Read Online The Arrogant Architect by LK Collins - Free Book Online Page B

my
favorite one.”
    “Yeah?” I ask, taking a sip of the coffee he has set out for
me.
    “Yeah. When I read it, I can hear her voice clear as day.”
    “Me too. Hey, sorry about this morning,” I tell him, knowing
a good distraction technique works to reel him back in from the pain of being
without her.
    “It’s all right. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
    “Always, Dad.”
    “I saw your collection of shooters, should I be worried?”
    I laugh out loud and look at the bag King bought me. “No,
nothing to be worried about. A friend bought it for me being funny.”
    “Was it that girl from work?”
    “No, that guy who bought the building next door.”
    “I thought you didn’t like him?”
    “I don’t, but it’s a long story.” He can sense I’m holding
back, so I fill him in on almost everything.
    “He doesn’t sound bad to me.”
    “Dad, he’s nuts. He bought this building and...”
    “And he saved you from moving. He also spent what did you
say…thirty thousand dollars on three other bikes?” I nod. “Ever, you’ve gotta
give him a chance. Now you don’t have to move, you can unpack all of your
stuff.”
    Looking for anything wrong with him I tell my dad, “Well,
don’t forget he got me kicked out of work on my birthday.”
“No, Ever, you lost your temper with him and got yourself in trouble.”
    “Why are you sticking up for him, Dad?”
    “Let’s just say when I met your mother I did some crazy
things myself.”
    I could never imagine my father doing anything crazy, so to
hear him say that comes as a shock. “What did you do, Dad?”
    “I went to her house every night and threw tiny little
pebbles at her window until she agreed to go out with me.”
    “That’s not crazy.”
    “And then when she broke up with me, I sat on her porch all
night long.”
    “Okay, Dad. I get the point.” I put the framed letter on the
table where it usually sits, knowing what he is trying to tell me. Maybe what
King has been doing hasn’t been that bizarre. Maybe, it’s been me pushing him
away that has made everything seem that much worse.
     
    _____
     
    Walking around the antique street market with my dad, he’s
like a kid in a candy store. Everything is so interesting to him. As I watch
him barter for an old fan, broken and missing pieces, I can’t help but smile.
He gives me a grin when he makes the deal, and it’s because those are the ones
he loves the most. The really broken pieces that only he can fix.
    He walks back over to me and says, “Can you believe I got
this for thirty-seven dollars?”
    ‘That’s great, Dad.” The sun is exhausting and I need to
eat. Hangovers are such a bitch. Checking the time on my phone, there are still
no messages from King. I still need to text him and I will…later. Sliding my
phone into my back pocket, suddenly his scent invades me, followed by his
warmth as his body shrouds mine, awakening my senses as he stands behind me and
whispers into my ear, “You owe me a text.”
    “I’m aware.” I turn around, his body brushing up against
mine.
    He takes his sunglasses, lifting them up as he tries to read
me. “Let me see your eyes.” I smirk and lift my shades. “There you go…getting
me hard again,” he says through gritted teeth.
    I swallow as my dad calls over his shoulder, “Could you use
this, Ever?”
    I shake my head and King grins at me, “Do you want to text
me now…or later?”
    “Later,” I whisper and my dad comes up looking at the close
interaction between the two of us.
    “Dad,” I exclaim, “This is my friend, King, I was telling
you about this morning.”
    They shake hands and King looks at someone waving a cuckoo
clock in the air. “Could you guys excuse me? My aunt needs me real quick.”
    “Sure.” He walks off and I watch my dad, observing where he
is going. “I’ll be back too,” my dad says and leaves me standing all alone.
Well…I might as well join.
    “It’s broken,” my dad declares, standing between King