Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 87856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
They're for anyone, for strangers, but I know it's wrong. I admit it's wrong.
I do it anyway.
She slips into that rhythm just as easily. Sex and fun and easy conversation. The heavy things far beneath the surface.
With her. With Luna. With my sister and my parents and everyone else in my life.
She comes closer every time we touch. Then, when we finish and she cleans and dresses, she slips away again.
Chapter Forty-Four
IMOGEN
Even with the usual Saturday traffic, the drive goes quickly. The day feels easy. I even find parking in under five minutes.
Mmm, saltwater, charcoal, chlorine, sunscreen. The scents of summer. The good things in life.
I don't need to check the address. I can hear Dare and Patrick teasing each other. I can feel the lightness between them.
I grab my supplies, buzz into the complex, meet the crew by the pool.
The apartment complex is a lot like mine. A dozen or so apartments surrounding a large courtyard. A small pool, half a dozen loungers, two patio tables and chairs, succulents, and palm trees.
The Inked Love crew at the party.
Luna in a black bikini top and high-waist shorts. Her boyfriend, Oliver, in a black v-neck and black jeans, seemingly unfazed by the eighty degree weather.
A cute blonde in a baby blue dress, reading on a lounger, next to a tallish guy with a troublemaking smile.
"Daisy and Holden," Patrick offers. He grabs my mini-cooler and places it next to a massive red cooler.
"Tonic water and coleslaw," I say. "I didn't think to bring gin. Should I grab some?"
"I have gin," Dare calls from his spot at the grill.
"Good gin?" Patrick asks.
"Yeah, Val brought it," he says. "Gin tonic is big in Spain."
"Isn't it gin and tonic?" Patrick asks.
"Not in Spain." Dare shoots Patrick a look that says duh.
Patrick laughs. "I'm not sophisticated?"
"Guess not," Dare says.
"You look cute." Luna bounces away from her boyfriend and pulls me into a tight hug.
"You're making me jealous," Oliver says.
"You should be jealous of her style. You only wear black," Luna says.
"Not that kind of jealous," he says.
"I don't know, Moonlight," Dare says. "I heard something about a Kinsey 1. Now, you know us men are too stupid to understand what that means."
"Call me Moonlight again and I'm pushing you into the pool," she says.
"It's your name," he says.
"No. My name is Luna Anushka Locke," she says. "And it might mean Moonlight, but only people I like can call me that."
"Even then." Oliver makes a you're dead motion.
"Just kinda redundant, naming you Luna Moonlight, you know," Dare says.
"I think that counts." She jumps into a fighting stance.
"I can take you." But Dare still pulls his cell from his pocket and discards his muscle tank.
And he's actually… hot. Like really hot. It's hard to see past the omg look at me starting shit, playing dumb attitude, but without all those clothes covering his muscles—
Damn.
He looks good in those blue board shorts. A little more built than Patrick, with slightly darker skin, and a massive dragon curling around his torso.
He doesn't notice me staring. He moves to the pool and stands at the edge. "Let's go."
"You're ruining the fun." Luna shakes her head.
"Am I?" he asks.
She nods. Then, when he drops his guard, and looks at the water, she charges.
They both tumble into the pool with a splash and emerge with a laugh.
"That doesn't make you jealous?" Patrick asks Oliver.
"Dare? Are you kidding?" Oliver lets out a low, throaty laugh. "Yeah, right."
"'Cause he's into Val?" Patrick asks.
"'Cause he's Dare," Oliver says.
"He's conventionally attractive," I say.
Patrick laughs. The people on the lounger too.
Oliver shrugs, unbothered. "And my dad is hot. I'm not jealous Luna notices."
"Gross," the blonde, Daisy, says.
"His sister," Patrick explains.
"So her dad too?" I ask.
"He is hot though," Patrick says. "It's pretty much science."
"How can a subjective attraction be science?" Daisy asks.
Patrick looks to me.
"There are metrics of attraction consistent in different cultures," I say. "Facial symmetry, mostly. And waist/hip ratio for women."
"She's a scientist." Patrick beams with pride.
"Oh, so that's why she's with you? It's an experiment?" Oliver teases.
"An experiment to see how much fun we can have together, yeah," Patrick says.
His friend looks to me.
I shrug. That is the truth, basically. "A lot so far."
"What are the notes? Even though he finishes in three minutes, we have a good time?" Oliver chuckles.
Daisy rolls her eyes.
Her boyfriend too. "Really, Ollie, that's weak. A minuteman joke? Kinda unspecific."
"I haven't started timing things yet," I say. "But I could. There are global averages. I think, average is around five minutes, for uh, the act itself. But I'm not a sex researcher. Psychology and economics."
"So you like dumb guys then?" Oliver asks.
Daisy and Holden laugh.
"Not exactly. I like guys who don't try to prove they're smarter than I am. And that's hard to find in college," I say.
"UCLA, right? Like Luna?" Daisy asks.