Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Seconds later a smirk quirked the corner of his mouth.
A. Smirk.
“I’m guessing he came back.”
I twisted my neck to keep from snapping his.
“Chandler meet Beau. Beau, Chandler.” Who cared what his name was?
“How did it happen? Did he just show up or did you know he was coming?” Chandler asked, eyeing me as critically as I eyed him. Whatever that meant.
“It’s only been since last night,” Dash said, casually stacking his travel gear neatly together on the end of the bed, seemingly oblivious to the tension. “I’ve planned to spend a few days away. We’ll be back Thursday morning.”
“Huh. So it’s picking up where you left off…” The beginning of the sentence held confidence that fled with each syllable uttered. Good guess, guy. A real brainiac here. My hard glare continued, watching him watch me. “Is he going to beat me up?”
“No…” Dash finally glanced at me.
“His shoulders just rolled,” Chandler warned. “Seriously, dude, it won’t take much to knock me out.” Right then I issued an oath to myself that I’d never stop working out. I’d lift until I couldn’t then do it again. Both of Chandler’s hands raised in surrender. “I’m out. I parked in the driveway behind your car.”
With a dramatic twist that I didn’t like one bit, he left as fast as he came.
My head swiveled toward Dash in astonishment. “Is that who you’ve been sleepin’ with?”
“What?”
I wasn’t buying Dash’s fake confusion. Wah. Dash wanted us to be together forever. Have to have forever, nothing less... Then he fucks that guy?
“No…”
If he went for guys like that, what was he doing with me? “Because you can do better…”
I admit, I may have flipped my palm against my forehead in an overly dramatic way, but I had to ensure my brain stayed put and didn’t fall out as I struggled to make sense of what was happening. No matter how many times I hit the mental rewind button, I had no idea where Beau’s wild accusations came from.
“I stayed faithful to you,” I muttered, trying to keep my cool. “Painfully faithful. Those were some of the hardest times I’ve had while remaining loyal to you.” The frustration turned to hurt as I consciously absorbed the very idea of him believing I’d been with anyone else. “Why do you think otherwise?”
“Because you told me last night!” Beau tossed out a hand as if throwing my words back at me. A fresh wave of anger ignited. I never said anything close to that. Was he treating me as a simpleton?
My brain might have actually exploded when he went back into the bathroom, leaving me to argue this out on my own. I covered my mouth with my palm, blinking rapidly. Did he just dismiss me after calling me a liar?
“I did no such thing!” I marched toward the bathroom where the madman had gone to hide.
“Yes, you did. You said you struggled with bein’ faithful.” Beau’s arrogantly cocky roll of the eyes grated on my last nerve.
“I struggled mightily. Chandler loves to host a good party. He has people over all the time. I was hit on more than you’d imagine, but I never took anyone up on their offer.” My foot stomped on its own to drive the point home.
Beau paused in mid-zip of the duffle bag and glanced at me. “You have guys in your house, offerin’ themselves up? What sort of place are you livin’ in?”
“Oh my god.” This time I flung my hand out, silently screaming my disbelief at Beau. My overflowing aggressive energy needed an outlet, so I paced my bedroom in long strides.
The exercise didn’t help. My unrelenting hard-on refused to give me a single second’s break since the moment I saw that crazy man last night, and he thought I was messing around? Me? “You’re suggesting that my years of devotion to our relationship somehow didn’t include sex?”
My hands trembled under the burden of the past sixteen hours. I needed to calm down. On a cleansing breath, I tried to approach this from a different perspective. So, what was the different angle?
Perhaps Beau’s response wasn’t a finger-pointing accusation, but rather a glimpse into his inner turmoil and insecurities. The protective jealousy Beau flexed at Chandler revealed what he couldn’t say. Beau cared deeply for me which unsettled him.
My cool demeanor slipped instantly in place. “I’m sorry, I should’ve better prepared you about Chandler living here. If you don’t remember, he’s been a longtime friend.”
“If these three months are gonna fly, he can’t live here,” he said, striding past me toward his runners.
“Then we’ll move him out.” I knew Chandler wouldn’t be thrilled with a sudden move. He’d always been my rock, but he also knew I’d move mountains to keep Beau with me. “Chandler can handle his own. He’s been my only friend. My age and attitude have been a problem. No one likes a grown-up kid genius who’s waiting on the sidelines for his boyfriend to return.”