Sample Sunday: Gluttony

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a Sample Sunday. Too long if you ask me. So without further wait, here’s a sample from my upcoming release Gluttony – book five in the Love is Cure, Vol. 1 – Vices & Virtues series.

Okay, but side note though? Y’all, this is book five! FIVE! We are only two books away from this series being complete. I really can’t believe it’s almost finished. We are definitely going to have to drink to this ☺️.

But for now, here’s the sample. Enjoy!

*Gluttony is still unpublished so the text below is subject to change

APRYL

Everett and I spent another hour at the club before deciding to leave. Club Déjà Vu was closer to my townhouse, so I walked home instead of hailing a yellow cab.

“I can’t let you walk home alone. I’ll walk you,” Everett said, following behind me before I could tell him otherwise.

It was after 1am, and even given the hour, the streets were still bustling with energy. As we were leaving the club, people were just arriving. They didn’t call New York the city that never sleeps for nothing.

We arrived at the bottom of my townhouse’s steps when I announced, “This is me.”

Everett angled his head to look up at the door, then the windows, his eyes visually climbing the polished stone to the roof of my townhouse’s structure.

“Wow,” he exhaled. “This is all you?”

“Yup.” I angled my chin up and relaxed my shoulders. I’d gotten so much slack over the years on my decision to buy a townhouse alone.

“This is incredible.” He gazed at me, impressed. “Big boss shit. I like it. I like it a lot.”

My head jerked back. “You… like that?”

“For sure.” He nodded slowly, smiling while still examining the outer structure of my townhouse. “It’s all yours. Something you own. An investment. Owning property in New York City is a smart move and solid long-term thinking. Very dope. How many bedrooms?”

I was so flustered by how much he was pouring into me, I couldn’t remember the amount of rooms myself. “Umm, four. No, five.”

He bobbed his head, impressed. “Five is very good.”

Yup, I’m going to fuck him. 

Everett pointed over his shoulder. “I’m gonna go catch a cab now that I see you’re at your enormous door.” He joked. “Monday, right—”

“Do you want to come in?”

Yes, I said that doing anything remotely physical with Everett would be bad for business and kind of like me going down the same path of getting too close to my clients, which, yes; I said I wouldn’t do. But I really wanted him in my bed that night.

He lifted his baseball cap to scratch the top of his head. “Ummm…”

“You can sleep on the couch in my living room,” I reasoned. I didn’t want to be so forward to let him know he wouldn’t know what the couch felt like beneath him because he’d be sleeping with me in my bed. Maybe. Because if we slept at all, sleeping would be the last thing we did. 

Literally.

“It’s late,” I added. “And we’re drunk.”

“The walk here helped me sober up a little.”

“Just come in,” I pushed, turning to climb my steps. I’d reached the middle of my cement staircase when I turned to see him still standing at the foot, so I gestured with my head at my front door while continuing up the stairs.

I didn’t turn back again until after I placed my key into the door’s keyhole and opened it, then walked through the arched entrance, kicking off my sneakers. The only time I turned to look behind me was after Everett closed the front door.

I pulled my hair out of the bun I twisted it into, feeling the strands cascading down my shoulders. “Can I get you some water?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Everett ran his hand up one column’s groove. His eyes measured the height of the arch over my entryway. “19th century built?”

“Yeah.” I padded to the kitchen and stopped in front of the fridge. “You know architecture?”

“I know New York City real estate. I’ve been studying it for a year, looking for another viable stream of income that’s recession proof to keep my money flowing and growing while retired. Until I find something more lucrative, that is.” He toed off his sneakers and swaggered into the living room, eyes still scanning.

I handed him the water when I entered the living room, watching as he unscrewed the water bottle cap.

We stared at each other as he chugged the bottled water near empty.

Anticipation stuttered by breathing and made my pulse race. My patience was dwindling. I wasn’t sure how much more small talk I could entertain.

He swallowed what remained in the bottle and chuckled to himself over the spout. Twisted on the bottle’s cap, and placed it on my coffee table before he confirmed, “I’m not sleeping on this couch tonight, am I?”

“Nope.” I shook my head slowly. “You’re probably not going to sleep at all tonight, actually.”

Everett made a shrugging expression with the corners of his lips.

“Cool, then…” He pointed over my shoulder at the kitchen. “I’m gonna need another bottle of water. For sure.”

I got the water, but instead of walking it back to him, I walked it to the stairs that led up to my bedroom.

“You can drink this one upstairs.”

END OF SAMPLE

Gluttony, book 5 in the Love is Cure, Vol. 1 – Vices & Virtues series is available for pre-order and scheduled for release Friday, January 27th. To pre-order, >>CLICK HERE.<<