Crave Me (The Good Ol' Boys #4)(50)

“Make sure you’re ready. No f*cking around. Understood?”

I nodded, ignoring him, flipping through another magazine.

With that, he turned and left my apartment.

I spent the rest of the afternoon, thinking about someone…

That I shouldn’t.





Chapter 14





<>Austin<>



Over the last two months it was only me and Mike. After Detroit, we all sort of went our separate ways. I was expecting it. I never thought I was going to make lifelong friends with the people I happened to come across. It was cool while it lasted, but everyone had to move on at some point. Mike wanted to head back to his home state, New York. He said he had a lot of friends that we could crash with. We made several stops along the way, but nothing too promising or exciting to make us stay for more than a few weeks.

We worked at a couple places in Pittsburgh to earn some cash before heading to Manhattan. We arrived in New York early one morning and managed to find a shitty motel to stay at until Mike got in touch with his friends; in the meantime, we would look for some more work. New York was expensive as shit, and I was grateful we’d made some decent money over the last two months.

I took a long, hot shower, soaking it up while it lasted. I walked out of the bathroom and Mike was lying on the bed, talking on the hotel phone.

“Yeah, I’m at Hotel Carter on West 43rd Street. Perfect, thanks.” He hung up. “Feel better?”

I nodded, setting the wet clothes I washed in the shower on the air vent to dry.

“I’m going to jump in next. I ordered us some food and shit. Answer the door.”

I nodded again, waving him off.

When I heard the bathroom door close behind him, I changed into my last pair of clean jeans, forgoing a shirt. Traveling was f*cking exhausting. I plopped on the bed and stared up at the brown, water-stained ceiling.

I thought about how much I’d wanted to come to New York almost four years ago. How I wanted to start my life here, my career. There was still that sense of longing for something I could never have. After all this time…

I was still lost.

Still confused.

At least for now…

We’d been on a cramped train for the last few days. All I wanted to do was lay down. My back was f*cking killing me. I had run out of pain pills the night before, and I was feeling the effect today. Mike said he would take care of it though.

The loud knock on the door startled me awake. I had just started dozing off. I could still hear the water running in the bathroom. Mike always took the longest damn showers. I stood, stretching my back for a second, trying to work out the knots. Rubbing my stomach as I made my way to the door, perfect timing.

I was f*cking starving.

I opened the door and the first thing I saw were a pair of familiar bright blue eyes staring back me.

Almost knocking me on my ass.

“Austin.” She jerked back as stunned as I was.

“Briggs,” I rasped.

We both stood there looking at each other for I don’t know how long, taking one another in again as if it were the first time.

Damn, she was a sight for sore eyes.

She was wearing a white low-cut tank top that hung lose on her tiny but curvy frame. Her lacy, bright pink bra peeked out the top, revealing her ample cleavage. One of her bra straps hung low on her upper arm, the other one exposed on her shoulder. With small ripped shorts that I knew barely covered her luscious ass.

But the black combat boots, that’s what really made me smile.

A dark green backpack hung low on her back. Her vibrant purple hair cascaded down her face, reaching her waist, like she hadn’t cut it since the last time I saw her. Almost a year ago.

“What are you doing—”

“Was that the door?” Mike asked, walking out of the bathroom, interrupting me with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Hey.” He nodded toward her. “We met at a party a long time ago. Briggs, right?”

I glanced back at her and she nodded, her gaze settled on me. I couldn’t tell if she was looking at my abs or my scars. Working in construction most of the time kept me fit as much as the gym did. I assumed it might be a bit of both by the way her cheeks turned slightly red.

“Austin, you rude f*ck, let her in. She’s your new best friend.”

She bit her lip, not in a seductive way, but in a nervous one.

I stepped aside, opening the door wider to let her by. She walked in and my eyes went straight to her ass, as suspected the shorts barely covered her cheeks. My attention went right to the black tattooed bows on the backs of her upper thighs. Each one attached to a seam running all the way down her long legs, into her boots. They were the only tattoos she had on her legs.

God, she’s beautiful.

It looked like she was wearing thigh highs and it was sexy as all hell on her.

My cock twitched, an instant f*cking hard on.

I walked to the other side of the room, sitting on the couch. Trying to hide the fact that I was sporting wood like a goddamn, horny teenager.

“Just throw your shit on the table and we can decide what to buy. I’m going to throw on some clothes,” Mike said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

I glanced from Mike back to her, and then it hit me like a ton of f*cking bricks.

“I ordered us some food and shit. Answer the door.”