Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“You had boyfriends.”
“Yeah.” I snorted. “Three very lame boyfriends. They don’t count. They weren’t real relationships.”
“I’m sorry for that too. And yes, every guy knew not to mess with you because I could snatch you up. I kinda let that be known.”
I wanted to chuck a shoe at him. I looked around, maybe I could throw something else, something that wouldn’t do as much damage. I wanted to do damage, though. I wanted to do a whole lot of damage.
I said instead, “You’re a piece of shit.”
“I know.” He held his hands up again in surrender. “Some of the stuff I said to you, I wasn’t actually lying. I wasn’t ready for a girl like you. And I didn’t know how to handle it. I’m a selfish piece of work. I’m sleazy. I’m a manipulating manwhore. But I swear, you helped me want to change. You wouldn’t talk to me at home over the holiday, and this is the first time I’ve worked up the courage to approach you. I know I messed up.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I lost my shot with you. That affected me. It’s because of you that I’m even with Kiara. If I’d met her back in November or December, I never would’ve looked twice at her. She’s a good girl. I can’t be with good girls. I ruin them.”
I wanted to growl. “I already warned you not to hurt her.”
“I’m not going to. If anything happened to her…” His smile softened. “Caden could’ve lost you. I saw the look on his face when you fainted. That guy really loves you.”
I frowned. “I was dehydrated. That was it. They gave me fluids for half a day and I was fine.”
“I’m not talking physically. He almost lost you. Caden’s lucky to have you.”
“Oh.” Well, that made me feel good. “Thank you.”
“Sooo, are you going to keep hating me at family stuff? We have summer coming up soon. Things will be awkward if we’re both home and you want to kill me.”
“I never wanted to kill you. More like maim, rip out your guts, castrate you.” I lifted a shoulder. “You couldn’t hurt if you were buried. But if your guts had been pulled out and then put back in with some really bad stitching? Yeah. That would’ve been perfect.”
“Yeah.” He echoed, a hard glint in his eyes. “That’s what I meant.”
“Just so we’re on the same page.”
“And you have absolutely no feelings for me?”
I didn’t think twice. I grabbed the shoe next to my suitcase and threw it at him.
He ducked, and it hit the wall behind him. “Okay, okay.” He stood, his hands covering his face. “I’ll get out of here.” He paused at the door, turning back. “It’s been three years, but I’m excited to actually have a sister now. For real. No bullshit.”
I scowled. “Let’s just try casual acquaintance first. I still don’t fully trust you.”
“And you shouldn’t, but you will. I’ll prove myself to you. I can be someone you can think of as family.” He waved as he disappeared down the hall.
The jury was still out, but after this talk, my need to rip out his guts might’ve lessened. Just a small amount. I had to stop and appreciate this moment, because right here, it hit me how thankful I was. I came to college to be with my stepbrother, but I fell in love with the anti-stepbrother instead. Kevin was an ideal, a Band-Aid over a wound, but not Caden. He was the good, the bad, and the stuff in between. He’d make me feel all of it. He was everything.
He was my everything.
Avery appeared in my doorway a second later. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Was that Kevin?”
“He wanted to apologize for being a slimeball.”
“He’s going to need more than one apology for that.”
“Yeah.” I tossed a pair of sandals on the bed. “How many pairs of shoes did you pack?”
She picked up the sandals and placed them in the suitcase, sitting on my bed. “Uh, I packed…twelve different outfits and four pairs of sandals. I’ll probably end up buying clothes and shoes there. You can never have enough, especially when we’re going to Key West. I can’t wait for tomorrow. It’ll be amazing.”
Marcus, Avery, Colton, Caden, and I were going on spring break together. There were rumors that Diego might fly down to join us. Caden wasn’t sure about that, he tended to be selfish. He liked to keep Diego for himself, but since I took Colt to Diego’s bar one time, there’d been no turning back. Marcus and Avery came the next time, and I was pretty certain that Marcus developed a guy crush on the bar’s owner. Diego wasn’t having it, though. Diego had a new bromance going, and it was with Colton. He declared it the weekend before. I wasn’t sure who was more miffed, Caden or Marcus. Then again, Colton looked a bit wary himself.