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As I pretended to concentrate on my textbook, he sat on my bed in nothing but white boxer briefs, reading Men’s Health magazine. I could have asked him to leave. That would have been the smart thing to do, but I couldn’t bear to be away from him.
At least I’d drawn some kind of line in the sand and vetoed strip studying. Although he’d managed to coerce me into outlining all of the things I wanted to accomplish and promised if I did them all, he’d let me play with what was inside those sexy briefs.
Since when did playing with a penis excite me so much? Since when had I ever played with a penis?
With my pen in my mouth, I turned slightly in my chair, craning my eyes as much as I could to get a glimpse of him without turning my entire body. I loved his chest hair. Loved letting my fingers move through the coarse strands. I especially loved how it disappeared inside his briefs. It was the most beautiful trail to the treasure inside pants I’d ever seen.
He caught me looking. “Are you done?”
I shook my head, wishing like hell he wasn’t so damn distracting.
“Then the boxers stay on.” He lifted his index finger and twirled it, mimicking that he wanted me to turn around and get back to work.
I had just managed to concentrate for at least five minutes when the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked.
I checked my watch. I still had several hours before I needed to worry about Grace. It could only be one other person. “It’s probably just Sadie. She’s always forgetting her keys.”
I made my way down the stairs to the front foyer and breathed in the sweet aroma of cookies. I had already stolen a few for Max and me before I’d started studying.
My smile immediately disappeared when I pulled open the door and my parents stood on the other side.
“Everly, dear, you didn’t look through the peephole,” my mother said. “You have no idea who could be on the other side.”
How the hell did she know I didn’t look through the peephole? It wasn’t the middle of the night and this was a good neighborhood, but it didn’t surprise me. Mother always knew best.
“What are you doing here?” I didn’t mean for it to come out so rude, but this was my house now. Legally mine. They couldn’t just show up out of the blue.
“We were in the neighborhood,” my father answered. He was in his usual spot, standing behind my mother.
They were never in the neighborhood. They hated this area. Which was why my grandmother insisted she live here as long as she could. There was nothing my grandmother loved more than making her daughter squirm.
I suppressed my giggle. I missed her so much.
Without an invitation, my mother pushed past me into the foyer. With a timid smile, my father waited for me to gesture him inside.
I closed the door behind them and heard the disgust in my mother’s voice. “This house needs to be gutted.”
Granted, the place hadn’t been redecorated since probably the 1980s, but that didn’t mean it had lost its charm. If I weren’t so damn busy trying to become a lawyer, maybe I’d spend some time fixing it up.
My mother waved her hand in a flippant gesture. “Now, that doesn’t mean you should be spending your time on manual labor. Graduate, then we can talk about fixing this place up.”
Like hell was I letting my parents get involved in any type of renovation. This was my house now.
“Although…it would probably be money better spent if you just sold this house and bought a new place. You’re living here out of convenience because it’s closer to school. Once that’s done…” She waved off the last of her comment. Besides, she didn’t need to say anything else. I’d gotten the gist loud and clear.
I was well aware that my parents only let me live here because it was closer to school. They had also tried their damnedest to keep my grandmother from having any kind of influence. She was a free spirit who’d hated the amount of time I spent studying. Which was exactly why she’d wanted me to complete that bucket list. I loved my grandma. If I was honest, I loved her more than anyone—but Gram could be flaky. No matter how much I tried, she never understood my dedication to becoming a lawyer. She had died trying her best to get me to loosen up. I’d never listened. I knew if she’d had the opportunity to meet Max she would have loved him. She would have loved him even more if she’d found out what he did for a living. She wasn’t a stupid woman—surprisingly intuitive, considering she’d guessed what Grace did on the side. Which was also why she’d agreed to Grace moving in six months ago and taking over the third bedroom after her parents had kicked her out of the house when they’d found out she was working as an escort. Just to make sure she stays safe, Gram said.
My mother headed to the kitchen with my father close behind. “Late night study food?” She held up the plate of cookies.
“Grace made them.”
My parents had no idea what Grace did for a living. As far as they were concerned, she was a university student just like me.
I walked in and slid onto one of the four oak chairs around the round kitchen table.
My mother did what she always does, and ran her finger across the beige laminate countertop. Her dark hair was pulled up tight in a bun, her usual hairstyle outside of lawyer events and dinners. She wore a classic, black pantsuit and sensible two-inch heels. My father, on the other hand, was casual, in khaki pants and a button-down shirt, tucked in. Every time I saw him I had the urge to grab his shirt and pull it out of his pants. But it wouldn’t do any good, so I never bothered.
