Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
After Kenji and I disconnected, I splashed some water on my face, ran a hand through my hair, and pulled on some clothes. I made a point of not looking at the bed as I walked through the bedroom on my way out of the suite.
Rowe appeared in the doorway of the second bedroom with a towel slung around his waist and a shy smile on his face. “Hey! Just let me throw on my clothes, and I’ll be ready for our next adventure, okay?”
He walked back into the bedroom, and I stared after him, too busy admiring the way the towel dipped over his luscious ass to process his words for a long moment. Then…
“Wait. You’re coming with me? To Philly?” I trailed after him.
“Sure. You said we had all night, right? Still looks like night to me. Besides, you looked like you could use a friend or at least a distraction.” Rowe grabbed a shirt from the open suitcase triumphantly and turned toward me. His sunshine grin fell the moment he saw my face. “Or maybe not. Oh, god, I’m such a dork.” He rolled his eyes. “You’ll already have friends there. What would you need me for? Never mind. I’ll just catch the train back to New York in a little while. And I, uh… I’ll settle up for the room in a couple weeks, if that’s—”
I stepped across the room and took his face in my hands so he would have to meet my eyes. “Please come. I’d love your company. I figured a middle-of-the-night trip to a Philadelphia police station wasn’t on anyone’s adventure bucket list, and I didn’t want you to feel obligated—”
Rowe lurched forward and kissed me. It was awkward, with bumped noses and lips pinched between teeth, but it was real and heartfelt and… and definitely not casual.
“I’m not ready to say goodbye yet,” he admitted, and hearing him speak my thoughts aloud made my heart squeeze painfully. “Besides, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but ordinary stuff just becomes an adventure when you’re around. You’re kinda magic that way.”
I was pretty sure it was the other way around.
I kissed him again because I couldn’t help it, savoring the flavor of toothpaste and Rowe. I was very, very close to tumbling Rowe into the bed and letting my idiot friends figure out their own shit, but finally, I set a hand on his chest and pulled my lips away reluctantly. “My dick wants to stay here very badly and continue this conversation with you in bed, but we need to go.”
Yet we both watched my fingers trace down his chest, over the smooth skin of his lean stomach toward the knot in his towel. Rowe’s breathing hitched, and he turned those big brown eyes up at me. “Bash?”
“Fuck.” I stepped further away, out of touching distance.
Rowe gave me a wry smile.
“Later,” I promised, though I still had no fucking idea how that was going to work.
Once we were dressed, we gathered up our things and met the driver out front of the inn. “Sorry to wake you, Morris.”
The older man held out a tray with two cups of coffee while taking a third for himself. “As soon as Kenji texted, I figured we’d be bailing those two knuckleheads out.”
“Again,” I muttered, taking the tray and offering one of the cups to Rowe.
We huddled together in the back seat of the car as it made its way down the driveway and into the deserted country roads of early morning.
“Does this kind of thing happen often?” Rowe asked hesitantly.
I huffed out an almost-laugh. “Me making midnight rescues? No. Kenji usually takes care of it. Landry getting into trouble, though? That’s pretty common. And Zane…” I hesitated, but if Rowe was coming with me, there’d be no way to keep certain things a secret. More than that, I didn’t want to. I wanted Rowe to know about as much of my life as I could share, even if it wasn’t wise. I took a sip of coffee and casually asked, “You know Zee Barlo?”
“Uh, yeah. I made you listen to ‘The Solo Hour’ on the way to the hotel earlier, remem— wait.” Rowe’s eyes got wide, and he shifted in his seat to face me, his whole body practically humming. “Are you telling me Zee Barlo is your college friend Zane? You actually know him? Bash!” He thumped my arm lightly. “You scoffed when I played you that song.”
I snorted and ran a hand through my hair. It was funny which things actually got Rowe excited. Powerful socialites, ritzy galas, untold wealth? Meh. But give the man a good snack mix, show him an old desk, or tell him you knew an up-and-coming musician and watch him come alive.
“Zane was a business major in a previous life.” I stared out the darkened window of the car and couldn’t help smiling as I remembered how buttoned-up he’d been freshman year. “That was his grandmother’s influence. She wanted him to be a banker or a lawyer. Something stable. But music has always been Zane’s passion, so that’s what he devoted himself to after we—uh…” I bit my tongue. Jesus. I’d been about to say after we sold ETC and just casually break a secrecy promise I’d sworn to the brotherhood. I was tired, and Rowe was dangerously easy to talk to, but I knew my friends wouldn’t consider those good excuses. “After we graduated.”