”
A stupid grin pulls across my lips. She has no idea just how right she almost is. “I was kinda planning on that, but then things got weird, and now Zeph knows about Caesar, and he stormed off after trying to turn the whole situation into a pissing contest. Naturally, Caesar couldn’t back down and made a point of showing Zeph that he knows how to make me come better than Zeph ever could, and it just . . . weird.”
Chloe just gapes at me, her eyes wide as her jaw hangs open. “Uhhh . . . What? I’m going to need a little more than that, because what the hell do you mean he made a point of showing him? You mean like an actual demonstration?”
I nod. “Yep. Right there in the middle of the kitchen.”
Her eyes widen even more, and the way her mouth drops open even further makes her look like one of those stupid clowns at a fair that you shovel ping-pong balls into its mouth and hope like fuck you can win one of those giant soft toys that are bigger than your whole damn body. “Holy shit. In the kitchen? And you actually came?”
“What do you think? It’s Caesar. He could sneeze at me, and I’d come before begging for more.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly, but if I’m being honest, that’s not what’s got me feeling like I need to get fucked up,” I tell her, struggling with my closet before deciding just to keep Zeph’s shirt on before pairing it with my favorite ripped jeans. They’re old, but they hug my curves just right.