Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“It wasn’t.” He ruffles my hair. “Come on, I’ll walk you home. I need to sober up and work off this sandwich.”
We walk through the park and down the street to my house. We aren’t holding hands anymore, but they brush against each other.
We stop in front of my house.
He rakes his hair off his face. “So. You wanna go to brunch tomorrow?”
I laugh nervously. “Is food all you ever think about?”
“Athlete.”
“Actually, I was thinking of going to the lake and taking some photos at sunrise. It’s a good time. There’s never anyone there, plus I don’t think I can sleep for a while—not after Parker.”
His lips tighten as he heaves out an exhale, getting that pissy, angry look on his face again, so I change the topic.
“Taking photos has become a little hobby of mine.” At least Channing was good for one thing.
He nods. “Want some company? I could use the time away from campus to clear my head.” His face hardens. “I really want to go back to Kappa and beat the shit out of Parker.”
“And it would solve nothing and get you in trouble.”
“Right. So? Can I come with? We can take my truck and you can drive.”
Yes. A million times. I can tell myself that I don’t want to be alone, but the truth is, I want him with me for other reasons.
I go up to my door and let him in, putting my finger to my lips. “Wait down here. I need to grab the equipment.”
He doesn’t argue as I tiptoe up the stairs. In my room, I change into jeans and a sweatshirt and grab Channing’s camera bag. I can’t say I feel guilty about using it.
Twenty minutes later, we’re at the lake.
He sits on a park bench. “What’s so great about this place?”
I catch a couple of ducks drifting on the water under the purple, pre-dawn sky and snap the pic. “It’s pretty. I love nature. There’s no artifice. Everything you see is true.”
“Ever go to Bell Mountain?”
I snap another photograph of the trees, the sky glowing behind their brightly-colored fall leaves. “No car. I had to sell it to pay Connor months ago.”
“I have one.”
I snap another photo, my nerves zinging. Does that mean he wants to do this again? This night has been one of a lot of surprises, good and bad, shifting my world in big ways, and I’m not sure I can take it shifting anymore.
The lighter the sky gets, the better I feel.
I shove the ugliness from earlier away.
Nothing Kappa can touch me here.
Parker doesn’t matter.
Someday his actions will slap him in the face.
Karma will get him.
And I’ll be waiting for it.
When the sun has fully risen, I find Eric asleep on the park bench, his mouth parted as he lightly snores. I stare at his face, the way the sunlight makes his reddish hair glint with golden lights. My gaze traces his bent nose, the curve of his lips.
“Eric?” I whisper, shaking him slightly.
He opens his eyes sleepily. “Yeah?”
“How many times have you broken your nose?”
He gives me a squinty, confused look. “Uh, three or four. I lost count.”
I laugh. “Okay, it was just something I had to know.”
“Glad to help.” He yawns widely. “Where are we going for brunch?”
I tap him on the shoulder teasingly. “Stop that. I have to go. I have to check on my mom today.”
“All right,” he says, sitting up and stretching.
I start to move backward to let him stand, but I forget where we are, on the edge of the water, and nearly topple over. At the last second, he reaches forward and grabs me, pulling me flush against him so that all the breath leaves my body.
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs as his hand caresses down my spine. “Every time.”
16
Eric
I wake up, stretch, turn my head—and stare at the eyes that greet me. Lucifer is curled up with part of his tail in my hair. “Beat it,” I growl.
He gets up and prisses to the other pillow.
After my shower, he’s moved back to mine. “You aren’t sleeping in here all day,” I mutter as I throw on some jeans and a Hawthorne sweatshirt.
“Go bother Reece. He’s your owner.” I set him outside my room and close the door tight.
“Where you going?” Boone asks from the couch as I grab my jacket off the hook. He’s still wearing his pledge shirt from last night. He rubs his forehead, and I’m guessing he just got home.
“Errands. Hey, I thought Kappa was doing black-out week for mid-terms, but you look rough. Are you guys still drinking every night?” It’s been two weeks since the party where Parker handcuffed Julia. I told Boone about Parker and Julia, but he claims the brothers said she went into his room willingly.
Just like she said they would. Such bullshit.