Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78007 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78007 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Eventually a few people join us. I’m not sure who they are, but one of them is a pretty blonde girl, who stands beside me.
“You’re Theo, right?”
My head whips in her direction, surprise blooming in my chest that she knows who I am. I’m usually not the guy who stands out. “Yeah…how?”
“I’ve seen you around. You’re dating Whitney, right?”
I shake my head. “We broke up.”
My gaze darts toward the bar again. A girl reaches over the counter and touches Perry’s hair. Who is she? Is she someone he knows? Someone he’s hooked up with?
“I’m sorry to hear that,” the woman says, and damn, I don’t know her name.
“It was for the best. I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Autumn.”
“Hi, Autumn. I’m Theo.”
She chuckles. “I know.”
Shit. She does know, doesn’t she? We already discussed this.
I look over at Perry again, and he’s handing the woman a drink. Both their hands stay on the glass for one beat, two, three, four, five…Jesus Christ. How long can they both hold on to one stupid glass?
“Theo?” Autumn says, and I realize she’s waiting for me to respond to something. The thing is, I have no idea what I’m supposed to respond to.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked if you’re from around here, like, originally.”
“The high desert. The Victorville area.”
She starts to tell me about Oregon, where she moved from, and I try to pay attention, I really do, but I’m also totally curious about Perry. Every time my attention is pulled to him, I do my best to drag it back to Autumn…because she’s nice…and pretty…and maybe I can find a new friend in her too.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Perry
Theo has been talking to the blonde for like an hour. It’s not something I should notice or be paying so much attention to, but I am.
She’s touching him…a lot—a hand on the shoulder, his arm, nudging him, and once she even laid her head against his chest. I can’t say if it was done playfully or what, but it made me feel…funny. A little jittery and like my skin is shrinking.
Is he going to hook up with her? It won’t be a mix-up if he goes home with her. The thing is, if they’re both interested, he should go enjoy himself with her tonight. From what he’s told me, he was with that Whitney girl for almost two years and hasn’t gotten any since the end of the school year. He could probably use an orgasm or two, but damn if part of me doesn’t still wish I could be the one to give them to him.
He’s straight, he’s straight, he’s straight.
“You’re staring.” Ty bumps my arm with his.
“No I’m not.”
“Okay, and I didn’t just stand here for five minutes watching you watch him.”
“Creep-er,” I reply in an exaggerated voice.
Ty chuckles.
“Autumn is trying hard but doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere, if that makes you feel better. I don’t think he’s interested.”
I start wiping down the counter. So that’s the woman’s name… “Why would it make me feel better? I don’t care if he hooks up. We’re just friends.”
“Okay, and I didn’t want to bone Brax from the moment I saw him.”
“I’m not saying I wouldn’t fuck him, but I know it’s not gonna happen. He’s my friend, so I’m cool with that. I wouldn’t want to blur the lines now.”
“Well, his friend wants to bang you, so you have options.”
The flirting didn’t go unnoticed, and Jack is hot, but sleeping with someone who’s close to Theo would be weird. I should consider getting on an app, and there was also a woman here flirting with me earlier…maybe she’s interested.
“Hey, Perry.” Gwen steps up beside us, playing with the ring in her nose. “You wanna go on your break?”
“Sure.” I toss the towel at Ty, refuse to allow myself to look at Theo, then head through the bar, to the kitchen, and then down the hallway that leads to the back door to go outside for my break. I smell the saltwater, inhaling a deep breath into my lungs. Fuck, I love the ocean. There’s something both beautiful and terrifying about it.
The air is still warm despite it being almost midnight. That’s one of my favorite things about Southern California. I didn’t love the cold weather back in Mass. It’s like a fucking paradise here and—
“Hey,” Theo says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
He sneaks around the corner from the front of the building. Waves crash against the sand in the distance, mixing with the thump, thump, thump from the music inside.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I saw you leave, and I hoped I’d find you here…” He shrugs.
“You followed me?”
“When you put it that way, it sounds weird. I just wanted to say hi.”
“Hi.” I lean against the wall.
“So…not sure if you noticed, but Jack wants to sleep with you.”
I chuckle. “Yes, I noticed.”