Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
The sound of his bike is almost deafening as Tanner flies up the street and pulls to a stop in his driveway.
Then just like my very first day in Bradford, he looks up at my window, that sleek black helmet concealing his eyes beneath but doing nothing to mask the feel of his intense stare locked on mine. Nerves settle deep in my bones, and I curl my fingers into my palms, pressing my nails against my skin to distract me from what I’m about to do. It doesn’t make sense to be nervous—it’s Tanner—but here I am, feeling as though I’m about to shit myself.
He reaches up and removes his helmet as he relaxes back on his bike, looking like a fucking treat with his black shirt clinging to his skin and stretching around his biceps. He doesn’t say a word, just stares up at me, knowing damn well the kind of effect he has on me. It’s always been this way, and always will be. I don’t think anything will ever change that. Tanner Morgan has got one hell of a hold over me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My need for answers pulls me from the window and all the way down the stairs. A million questions filter through my mind, but by the time I hit the front door adrenaline pulses through me, and I can’t remember a single one of them.
I’m being ridiculous. Tanner was open with me about what happened that night, and I have no reason to doubt that he won’t be open with me now.
Stepping out through the front door, I immediately glance over to Tanner’s driveway to find him in the middle of putting his bike in the garage. I walk across, skipping over the small hedge between the two properties before stepping into the opening of the garage. He kicks the stand down and balances the bike before hooking his helmet over the handle.
Tanner glances back at me with a heaviness in his eyes that nearly brings me to my knees. He indicates toward the interior door with a small nod. “Come on,” he mutters.
He holds out his hand and I willingly take it, allowing him to lead me inside. He presses a button on the wall to close the garage door as we enter the house, and I let him pull me into the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
I shake my head, my appetite completely gone, though I’m sure that’s not the case for Tanner. He’s always starving after training. I take a seat on one of the chairs around the island counter while Tanner dives deeper into the kitchen, becoming one with the refrigerator.
He pulls out a container of leftover takeout and grabs a fork, not even bothering to heat it before digging in like some kind of psychopath. “Where is everybody?” I ask, watching as he lifts the fork full of noodles to his mouth.
Tanner shrugs his shoulders. “Addison said something about going to a friend’s house after school, but really, I think she’s trying to avoid being here in case Hudson shows up to talk about her little spontaneous make-out session, and Mom has some fundraiser meeting at the country club.”
“So, we’re alone?”
His brow arches and a cocky grin stretches across his gorgeous face. “All alone,” he says, his tone thick and suggestive.
I roll my eyes. “What’s with men and their one-track minds? Does everything have to be about sex?”
“No, not always,” he says, digging back into the take-out container. “But we try to keep it at a respectful eighty to ninety percent, otherwise we’ll get kicked out of the sleazy men’s club. When that happens, they take our license to fuck, and no one wants that.”
I shake my head. “How do you even say that shit with a straight face?”
Tanner shrugs his shoulders and walks around to my side of the island, sitting down beside me as he continues to annihilate his noodles. “I can’t tell you all my secrets now, can I?”
“Maybe not,” I mutter, a seriousness coming over me. “But there are some we need to talk about.”
Tanner nods and puts the container down on the counter, pushing it away from us before swiveling on his seat. “Are you okay?” he murmurs, grabbing my knees and swinging me toward him to put us face to face. “What I told you the other day, it wasn’t my intention to scare you.”
I shake my head, reaching up and cupping the side of his face. “I’m not scared of you, Tanner. I was just … I was heartbroken.” His brows furrow, not having expected that response. “I’ve painted this picture of you in my head of this untouchable, incredible guy who could do no wrong, and it’s probably one of the reasons why I was so taken aback that night you lost control at the track. You made me realize you had flaws just like the rest of us, and so when you told me what you’d been involved in as a kid and how you never stood up and reported it, I was in shock. It’s not something I ever thought you’d be capable of. I was so angry, I couldn’t understand how you’d gone so many years without doing something about it, but after you explained why you couldn’t, and I had some time to process that information, I started to see the bigger picture. You’re just as much of a victim in this as the mother and her child were.”