Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
He was right, of course. But to have him call me out on my behavior only served to worsen my mood. "Maybe he should be scared! I mean, obviously I'm a pretty shitty person to be around, so who can blame him for taking off?" I knew I was being petty and childish, but I was truly afraid of what I would do if I got anywhere near Lex. All the worry, confusion, and sexual frustration from the past week had been churning inside of me almost nonstop and I was afraid that even one more word from the man at the heart of it all would send me over. No, I’d never raise a hand to Lex, but I knew I could end up saying something I regretted.
I realized it had been a mistake to come here for my dog without trying to cool off first. "You know what, you two can have each other!" I yelled as I spun toward my truck.
"Maybe if you weren't a lying sack of shit, your dog wouldn't have taken off on you!" Lex shouted.
His words caught me off guard. I turned and saw that he was making his way down the porch and he was doing it surprisingly well. Of course, he had Brewer to offer him a little bit of extra support as he moved.
"I'm not the one who buries his head in the fucking sand every time things get hard!"
"Are you sure about that?" Lex asked. He'd made it to my truck and was standing just feet from me. His cheeks were bright red and his stunning eyes were brimming with anger. Anger that I still had no clue what the source was. "Isn't this entire fucking town one big sandbox to you?”
"You don't know what you're talking about!" I snarled.
"And you don't know when to tell the fucking truth!" Lex shot back.
"I don't know what you're talking—" I tried to say again.
"Aisle seven!" Lex snapped as he practically got in my face. "Aisle seven, Gideon!"
"Aisle seven?" I said in confusion. Despite my anger, my body was going crazy with desire as Lex's frame brushed against mine. My back was against the truck, so unless I pushed past him, there was no place to go to escape him. I fisted my hands to keep from grabbing him.
"I don't know what your game is, but don't use me to fuck around with the women you're screwing."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Delia and whatever other women you're fucking! Delia may be a self-absorbed bitch, but even she doesn't deserve to be played with." Lex actually stabbed me in the chest with his finger as he spoke while Brewer whined incessantly as he tried to push his body in between ours.
"I'm not fucking Delia. Or anyone else, for that matter."
"So what, were the condoms for your own hand?" Lex practically spat.
"Condoms?" I was so completely lost by the conversation that all I could do was parrot the things that Lex was saying.
"Condoms, Gideon! Aisle seven! Kenny told me that aisle seven is where they keep the condoms!" As Lex spoke, understanding finally dawned and I recalled the ridiculous lie I'd made up about aisle seven being for all the various types of creams that Merv's sold. But why in the hell was the little white lie causing such an extreme reaction in him? Even if I'd been buying condoms, why would that bother him so much?
"I can't believe I bought all that crap about you wanting to be my friend!" Lex snapped. "I actually thought you were a good guy, Gideon, but you’re just like all the others. You're like Grady!"
"I'm nothing like that son of a bitch!" I responded, my anger quickly returning. "And so far, being your friend hasn't exactly been the highlight of my life!"
Lex went silent for a moment and then said, "Well, at least we agree on something. Say hi to Delia or whatever woman—"
"I wasn't looking at condoms, damn it!" I snarled. "I was looking at—"
"At what?" Lex asked. I swore I heard a tremor in his voice.
"I lied about aisle seven because I didn't want you to know that I was looking at… at…" Humiliation crawled through me as I tried to get the words out.
"At what?" Lex repeated. "Just tell me, damn it!"
"Lube! I was looking at lube!" I admitted. And then before he could make any foolish assumptions about what the lube was for, I wrapped my arm around his waist and yanked him forward at the same time that I slammed my mouth down on his.
Chapter Thirteen
Lex
Even if I hadn't been blind, I never would've seen the kiss coming.
Never.
One minute, we were at each other's throats; the next, Gideon's mouth was crashing down on mine and I was struggling to understand what was even happening. But that lasted only about half a second because once my brain recognized the fact that Gideon's lips were indeed pressed against mine, everything shifted. It no longer mattered what we’d been fighting about or how upset I'd been or how the jealousy of believing Gideon was in some kind of physical relationship with a woman had been eating me alive. All that mattered was that Gideon was kissing me.