Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I place my hand onto his, forcing it higher while keeping my eyes on his.
The corners of his jaw jump when he clenches, casting a quick glance over my shoulder, no doubt to Dion.
“What?” I look around at all of them.
Sparrow hides his laughter behind his hand, but I don’t miss the look they’re all passing around. Dion rolls his lips between his teeth to hide his amusement, and I shift to see Malyk with the same void look but a hint of a crooked smile from beneath his hoodie.
“Why do I feel like a scolded child right now?”
Dion bursts out laughing, stepping backward, and reaching into his back pocket, taking out a rolled joint. “That’s the keyword for tonight.” Snatching the bottle of milk from the counter along with a pack of Oreos, he heads down the hallway to where the sitting room is.
I turn back to Sparrow. “What?”
Sparrow shifts, looking up at Malyk before back to me, just as Malyk finally releases my thigh from his grip. “A child, Shiloh. Until next week, you’re basically still a minor.”
“A what?” I stare at both him and Malyk since Dion has already dipped out of this conversation. “Last I checked, I’m old enough to fuck.”
“—when you’re eighteen,” Sparrow corrects, though his inner thigh brushes up against my leg, and my cheeks flush with heat. I swear I feel my brain frying just by the build-up alone.
“Really?” I ask blandly, looking between the two of them.
Malyk flashes me a devious smile, one that makes the two dimples on either cheek pop. Malyk reminds me of an inferno. Pretty to look at from afar, but if you get close, he’ll turn you to ash.
“Well, I’m not opposed to it.”
He stumbles back slightly, and a red smudge on his cheekbone catches my eye.
I reach forward to touch it, but he counters my step, and all that playfulness he had moments before—the first I’ve seen in days—is gone in a flash. His mouth drops to a flat line before he stumbles down the same way he came.
And then it is just two again.
“You’re awful. You knew what you were doing.”
Sparrow barks out a laugh, his head tilting backward. He zeros in on me, his eyes turning heavy. “Oh, what…who said we weren’t going to play with you a bit?”
I snatch my towel off the counter, brushing through the back sliding doors in the dining room. “Oh, and by the way?” I turn over my shoulder and stare him up and down. “I’ve been fucked before, Sparrow. Many times. And guess what you and he have in common?”
His smile disappears instantly, and his eyes darken. He scowls at me.
“Absolutely nothing, because he didn’t give a fuck.”
I slam the door closed behind me and stomp down the sandy steps. As soon as my toes touch the sand, I breathe out a sigh. I’m aware of how much pent-up energy I’m using, but I can’t seem to figure out what part of my current situation it’s coming from.
Scooping up my surfboard that Cooper brought for me from home, I take the quick trip onto the shore. The house is directly on the beach, so aside from the small fence that lines the front yard and separates the beach from the property, everything is right there.
Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply. I feel the muscles in my shoulders relax as the sun sets over my skin. I feel the loss of my mother so deep in my chest that I know it’s a problem that I haven’t addressed my feelings. For the first time in my life, I don’t know how to control what is happening. I feel like a train stuck on the same track.
“Hey, baby.” Cooper’s voice breaks through the serenity of the waves crashing and the salty air losing itself in the strands of my hair.
“Hey.” I run my hands up and down my arms.
I know Cooper wants to ask me a billion questions, all which I’m sure involve the three red flags inside, and under any other circumstance, he would. But the thing about Cooper is that he will always be a friend before anything else.
He grabs me from around my waist, dumping his board near our feet. “I went into your room this morning and saw you weren’t there.”
I watch as his eyes dance over the soaring sunrise before resting back down on me.
“You good?” The worry lines between his brows pierce a dagger through my heart.
“Are you asking about Mom, or because of the fact that I have somehow landed in the middle of a trio I’m not sure I’m cut out for?” I pause, yanking my board out of the sand and slowly making my way to the ocean. I dip my toe into the water, and a smile touches my lips.