Page 79 of No Summer Hotter than You

anthony

I glared at the dark ceiling as the soft thudding from Andy and Julie’s room started to intensify into pounding. I quickly sat up in bed. It was two in the fucking morning, and this was the third time they were going at it tonight. They were humping like rabid, horny animals. It was even more irritating that they were behaving as if they hadn’t slipped in a round in the middle of the day when they went to “reapply sunscreen” for forty conspicuous minutes.

“I’m going to cut off his fucking dick,” I muttered over the insistent pounding of their headboard against the wall at our heads.

Thankfully that was all we heard, and we didn’t have to deal with listening to any moans or groans of any disgusting sorts. But still, I wanted to cut off Andy’s dick and sleep without interruptions.

“I’m going to go out to the kitchen,” Shoua declared with a tired sigh. She quickly climbed out of bed, and I silently followed her out into the quiet hallway.

I was surprised that I could barely hear the couple in the room next to us, but that probably had to do with all the heavy doors this house had.

We made it to the kitchen, and Shoua made chamomile tea. A clock ticked quietly in the distance as we sat and drank. If we couldn’t fall asleep in our room, I wondered if we could fall asleep on the couches in the living room. We sat in comfortable silence for some time.

“I have a question,” Shoua whispered gently.

“Hm?” I hummed, glancing at her.

“Why are you so worried about taking over Hughes Developers Incorporation?” She blinked curiously at me.

My mouth became dry as I struggled to say the right words. Dread spread across my chest when I shuttered out, “What if I fuck up?”

“Who says you’ll fuck up?” Her brows creased together and she frowned.

“Me.”

She shook her head. “That’s because you don’t believe in yourself.”

“Well, of course not.” I let out a half-snort, half-laugh, trying to make it a joke. But Shoua didn’t smile.

“You should. Do you know how amazing you are? You brought in three million dollars to your dad’s company this past year, Anthony. You should be proud.”

I let out a sigh. “I wish I could be, but I could always do more. Greater. Better. I want to bring in more revenue, so my parents don’t have to worry about their retirement funds. My goals are lofty, grand, and to be honest, maybe even a bit excessive. And I’m going to work my ass off for it,” I said. “But I’m not ready to take my dad’s position yet. I still need to work harder under him to help him expand the company. I want us to one day make an annual income of ten, maybe even twenty, million dollars. But I want to do that with him. I don’t want to do it by myself. Him, as the leader, and me, as his worker. That’s what I want.”

“That’s so sweet of you to want so much for your parents,” said Shoua, softly.

I shook my head. “It’s great, but I think it’s really because I’m greedy. I always want more in the end with everything.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that kind of greed,” Shoua countered, and I smiled softly at her.

Not with my greed with you, I thought as I sipped my tea.

“Your greed is to do better for the parents you love and to show you’re an outstanding leader with an amazing vision for the company, which you are. I hope you know that. You’ve always been more than enough, Anthony.” She leaned in and I could smell her peach-scented body wash.

Why did she always smell so good?

I closed some of the distance between us, leaving only a sliver of space between our bodies. “I don’t feel good enough, though.” I rested my face into the crook of my palm with a long sigh.

Shoua reached out to me and placed her hand over my heart. Her warm touch made my skin tingle for more—for her to rake her nails across my back and draw blood and quench my thirst for her. With her, I was insatiable. I wanted more, if not all, of her. Like I said, I’m a greedy man after all.

“You are for me,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving mine. Her hot breath fanned across my face, almost teasingly.

I licked my lips and smirked at the way she watched my tongue swipe across my bottom lip. “Yeah?” I said quietly.

She smiled gently and pulled away from me. “Let’s go out to the lake and dip our feet in the water,” she suggested. “It feels stuffy in here.”

We abandoned our warm teas and headed outside. The full moon hung in the dark sky surrounded by sparkling, little stars twinkling above us. Crickets chirped lightly. We took our seats at the start of the deck. We were too lazy to walk all the way out to the end of it, to the deep end, just to dip our feet into the cool, still water.

“Have you ever seen the way your dad looks at you and Andy? His eyes light up and he starts smiling this happy, proud grin. It’s the only smile he’s worn ever since we got here,” she said. “Your dad wants you to take over because you earned his trust. He didn’t just decide this on a whim because you’re his son and you should take over the business. He wants to give this to you because you worked your ass off for it. You deserve this.”

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