Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“I know. Monroe and I went to Gatlinburg with a few friends from school for a couple of days before we came home.”
“Stop hogging her.” Maddox pulls Emerson from Lachlan before she’s then passed to Legend, and then there’s me.
I’m not a complete asshole. At least I try not to be where she’s concerned. Just asshole enough to keep my distance. Not greeting her like the others would be noticeable, so I stand and hold my arms open.
“Hey, Rome,” she whispers.
Is it just me or is there something different in her eyes when she looks at me? She steps into my embrace and wraps her arms around my waist. I release her quickly and take my seat by the fire, just like the others. The only difference is that I didn’t want to let her go.
Fuck, she feels good in my arms.
“How’s school?” I need to ask the question to remind myself that she’s too damn young for me.
She smiles. “Good. I’m almost through the first year of my major.”
“Surgical Tech, right?” I already know because I pay attention to her, even when I want everyone to think that I don’t.
“Yeah, I wish I would have decided that my first year.”
“You have plenty of time to join the workforce of society,” Forrest tells her. “Just enjoy college life.”
“Maybe don’t enjoy it too much,” Maddox adds, making her laugh.
“I already have one overprotective big brother,” she reminds him.
Maddox shrugs. “You have five, Em. This isn’t recent news.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I was here and that I’m going to bed.”
“You sure you don’t want to stay and join us?” Forrest offers.
“Nah, I’m going to read for a little while before bed. Night.” She bends down and kisses Forrest on the cheek.
“Night, Em,” he says as she retreats into the house.
“Have you heard from your parents?” Legend asks Forrest.
“Nah, not since the day Emerson turned eighteen, and I moved her out. She doesn’t reach out to them either.”
We’re all quiet as we let that sink in. Out of the five of us, Forrest had it the worst. His parents were never really parents to either him or Emerson.
Maddox starts talking about scouting for a new location, and we get lost in shop talk. We’ve grown so much, and the current building we’re in needs a lot of work. We’re tossing around the idea of renovations or a new facility altogether. It’s a big step, but one we all agree we need to take. We just have to decide in what direction we want to go. We could rent the building or sell it and use that money to put toward the new one.
“I say we go new,” Legend speaks up.
“Yeah, the sale or rent will help with the new place,” I agree.
“Vote?” Forrest asks. “Raise of hands for a new location.” All five of us raise our hands. “Well, there we have it. Let’s start looking for a new building or land. Do we all agree that we want to stay in Ashby?”
Again, we all agree. There might not be much in our small hometown, but it’s ours, and most of us have family here that we don’t want to leave.
“I gotta take a shit.” Lachlan stands and tosses his empty bottle of beer into the recycling bin we moved out here next to the fire. Makes cleaning up a hell of a lot easier. We’ve learned over the years.
“Spray!” Forrest calls after him.
“I gotta piss,” I grumble.
“Just use my bathroom upstairs in my room,” Forrest tells me. “It’s too fucking cold to piss out here. Your dick might fall off.”
I stand and amble my way to the back door. He’s right. Once you step away from the fire, the chill in the air hits you.
I shiver as I pull open the patio door and step into the warm house. I hear the exhaust fan going in the half bath downstairs as my foot lands on the first step. I keep my steps light, not wanting to bother Emerson if she’s already asleep.
Once I reach the landing, I see a soft glow of light coming from her room. The door is cracked open. There’s a small enough opening that I could look through, but I talk myself out of peeking inside, until I hear my name. At least, I think I hear my name.
I freeze. I’m not even sure if I’m breathing as I listen.
“Rome.” A soft, breathy moan greets my ears, and my cock is instantly hard as steel.
I know that this is wrong. All. Kinds. Of. Wrong. However, the temptation is too strong. I have to know. I have to bear witness to what’s going on behind that door.
Cautiously, I take another step and peek inside. And what I see—fuck me, I’ll never be able to unsee it.