Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“How’s work?” he asked as the kids took off toward the tunnels again. “We definitely need a night out soon.”
“You should come to the Playground,” I replied, eating Hailey’s last untouched nugget before gathering up our trash. “The weekends are a madhouse, but the Underground is more sedate, if that’s what you’re after.”
“I could actually use some madness,” he said, rising halfway when his son fell over and seemed to struggle to get to his feet. Hailey grabbed his hand, and they skipped off toward the pit of plastic balls that were probably germy as hell. But all these places were; no way to avoid it except to use tons of sanitizer before we got back in the car.
“Well, then weekend nights might work best for you.” I’d mentioned the bar to him before, and though they had yet to show up, I’d totally keep encouraging Craig and Danny to hire a sitter and have a night out. It would probably do them wonders. If it were me, I’d want a quiet dinner followed by a movie, where I could totally zone out, but to each his own.
“Chet still making you go all Coyote Ugly on the bar top?” he asked with a grin. Chet was Craig’s cousin, and Craig was probably the one who’d given him the heads-up that I was in a bad way and needed a better job. He’d never admit it, but I’d always suspected randomly running into Chet was too much of a coincidence.
“Yep. Brings in the biggest crowd,” I grumbled, even though I knew that translated into better tips, and I’d always be grateful for that. This job was helping me get out of debt, no doubt.
“Still having you dance with pretty boy—what was his name—Jesse?”
Crap, I’d forgotten I mentioned Jesse to him weeks ago, probably in utter frustration. I dipped my head, my cheeks heating as I remembered the other night in the storage room.
Are you going to suck me or not, brat?
Even a week out, I could not stop thinking about railing Jesse in the bar’s storage room. How my cock stretched those pink lips, how goddamn hot his ass was, and then all his noises, as if he loved having me inside him… Christ. I’d come with my own hand twice in the shower because it was hard to keep from reliving it. All that pent-up frustration had made it one of the best fucks of my life.
Imagine what it would be like to take your time with him…
Nope. Hell no.
“Okay, spill,” Craig said, studying me.
“Wh—what’ya mean?” I tried to deny I was totally in my own head, that I wasn’t thinking about Jesse, but I could never get anything past Craig. Even when he was distracted with parenting, he’d make sure to follow up next time. I had a horrible poker face, apparently.
“There’s something you’re not saying.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. But what did I have to lose? We’d always shared shit with each other, and maybe he’d have a fresh point of view.
“Still frustrating as hell.”
Craig smirked. “But also really hot?”
Now he just sounded like Chet. “Yeah,” I admitted. “Unfortunately.”
“So what’s the problem?” he asked, standing to keep a better eye on the kids, who were now back in the tunnels. “Just fuck already and get him out of your system.”
Damn it. It felt like a boulder was lodged in my throat. It was hard to admit the truth about something you regretted. Well, mostly.
I grimaced, remembering how we got locked inside and had to be rescued, and how I’d been getting the side-eye from practically everyone all week long. Thankfully, I’d only passed Jesse in the break room once this week, so no small talk was required. But I knew it was coming, probably tonight, and the idea of it made my stomach feel unsettled. “Problem is, I already did, and now I don’t know what to do.”
“Holy shit.” Craig sank back down in his seat, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. I was normally wound pretty tight, so I could understand the shock from hearing I had finally let someone get under my skin again. “Okay, details. I’m already an old married man—at least I feel like one.”
I sighed and sat back in my chair. “It was totally spur-of-the-moment after our shift one night, and also freaking hot.”
He whistled low. “So…a possibility for something more?”
“No way. Screwing is one thing, and I already have to see him a couple of times a week.”
He slurped the end of his drink, then pitched it in the garbage bin behind our table. “What is it about him that makes you so crazy?”
I’d been thinking a lot about this the past few nights. The dude was obviously infiltrating my thoughts and messing with my head. “Remember Steve? How he was so confident and threw his money around, but it was all just a facade for his gambling problem?”