Free Chasing the Sun (A Rebound Novella Book 2) by Nikki Mathis Thompson

what it felt like? If he’d had tits this would be considered the walk of shame. But he didn’t have tits. No! He had a dick, a big one, and balls full of sperm.  
    Hell yeah I do!  
    No shame in his game…he’d gotten laid, and well.  
    He mentally high-fived himself and a smug smile replaced his look of bewilderment as he strutted back to his car.  

    Austin was shaping up to be just what his penis needed. He hadn’t thought of what’s her name in weeks. Oh, wait he just did…but now he didn’t care as much. Speaking of Katrine, (the woman who ripped his heart out of his chest cavity, threw it on the ground, and then danced “La Cucaracha” on it) he needed to call her sister, Maddie, and make sure she hadn’t burned his house down. Or rented out the rooms to a circus troupe. After he made his rounds and put in a few hours, he called her.
    “Heeeellloooo!”  
    “Hey, Mads…Were you being British just then?”
    “ Mrs. Doubtfire . So how’s it going down there?”  
    “Great. Work’s good. Meeting cool people.”  
    “Any of those cool people packin’ ovaries?”
    He laughed. “As a matter of fact, yes. I have met some cool girls.”
    “Uh-huh. You so got laid.”
    “What? No!”
    “Don’t bullshit me, Ian. I can practically smell your spoodge from here.”
    “That’s disgusting.”
    “What evs, dude. Who is she?”
    “Maddie, I didn’t call to talk about my sex life.”
    “Fine, stick up the anus. Wait, was there anus involved?”  
    He put the phone down and shook his head.
    “Mads, how is the house and everything?”
    “Fine. No shenanigans of any kind. Well, unless you count having a naked yoga class in your living room shenanigans.”
    “I do.”
    “Well then, there you have it. How’s my sweet girl, Ruby?”
    Oh fuck. He’d meant to tell her.  
    “Ian? What happened to Ruby?”
    “Mads, she passed a few weeks ago.”
    “Nooooo! Not Ruby!”  
    He teared up when he heard her soft sobs on the other line.  
    “What? How?”
    “She stopped eating, so I took her to the vet. It was cancer.”
    “You had to put her down?” Sniffles and a loud blow of the nose.
    “Yes.”
    “Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry. I wish I would have known. I would have come down to be with you.”
    “Thanks, Mads. I appreciate that. I was okay. I have a surrogate Maddie down here and she stepped up.”
    “Oh, Trey, right?”  
    “Yeah, she’s been a really good friend.”
    “Good friends make the best girlfriends.”
    “You offering?”
    “Ian, that’s just nasty. You’re devastatingly handsome, but no gracias.”
    “I second that—no, gracias,” he said with a laugh. Maddie was really hot, but he thought of her as a little sister.
    “So, you’re okay?”
    “I miss her like hell, but it gets better each day. When you get a pet you kinda have to go into it knowing they don’t live as long as you’d like them to. But it was worth it.”
    “Does anyone else know how sweet you are?” Maddie asked. He was taken aback by her soft tone. Very uncharacteristic.
    “Um, my mom does and I guess now you,” he teased.
    “Well, it’s true, and the right girl will see the sweet in you and beg for a cavity.”
    “Uh, thanks?”
    “Well, I gotta go. The delivery guy just got to your house with the slip-n-slide I ordered.”
    He hoped she was kidding.
    “Okay. Make sure the end shoots you out into the street.”
    “Is there any other way? See ya soon, right?”
    “Yes, should be home at the end of next month. You coming down for the opening?”
    “I wouldn’t miss it. Can I get drunk and pee in the reflection pool?”
    “You’d better.”
    “You’re the best. Peace!” Click.

Chapter Seventeen
    “Could you put some of this on my shoulders, please?” Trey asked, holding a bottle of sun block over her right shoulder.
    “You want me to rub lotion on your half naked body? Like you have to ask,” Ian answered, grabbing the bottle and squirting a blob of white cream on his