Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
“Arden says he ran into you at the club.”
Fucking Arden.
“Yep. Hannah and I played tennis and had lunch with my mom.”
“You run into Aladdin while you were there?”
I turn around to meet his gaze. “You know Javi is Hispanic, right?”
“You know he’s also a poor asshole in a vest trying to trick some sheltered rich girl into liking him, right?”
My cheeks flush with heat. “I am not rich. I’m middle class at best. You’re the one with money.”
“Which you have access to now. You live in my house. You met him at a country club, Parker. You think he looks at you and sees middle class?”
I sigh at him, then shake my head and focus on putting fruit in the blender. “Whatever. He wasn’t even working, so no, we didn’t see him. Again, not that it is any of your business.”
Landon nods at the fruit bowl. “Get me an apple.”
“Get it yourself.”
I spoke without thought because I’m so annoyed at him, but when he actually gets up and saunters over toward me, my heartbeat accelerates like it’s auditioning for The Fast and the Furious, and I find myself wishing I’d have just handed him the damn apple.
I swallow, trying my very best to ignore him as he comes up behind me. He looms deliberately, caging me in from behind, placing his hands on the counter on either side of me. I gasp as his heat hits my back, stiffen when he lets go of the counter to reach for the apple.
His breath tickles my ear as he murmurs, “Guess I didn’t ask very nicely, huh?”
My heart ticks erratically and suddenly I can’t breathe. It’s not fear, though. His words aren’t mean, they’re almost teasing. Lighthearted despite his threatening position behind me. It feels… different. Almost intimate.
Snatching his apple, he steps back, and in a split second, the moment has passed. He isn’t so close, and I can breathe again.
I brace my hands on the counter and try to steady my breathing and my racing heart so he doesn’t notice when he sits down, but he doesn’t sit down. When I look over, he’s gone, already on his way out the door.
I should feel relieved. I do, but some strange part of me feels bereft, too.
I shake off that insanity and get back to my smoothie. I can’t stop thinking about that brief interaction, though. I have literally been dreading it since he bent me over the couch and did what he did to me that night. The dread had built up and hardened because I had no idea what to expect of our next interaction. But that… that wasn’t so bad.
“Hey, honey.”
My gaze jumps over to Mom, putting her purse on the counter.
“Hey, Mom.”
She comes over to give me a kiss on the temple. “Did you sleep well?”
I nod, flashing her a smile. “Yeah, I did. You?”
Hayden comes around the corner, already dressed for work with his briefcase in hand. Mom glances at him, then smiles softly as she nods, but she doesn’t say a word.
It’s a bittersweet smile, one that feels as true as the mountain of lies I’ve told since moving in with the Atwaters.
We never used to lie to each other before them.
At least I know if she lost any sleep—for a bad reason, anyway—it wasn’t because of Hayden. It was the younger Atwater and concern for me keeping her up at night.
Last night may have been the first night since we moved in that was entirely unwarranted, though. I was so distracted by Javi, I didn’t think of Landon once.
Okay, not more than once.
Okay, not more than a couple of times.
The point is, I thought about him less, and even when I did, the thoughts weren’t as potent.
Until he cornered you in the kitchen and you couldn’t breathe because he was standing so close.
I scowl at my own unhelpful thought and the bite of guilt that comes with it. I know I’ve only been texting Javi for less than a day, but I’ve enjoyed it so much. I like him, so Landon’s inconveniently dominant physical presence shouldn’t still work like that, should it?
I’m probably being unreasonable. The thing with Javi is new. The thing with Landon is very old. Even if it does turn into something with Javi, I’m sure it will take a little time before Landon becomes utterly powerless over me. Old habits die hard and all that, right?
I’m in new territory and lacking a roadmap, so I pour my smoothie into a to-go cup and decide to do what I always do when there’s something I don’t thoroughly understand.
Research it.
___
I only have a little time to hit up the school library before my first class, but I’m able to grab a couple of books to check out and take with me.
Andreas Capellanus wrote a book codifying the rules of courtly love in the twelfth century, and because I’m thorough, I decide that’s a good place to start.