Doin' a Dime, Vale, Lynn [top young adult novels TXT] 📗

it there for two hours or so while the water heats up to the perfect degree that you want to cook your steak to—medium rare, rare, whatever. When it’s done, you pull the steaks from the bag and sear them on a cast iron skillet. They’re seriously the most to-die-for thing I’ve ever had. And so easy to do.”

He looked at me with interest. “Then I accept you cooking dinner for us tonight.”

My lips quirked.

After ringing us up and using my debit card to pay—holy hell, I’d never spent eight hundred dollars on a bunch of random crap before—we headed back to the car.

Then to Whataburger which was practically across the street.

When we got inside, Hunt started to mumble under his breath.

“What?” I asked, not able to hear him.

He turned and bumped me slightly with his shoulder, causing me to teeter slightly because I hadn’t been expecting the move.

He caught me around the shoulder and pulled me into his side.

I expected him to let me go, but he didn’t.

He kept me with him, snug to his side, with his arm around my shoulders, as he continued to stare at the board. “I’m trying to decide if I should get two meals or one. For myself. You have to order whatever you want.”

My lips turned up at the corners. “I’d say two. I mean, what’s it going to hurt if you don’t finish it?”

He squeezed my shoulder, his head nodding in agreement. “You’re right. If I don’t finish, I can throw it away. If I only got one, then I would want more and then I’d have to wait for the order to arrive.”

After placing our order, we sat down in a booth that was decorated with football memorabilia from the local high school.

And, of course, my eyes went there instead of staring at the man in front of me.

The man that was my husband.

The man that was to-die-for hot, had a voice like sin, and was hard around all of his edges.

My husband.

Holy shit.

The last couple of years it had been fairly easy to ignore that fact. I mean, other than around tax season when I had to file taxes—mine and his—I hadn’t really given it much thought.

Because giving it too much thought meant that I had to actually admit that I was married.

That I’d done something rash that had actually helped save me.

Hell, even my own best friend didn’t know the details to what was going on.

I’d kept it all hidden, and, in fact, would likely keep it that way for as long as I could.

Though, with Hunt being home, that meant that today was my last day in his house.

I’d have to go find somewhere to stay.

Maybe I could stay at Six’s place since she’d started staying with her new man.

That would…

“Were you a cheerleader in high school or anything?” he asked, momentarily disrupting my thoughts.

I shook my head. “I was in private school. And I was not permitted to do extracurricular activities thanks to my aunt.”

He frowned. “What’s going on with your aunt by the way? I haven’t gotten an update in a couple of months.”

“That’s because we’re at a stalemate. She won the case that would give her a chance to prove that she was entitled to half that money. But then I won one just after that when I explained what she’d done with the money—that information you found on her before you left has come in right handy. She keeps appealing it and making us go to a different court. Then she stalls. Then she comes up with new evidence. Then she stalls some more. I seriously think she’s just hoping that I give up and let her have half because I’m getting pissed that it’s taking so long,” I mumbled darkly, hating the reminder that my aunt was a supreme bitch.

“But you won’t,” he said. “I’ll make sure that you won’t.”

I grinned at him. “I appreciate that.”

Then there was no more talking because the man in front of me was given his food, and he inhaled it like it was going to be taken away from him at any moment.

In fact, I was barely a quarter of the way through my single burger and fries when he finished off the second hamburger. By the time that I finished off my food, he’d been done for ten minutes.

“You eat really fast,” I found myself saying.

His eyes colored to something darker. “Had to eat fast in there. Didn’t know from day to day whether there’d be a riot to make you not eat for a day. Or a fight that had them messing up your food. Or even a man that tried to act badass and take it straight out from under you. I learned to eat fast. Everybody did.”

I hated that for him.

But, not knowing what to say to that, I chose to clean up our trash.

He helped, and soon we were once again heading out of the store.

“Where to now?” I asked.

He didn’t answer at first, his eyes going around the parking lot as we made our way outside.

“Google barber shops,” he ordered.

I did and found one that was close.

When we arrived, it was to see a line of people waiting to get done.

“Fuck,” he grumbled darkly.

I looked over at him in concern.

“Here,” I said, handing him my phone. “You can play on this while you wait. I’ll read my paperback that I got at the grocery store yesterday.”

After he took it, I twisted around in my seat and searched through the bags that I’d left in the car because I was too lazy to haul them inside.

Finding my book, I twisted back around into my seat before saying, “Let me go check you in. Then I’ll wait in the car with you.”

Then I was gone, unaware that he had his eyes glued to my ass the entire time. Or that I’d given him a show.

After checking him in, I went back to the car and sat on the hood, waiting to hear