Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
My phone is downstairs, so I get it, and shoot a quick text to Edward.
Can you get rid of your brother for the night? Or at least the rest of the evening?
The response is immediate.
What’s going on?
My mother is drunk off her ass. We said some things, and I put her to bed. I just don’t want to be here anymore.
Give me ten minutes and he’s gone.
I’ll be counting.
14
Julia
I go upstairs to my room, and in the ten minutes, I put on the sexiest underwear that I own. It’s nothing crazy, but it’s black and lacy and enough to make me feel powerful. I also put on some extra make-up. I don’t even know if we’ll have sex, but I’m doing it anyway.
There’s’ a small corner of my mind that laughs at the idea that we won’t have sex. But given that we already had sex once today, I don’t want to assume anything. I hear a car door, and glance out my window to see Kevin pulling out of Edward’s driveway a little too fast. That’s my cue. I’m on Edward’s doorstep about a minute later.
He’s waiting.
“Was it hard?”
“Not at all. I got him a hotel room for the night and sent him there. He was actually more than willing to go when I told him that I had planned to have a night of wild sex before he showed up. Go figure, the one thing that we can agree on. What’s going on with your mom?”
I walk past him when he gestures for me to enter. “I have no idea. I got home and she basically started interrogating me and asked me if I was out being a whore and talk about mistakes coming back to haunt her. And she was drunker than I’ve ever seen her. She could barely stand up. So I forced her to go to bed.”
He looks troubled. “Sounds like that’s a good call. Do you think she’ll tell you what happened?”
“She’d better,” I sigh. “I’m tired of living in the dark on what has her so pissed off all the time. I’m pretty sure whatever it is also has a lot to do with why she quit her job and is starting this charity.”
“Well you don’t have to worry about it for the moment.” Edward leads me into a comfortable living room, and I get to see in full what I only glimpsed before.
The house is beautifully decorated in neutrals with a few darker colors for accents. Comfortable couches and bookshelves filled with books. “This is beautiful.”
Edward chuckles. “Thank you. I can’t take any of the credit for it. My mom did the decorating, and I’ve only changed it a bit since they left. Would you like a drink?”
“Nothing hard.”
“Wine?”
I nod. A glass of wine sounds nice right about now. Just enough to loosen up and forget about everything. Going back to the entryway, I slip off my shoes before curling up in a corner of one of the couches. God, I sink into it like I’m made to sit there. Forget about sex, I could probably have an orgasm from the way this couch is cradling my ass. Edward comes back and hands me a glass of wine. “Have you eaten?”
“No. Just the coffee since breakfast. I didn’t even think about it, if I’m honest.” That same frustration that I felt when I found Mom bubbles up again. “I don’t want to think about anything for a while. That’s one of the reasons this afternoon was amazing. I mean, I know my life is good, and I don’t really have a reason to want to escape, but it felt good.”
Edward sits on the other end of the couch. Within reach but not touching me. Yet. “Everyone has stress, everyone has problems. It’s not a bad thing to want to get away from those things for a while. Especially if you walk into something entirely unexpected. Like you mom being drunk and pretty unkind.”
I take a sip of the wine, savoring the flavor. “I guess that’s true.” Edward is staring at me. “What?”
One half of his mouth tips up into a smile. “I like looking at you.”
I blush. “That’s not the reason you’re staring though.”
“No,” he admits. “I have an idea, but I also don’t want to think that I’m just using you for sex.”
Laughter bubbles up inside me and out. “I appreciate that. What’s your idea?”
Edward takes a sip of his wine. “I order some food for the two of us, and then I take you upstairs and make you forget about everything but me.”
I shiver. That sounds amazing, and exactly what I need right now. “Yes, please,” I say.
“Any preference on the food?”
“No,” I shake my head. “Honestly, I’m not even that hungry right now.”
He grins. “You will be. I’ll make sure of it.” Within a minute he’s on his phone, typing away, and I’m drinking more of my wine. I don’t drink that often, so it’s not long till I feel the telltale relaxation in my body from the alcohol. It’s nice. Just a little bit of tension easing in my spine.