Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Holy shit,” he breathed out as he looked at the mess he’d made.
I grinned up at him to let him know I loved it, and he smiled back.
He fixed his clothes, then went to get a wet washcloth to clean me up.
“You okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“Very.” I reached for the rag. “Any regrets?”
“No way. That was the hottest thing I’ve ever done, which probably sounds stupid to someone like you because—”
“Someone like me? I haven’t been with that many guys, remember? It was pretty damned hot for me too.”
Henry’s eyes softened. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
He leaned over to cup my face, pressing his lips to mine in the most tender way.
I had the sensation again that I’d never been kissed that way before. Henry Albrecht would ruin me for other guys, and I was doing nothing to insulate myself. And yet I couldn’t seem to stop.
I sat up. “Do you want to head back to the carnival and find our friends?”
He shook his head. “Maybe in a few? Will you…lie with me?”
And fuck, I should’ve said no because that would only make me long for more of this, but I couldn’t turn him down. Or this opportunity. So I just nodded, and once we were dressed, I pushed back toward the headboard. He lay down behind me, cradling me in his arms.
“This is nice,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said around a yawn. “Perfect.”
We dosed a little until a loud noise startled us. Someone was at his door. Henry hopped up just as there was another obnoxious knock.
“You in there, Henners?” Bones asked.
“Fuck, what do we do?” I whispered as he paced in front of the bed.
“Pretend you’re passed out. Just…follow my lead.”
Henry went to open the door before I could reason with him. I shut my eyes as my heart thundered and heard our friends step inside.
“What the hell? You never came back,” Bones said, inside the room now.
“Is Lark okay?” Emil asked, so they must’ve hunted us out as a group.
“Yeah, we, uh, did a shot of Patron and he passed out. I didn’t know what to do, so I let him lie there, thinking he might sober up soon.”
To go along with his story, I rubbed my hand over my eyes and said, “Why are you being so loud?”
Flash burst out laughing. “Lightweight, huh?”
“Yeah, I don’t think Lark drinks very much,” Leah said.
“Guess I shouldn’t have encouraged it,” Henry said sheepishly. “But I thought it would be fun.”
“Well, now you have to share,” Flash said as they all hovered around the bed.
“It’s from Spencer’s stash,” Henry said. “He’ll kill me.”
“We’ll replace the bottle,” A-Train said.
“As long as you promise. If he gets mad, it’s all on you.”
Thankfully, there was an actual bottle, which Henry pulled from a drawer. By that time, I was sitting up and trying to pretend I was tipsy.
They took turns with the bottle, and when Bones tried to pass it to me, I waved him off. “No way. That stuff is disgusting.”
They all laughed. I guess my act was working.
We hung out for a bit, which was pretty strange, but it was also kind of cool. Bones loved to tell ridiculous stories, and he was in the middle of one when Spencer came through the door. “Whoa, what the hell is this?”
“A party without you, obviously,” Henry said. “You’re too busy to hang with us.”
“Apparently so.” Spencer’s eyes roamed the room, landing on me against the headboard. Fuck, did he notice something out of place, or was it just odd that I was on Henry’s pillow? “Hey, that’s my booze.”
“They promised to replace it,” Henry said.
“You better.” He yawned and stretched. “Is your party over? I’m exhausted.”
“She tired you out, huh?” Flash said, and Bones pumped his eyebrows.
“My lips are sealed. Now get out.”
We all filed out of the room, and I tried not to focus too much on Henry as I said my goodbyes. I didn’t want it to feel awkward, even though it definitely was all the way around.
Once outside, the cool air hitting my face felt good.
“Feeling better?” Justin asked, concern in his eyes.
I nearly forgot why he was asking. “Yeah, totally fine now.”
“The same thing happened with the weed last time, right?” Emil asked.
“Yeah, so I probably shouldn’t partake anymore.”
“Nah, just sleep over more,” Emil said. “So you don’t have to leave until the morning.”
“Or build up your tolerance,” Bones added.
Ugh, I forgot he would be headed back with us to their room.
We parted ways with Justin and Leah, then walked to Emil’s room. We were all tired and dragging, so we were pretty quiet on the way upstairs.
We took turns using the bathroom to get ready for bed, and when it was Bones’s turn, Emil and I slid under his covers and he cut the light near his bed. Yeah, it felt strange to sleep beside him, but there was no other option and I was too tired to care.