Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
A fresh wave of tears rolled over me.
Choose you. Choose me.
I could do that.
“Okay,” I breathed. “When you ask me, I’ll choose you.”
He growled something low in his throat, then twisted us so that I was on top of him, my entire frame resting on his.
I lay there, my ear to his heart, for quite a long time before I said, “Seems a shame to waste a perfectly good bed, Gable.”
He laughed. “Beds aren’t our thing. Plus, today was rough. I think we need some sleep. We can think about how to use the bed tomorrow.”
I carefully adjusted myself so that I was lying on my side, leg thrown over his hips. The stitches in his side were pressed against my belly, and the last thing I thought about as I fell into a deep sleep in his arms was, ‘I hope I don’t rip those open in my sleep.’
I am just so thankful for all the different ways to eat potatoes.
—Text from Athena to Gable
ATHENA
Good news.
I didn’t rip his stitches open.
Bad news? He had to get to work.
Quaid had called him and begged him to cover a shift and Gable had agreed.
I was currently watching him get dressed in the mouth of his closet as he talked to me.
“I don’t think there’s a reason you can’t go out today,” he said. “Just be very aware. And carry your gun with you.”
I grinned, eyes still heavy with sleep.
“How’d you know I had a purse gun?” I teased.
Maven probably told him.
The moment I turned twenty-one, I’d rushed to get my concealed carry.
After my parents had been shot, my dad died, and my brother was killed, I just couldn’t not have it around.
It was my emotional support purse pistol.
Something I had to have to feel safe.
Maven called it my security blanket.
I called it the way I kept myself safe before Gable entered my life.
You just never knew what was going to come at you, and I wanted to be prepared the best way I could.
“Because your purse is heavy, which is a dead giveaway, and Maven talks about it like it’s a live person.” He chuckled as he pulled his tactical pants up his hips. After zipping and buttoning, he reached for his police belt which he looped through the belt loops. After that, he started attaching various implements.
Gun.
Night stick.
Handcuffs.
“If you keep watching me while I’m putting these handcuffs up, I might think you want me to use them on you,” he teased.
My brows rose as I lifted my arms high above my head and stretched, letting the blanket slip down the length of my chest.
The cool air kissed my nipples, and his eyes zeroed in on them.
“You’re not going back to sleep?” he asked as he continued to put his things on but kept an eye on my breasts.
“Nope,” I said. “I think I might go deal with my mother.”
His brows rose. “Why do you have to?”
I sighed. “Because she’s called like ten times in the last few days, I’m guessing so she can apologize, and I have to deal with her sooner or later.”
“You could not deal with her at all and cut off contact,” he suggested as he reached into the closet for a tee.
I watched the muscles along his ribs and upper abs ripple with the move and felt my body pulse in awareness.
The man was fit.
Like, really fit.
Despite the knife slash across his belly—which looked pretty good today considering—there wasn’t a single imperfection about the man.
God, he was gorgeous.
Strong hands. Muscled forearms. Bulky biceps and shoulders.
Abs.
So many abs.
His obliques were my favorite feature.
So strong and…
“Stop looking at me like that when you know I have to leave,” he grumbled as the shirt fell into place over his upper half.
I pouted, causing him to chuckle.
His shirt got tucked in last, and then he was walking toward me, eyes alight with mischief.
“Call me when you head to your mom’s,” he suggested as he planted both fists into the bed beside me and leaned over.
I met him halfway, kissing him goodbye.
“Be safe, Gable,” I urged.
He touched the tip of my nose with one finger before saying, “Always am, Athena.”
Then he was gone, and I was left thinking about my task for the day.
Ugh.
My mother.
The very last person I wanted to see was my mother. Especially after I’d learned that she’d been practically stalking me for the last who knew how long.
Shasha and Gable’s best guess was that she’d been doing it since I’d moved there.
I didn’t care that she didn’t watch it.
All I cared about that she was invading my privacy and didn’t give a single fuck about it.
With how angry I still was, I almost didn’t continue up to the front walk to her house. I almost turned around and left this for another day.
I didn’t get to knock before the door was yanked open.