Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Jesus, I hadn’t felt this good in ages.
“Wanna get out of here?”
“Yeah.” He leaned forward and grabbed his beer, presumably to finish it. “Where are you staying?”
At my folks’, but that wasn’t happening. “We’ll go to a hotel.”
We just had to wait for the cab to get here…
In the meantime, we accidentally ended up in the alley between the bar and the restaurant next door.
“Fuck yeah, I’ve missed this.” He shuddered violently as I snaked my tongue around his.
I had him right where I wanted him, stuck between a wall and another hard place. I cupped his face and deepened the kiss, and he moaned and pulled me flush against him.
I didn’t know how much I’d missed this too. How much I’d missed him. What I did for a living… It was always easier to just shut off my emotions completely. Then I spent a couple hours reconnecting with Joel fuckin’ Hayward, and I remembered what it was like to feel alive again.
It was the raw masculinity of him too. A stark contrast to what I’d gotten used to the last seven years. I reveled in the feel of his stubble underneath my fingertips, the way his jaw moved as we made out, and the hard planes of his chest against mine.
I brought one of his hands between us, to my cock, and held it there. “You want this?”
He stuttered a breath. “Definfinitely.”
I grinned, a bit out of breath, and eased back. “Definfinitely?”
“Hey, it works. Shut up.” He kissed me again, and he nipped at my bottom lip. “Of course you gotta turn me into a fumbling teenager again. Bastard.”
I kinda loved that I did.
I slowed us down and grabbed his jaw, angling us so our lips merely brushed together, and I teased the tip of his tongue with my own. He shivered and squeezed my cock through my jeans.
Fuck.
“How long are you in town for?” I murmured, unable to keep the lust from my voice.
He swallowed. “Um—another week. You?”
I was supposed to go back to LA tomorrow, but I could extend my stay for another couple of days. After that, I had work. I was due in DC on Monday morning.
“If I go straight to DC from here, I can stay till Sunday.”
He slid his hands up my chest, then locked them around my neck. “Then you’re mine for the next three days.”
His.
I liked the sound of that.
“Elliott! Your ridiculous ice cream order is here!”
Excellent. I wrapped a towel around my hips and walked out of the bathroom. “What’s ridiculous about ice cream? I had a hankering.”
“For nine flavors?” He smirked. “And you call me a dork…”
Fine. I was a dork for ice cream.
For the record, though, it was gelato.
I smacked a kiss to his cheek as I passed him to check out the delivery on the coffee table. I was in San Diego so rarely these days that I had to rush through my favorite spots while I could. This gelato place was one of them. And they happened to deliver. Straight to our hotel room.
I dug through the paper bag and placed all the little containers on the table. I’d ordered two scoops of the flavors I loved.
We were about to test the quality of the tiny freezer compartment in the minibar fridge. That was what’d given me the idea. I’d splurged on a nice room, and apparently that afforded you more amenities sometimes.
“Did you find a movie for us?” I asked.
“Yeah. Heat.”
Nice. A masterpiece. “Val Kilmer at his best.”
Joel joined me on the sofa, and I noticed he’d put on a pair of boxers. Hopefully just to let in the delivery earlier, because we’d agreed on no clothes.
“What did you get?” he asked.
I lined up the containers, each one sporting a scribbled label. Strawberry Swirl, The Rockiest Rocky Road, Alaskan Blueberry, Dark Chocolate, Lemon Sour, Texas Caramel Pecan, Apple Pie, Cinnamon Bun Dream, and New York Cheesecake.
I was happy with my choices.
“What’s your favorite?” I asked in return.
Over the past twenty-four hours, I’d learned his birthday, his favorite food, what his dream car was, and that he one day wanted to own a ranch and adopt retired service dogs.
I’d also found out that even though he was based in Jacksonville, he did two three-month deployments in San Diego every year. So for six months of the year, we were only a couple hours away from each other.
He hummed and rested his chin on my shoulder. “I do love pecan and caramel…”
That was one of the best they made. Fucking amazing. “We’ll start with that. You’ll love it. Now, drop your skivvies and get back in bed.”
He chuckled and rose from the couch. “How much of this movie are we gonna see?”
Time would tell. “I don’t know yet.”
I grabbed two spoons from the coffeemaker setup before I removed my towel and hurriedly ran it over my head. I didn’t want the pillows too damp.