Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
But shirtless? I’m going to need a defibrillator. Why do his abs look like they’re sculped from marble? And is that a tattoo over his ribs? When did he get that?
“Wills?” My eyes climb to his face, and he raises an eyebrow. “Wanna come inside? Gid’s in the kitchen. He’s leaving for the airport in a few minutes.”
“Oh, I’m glad I caught him before he goes.” I slide past him as he stands to the side, gesturing for me to walk through the door. The living room is ready for the new furniture, and it smells new in here, with the fresh paint and flooring. “I know I’ve been here through this whole process, but I still can’t believe how different it is in here.”
“Do you hate it?” he asks, and I can see that he’s worried.
“Are you kidding? It’s gorgeous. You live here now. It should be your space, Ry. It looks great.”
His shoulders drop in relief, and he offers me that cocky smile that’s been on his face since he was a teenager.
“Need something to drink?” he asks me.
“I’ll take some water,” I reply and follow him into the kitchen.
I see the paint was done this morning. I head straight for Gideon and hug him tight.
“You’re leaving us.”
“For now,” he confirms, and kisses the top of my head. These guys are so tall, I fit right under their chins. “I’ll be back before the end of the year.”
“Christmas?” I hear the hope in my voice as I look up at him, and he grins at me.
“I’ll try.”
“Try hard.” I poke him in the stomach, and he doubles over as if he’s in pain. “Weenie.”
“You’re so fucking mean,” he growls, but his gaze is playful. “I won’t miss you at all.”
Ry passes me a bottle of water, and I pop the cap and take a long sip. “Whatever. You’ll miss me. Call me when you get home.”
“I’ll consider it.” He walks over and hugs Ryker, pats him on the back, and then lifts his suitcase. “I have to get going. You okay, Wills?”
“I’m great. Safe travels today.”
Gideon nods, and then, with a wave, he walks out the front door. Ry and I watch each other as we listen to the rental car fire to life, and then the tires crunch on the gravel down the driveway.
“I’m gonna miss him,” I murmur.
“Yeah. Me too. So what’s going on?” he asks me, and I’m reminded why I’m here.
Right.
“I need your help,” I reply, and his eyes immediately narrow, that smile drops, and he crosses his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge.
“Talk to me. What’s going on.”
“Uh.” I swallow and clear my throat. “Can you put a shirt on?”
“Why?”
Because you’re half naked, and I want to lick you all over.
I blink at him. “Because you’re distracting me.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“You have such an ego, Captain.”
He smirks and holds up a finger, jogs up the stairs to his room, and I admire his ass as he goes.
You have got to calm the hell down, Willow.
Less than thirty seconds later, he returns while tugging a tight black T-shirt over his head and down those washboard abs, and I admit, I’m a little sad that they’re covered.
“Better?”
Not really.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, what do you need?”
I lick my lips and take in a deep breath. I hate asking for help. It doesn’t come easy to me. It never has.
But I don’t know what else to do. He knows that I’m having some challenges with Aiden—he doesn’t know how bad it is. But he’s about to.
“I need you to give Aiden a job here this summer,” I say and watch as he pulls his eyebrows together in a frown. “We’re struggling, Ry.”
“Financially?”
“No, it’s not that at all.”
I pull out a chair at the table and sit in it, and Ryker sits across from me, watching me intently.
“It’s time you tell me what’s going on at home, Trouble.”
I lick my lips.
“I know that a fifteen-year-old is going to push my buttons. Test boundaries. But he’s so . . . angry. I just got an email this morning from the school. He’s skipped school seventeen times this semester. He’s missing so many assignments it boggles my mind. He’s not doing any work, and he won’t talk to me anymore.”
I push my hands through my hair and cover my face for a second.
“We’ve always gotten along so well. He’s such a good boy. Sweet. Affectionate. But that kid hasn’t had a nice thing to say to me in two years, Ryker. I don’t know what changed. I don’t know if there was something specific that happened, because he won’t talk to me. He’s completely frozen me out. And now, as you know, he’s getting into trouble, and I’m failing him. I don’t know what to do, but school’s going to be out in two weeks, and I cannot have him left to his own devices this summer while I work, even if I do work from home.”