Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
I was on my own, responsible for no one and nothing apart from my own ass, and I would do what I needed to make sure I lived another day.
Tomorrow, I’ll lean my hands against the wall that is Julius, and I’ll push.
Ling returns just after dawn, and the visible relief in Julius’s body language has me furious on the inside.
I woke sometime after sunrise and didn’t bother rousing Julius. Instead, I slid out of bed and moved silently to the bathroom, leaving the door open just a sliver. I showered quickly, noticing that somebody had placed conditioner where there was none the day before. Thanking the heavens, I slathered a whole heap onto my thick hair, massaging it in and leaving it to work for a minute while I soaped up and rinsed off.
After I washed out the conditioner and stepped out of the shower, it was time for me to start pushing.
I took my time drying off with the large bath towel hanging by the shower stall, using the spare as a turban for my wet hair. Making my way to the vanity, I used my hand to wipe off the condensation from the mirror and took a look at myself.
My body was… Well, it wasn’t pleasant. It was damaged in more ways than a person could count, not all injuries visible to the naked eye. Body language had a lot of pull with what I was about to do, and I needed to be tactful.
Wrapping the towel around myself high up on my chest, I spied the toothbrush hanging by the sink and smiled. Running water over it, I put a small amount of toothpaste on it and, still grinning, placed it in my mouth, using it to brush my own teeth. Forcing myself to sober, I called out to him, purposely using the nickname his sister had called him. “Jay?”
He answered immediately, gruffly, letting me know he was well aware of where I was. “Yeah.”
My feet took me to the bathroom door and, with my fingers on the handle, I pulled it open a fraction, sticking my head out to him. My expression neutral, I told him, “I don’t have any underwear.”
He stood without looking at me and left the room. I knew where he was going and, by God, he was going to give me his attention when he returned.
I threw the towel off my head, working my fingers through the long, wavy strands and checking myself in the mirror. The towel around my chest I loosened slightly, just enough to dip into the valley between my breasts. I licked the excess toothpaste off my lips, leaving them glossy and pink.
When he stepped back into the room and turned to leave the clothes in the closet as I had asked the day prior, I called out, “In here, please.”
A moment later, the door opened wider, and his sleep-hooded eyes met mine, widening ever so slightly before moving down, then even farther, to my now-chipped pedicure then up again, resting on my almost non-existent cleavage before reaching my face.
Yeah. Ignore me now, you son of a bitch.
But then a mild look of aggravation crossed him. “That’s my toothbrush.”
I left it in my mouth as I took the clothing offered from his outstretched hand. Holding the bundle in my arms, I blinked innocently at him, removing the blue toothbrush from my mouth before licking my lips clean very, very slowly. “I don’t have one of those either.”
I knew I was attractive. That wasn’t me being a pompous asshole, that was a mere fact. It was just about the only thing I had been complimented on for all the years of my life. Who gave a shit that I got straight As in high school? Not my family. I was always the pretty one, whatever that meant.
It was hard to miss, the way men looked at me. Those looks normally made me uncomfortable. It was the way Julius looked at me at our first meeting at the house, the day Dino was removed from my life, the first time those looks were welcomed. That was the day Julius no longer spared such glances for me, and I would curse it forever.
He would come around.
Hell, he already was.
Pretending I didn’t see the way his eyes roamed me was difficult but I returned to the mirror, no longer looking at him, allowing him to look his fill. “Thanks for the conditioner.”
No response.
“I’m going to need a few things, if you don’t mind.”
Still no response.
“Nothing too fancy, just a razor for my legs and underarms, maybe some female deodorant,” I emphasized, as I took his and liberally sprayed my armpits, “bras, panties, and a pair of scissors so I can cut my hair.”
The buzz of anger in the air had me forcing down a knowing grin. I was intentionally being a brat. I wanted a reaction, and I wasn’t at all prepared for the one I was about to get.