Quinn shrugged. “Hewas. They called him the Mountain.”
“Of course they did.”
A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Ah, so you’ve met?”
Twice in twenty-four hours, actually. Memories of our brief hour together at the hotel flashed in my mind, recalling details better left forgotten. Like how he’d stared up at me from between my legs, his mouth wet from my pussy. Or how he’d whispered the filthiest things against my ear every time he sank inside. Or how he’d fucked me from behind, gripping my hair and holding my head so I couldn’t do anything but watch in the mirror as he absolutely ruined me for other men.
I wasn’t exactly closed-lipped around friends when it came to my sex life. Had never been. But for some reason, I didn’t share any of that with her.
Probably because I wanted to keep what had happened totally separate from my current life. Better to pretend it took place in an alternate universe. If for nothing else than to be able to use memories of the hotel room as fap fodder without also recalling how the jerk had answered his front door.
“Unfortunately,” I said.
Quinn laughed. “I think he gets that a lot.”
“I’m not surprised. He’s an ass, and I’d be happy never seeing him again.” Okay, that was a lie. He was extremely enjoyable to look at. As long as he didn’t open his stupid mouth.
“How do you think that’ll work out for you?”
“Fine.” I shrugged. “I might be living in his backyard, but I never ran into my neighbors in Atlanta.”
Quinn raised a brow, amusement written on her face. “Starlight Cove isn’t Atlanta. Besides that, it’s going to be a little difficult to avoid him.”
I eyed her warily, something in her tone raising my hackles. “Why?”
“Because Atlas Steele is the high school football coach, and your weekly shift at the school starts on Thursday.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ATLAS
Just like everyother night since Trouble had arrived, I’d slept like shit, my dreams absolutely consumed by the one woman I shouldn’t be thinking about.
After finally accepting I wasn’t going to get any more sleep, I’d climbed into the shower and attempted to jerk off to a faceless woman. Same as I did every other morning.
Butshekept infiltrating my thoughts.
Rather than give in and replay every second of our time together, I scrubbed myself down while glaring at my hard and ever-persistent cock. I’d shut off the water without finding any relief, and only then had I noticed I’d forgotten my goddamn towel.
It was a shitty start to what would no doubt be a shitty day.
That was proven as I yanked open my kitchen cabinet, reached for the bag of coffee beans, and came up empty. In all the chaos of this week, I’d forgotten to pick some up at the store.
Out of habit, I glanced out the window into my backyard…and straight toward the now-occupied cottage. Except I saw no signs of life there, her car nowhere to be found.
I had no fucking idea why the fact that she was gone made me clench my jaw and glare at absolutely nothing. Andthatonly pissed me off more.
By the time I got to my mom’s for breakfast, I was in a shit mood with no hope of hiding it. And it was only made worse by the state of the kitchen. It was still an absolute fucking disaster because of the pipes. The plumber had been booked all week and wasn’t able to come over until tomorrow.
It didn’t seem to bother anyone else, though. Mom, Declan, and Lincoln sat around the dining room table, the pile of my fan mail still scattered across the surface.
I jerked my chin toward the mess and scowled. “I thought I told you to get rid of all that.”
“I will…” Mom shot me a smile over the rim of her coffee cup. “Eventually.”
Lincoln grinned as he shoved half a muffin into his mouth. “We paid her fifty bucks to let us poke through the pile first.”
I split a gaze between my brothers. “You’re assholes.”
