Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“So you’re in… love?” She said the word like it tasted bitter on her tongue.
“I don’t know. Does love feel like you’d rather die than try to pick yourself up off the ground? If so, then maybe. But I know he’s not in love with me. Not after tonight.”
We sat and listened to the bullfrog and the crickets for a while longer. Eventually, Layla slapped her own arm a couple of times, then her thigh.
“Are you about ready to go inside, Jamie? These mosquitoes are killing me. Plus, you need to take a shower and get ready to go with your mother to the hospital in a few hours.” She glanced pointedly at my twisted shorts, and at my dirt-streaked legs. “I’m sure you don’t want to go looking like that.”
“Mom…” I glanced up at the darkened house, closed my eyes and swallowed. “Thanks for reminding me. Not only has my love life just gone down in flames, but I’ve got to go escort my mom to have her boobs cut off. Can life actually get any worse?”
“Yeah, Jamie. You could be the one having your boobs cut off.”
Damn. She made a good point. I was being awfully selfish worrying about myself and a guy I’d only known for a couple of months— a guy who’d just abandoned me— when Mom was the one who had real problems. I needed to put all this shit aside and concentrate on being strong for her. That was what I was here for, after all.
Layla pushed up off the ground and reached down to help me up. I pushed her hand away. “Thanks, but I’m not helpless. Pathetic, stupid, naive, fucked in the head… All of those things I am for sure, but helpless I am not.”
I dragged myself up, wondering if I’d spoken too soon about not being helpless when I felt the searing pain in my ass. I winced and looked down at myself. My knees were scraped up, I was dirty as hell, and my muscles were sore from being so tense while Kage was having his way with me. I made a mental note to never let a guy angry-fuck me without knee pads, lube, and muscle relaxers. Wait. What the hell was I thinking? I amended my mental note to never letting a guy fuck me again at all.
Because, hello… not gay.
Kage was just a fluke, a one-time deal. I shouldn’t even give it a second thought, and I certainly shouldn’t question my sexuality. The fact was, I was only an imperfect human, and Kage was larger than life. He was a shooting star. Anybody would have fallen for him, right? Not just me. Any-fucking-body. Even the most macho of macho men— the most alpha of alphas. Hell, Chuck Norris would have bottomed for Kage if he’d gotten the chance.
“Jamie? What are you thinking?” Layla waved a hand in front of my dazed face.
“Oh.” I blinked in an effort to clear the disturbing vision of Kage reaming Chuck Norris, who for some reason was still wearing his karate gi. “You don’t wanna know. Trust me, even I don’t wanna know.”
She started toward the house, but I called her name. “Hang on.” I limped to catch up with her. “I need to know one thing before we go inside.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here, Layla?”
She stopped walking just shy of the back door. “I was wondering when you’d get around to asking me that. God, I’m so sorry, Jamie. I didn’t mean to cause problems for you, it just sort of happened.” She let out a nervous breath, and it was obvious she had been dreading this conversation. “I ran into Trey at the Collegiate, and we got to talking. He told me he’d heard that your mom had cancer and that it was really bad. I know I shouldn’t have, but I got him to give me your home phone number, and I called. Your sister answered the phone, and we started talking about you, and she said you were coming down to be with your mom for surgery. I swear I only wanted to say something nice to your mother, which I did, but then Jennifer told her she ought to invite me to keep you company at the hospital. That’s how your mom ended up inviting me to stay over. I swear I didn’t hint or anything. To be honest, I didn’t even really want to come, but how could I be rude to your mom with her being so sick?”
“It’s okay,” I assured her, gesturing toward the back door for her to walk in ahead of me. “It was nice of you to come. I just couldn’t figure out how it happened, that’s all. It was a big fucking surprise seeing your car parked out there.”