Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Dropping to my knees, I continue tickling her sides, the sensitive spots of her neck, not even cracking the faintest smile. She thrashes and pretends to struggle but really just pulls me deeper in, seeking more contact.
We pretend-fight. Let loose some of that tension that’s built up the past year.
Bailey presses her socked feet to my face, laughing breathlessly.
I’d love to continue this game, but my boner is about to rip through my boxers and run toward her bathroom for a cold shower. Plus, there are some burning topics on my agenda. I stop abruptly. Our eyes lock. Green on blue. I’m on top of her, my weight pinning her down.
She looks a little thinner than last time I saw her, but she’s still the most beautiful girl on planet earth. I lower my face until we’re an inch from one another. Her hot breath prickles the whiskers on my cheeks.
“Argh.” She tries to kick me off, but I’m stronger, bigger, and have a zero-bullshit policy. “You have the eyelashes of a giraffe,” she moans. “Boys with long, curly eyelashes should be outlawed.”
“Heard they’re trying to legislate this in Congress. Visit me in jail?” I lick my lips.
She shakes her head slowly. “Nah. Play your cards right, though, and I’ll top up your iPay.”
I can’t help but laugh, pressing my forehead against hers. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
She nods but doesn’t say anything.
She’s sobered up now, and I can tell she wants to ask why I didn’t come to see her in the hospital. But she won’t. Because she knows. It’s written all over my face—I didn’t come because I hate her guts for overdosing and she’s not off the goddamn hook.
“I’m sorry,” she rasps. “I really, really am.”
I swipe a lock of blond hair from her forehead. “You okay, Dove?”
“Yeah,” her voice is husky. Hoarse. “Thank you for…you know.”
Our mouths are an inch apart.
She licks her lips, her gaze lowering to my mouth. A small, longing sigh escapes her.
There’s a moment where I wonder if she wants me to kiss her. There were a lot of moments in our past where I thought she wanted me to kiss her. And just like in all the others, her wispy ballerina body slips beneath mine, and she’s up on her feet in a flash, avoiding me.
She marches into her walk-in closet and examines the rows upon rows of summer dresses, arranged by color to create a wall-to-wall rainbow. “What took you so long?”
Hopping to my feet, I grumble, “You rolled into town without a text.”
Bailey makes a surprised face. She might be a great dancer, but she has the acting chops of an eye booger. “Really? I thought I texted you back.”
“No, you didn’t. I can deal with you fucking up, but I won’t put up with lying.”
She gathers her hair into a long ponytail and drops her gaze to her feet. “Sorry. The last few days have been overwhelming. I was building up the courage to call you. Trying to figure out what I wanted to say.”
Ambling toward her, I ask, “And have you?”
She bites down on her lower lip, shaking her head.
“Fine. I’ll do the talking, then. Do you have a drug problem?” I rest my elbow on the doorframe, blocking her way out of her walk-in closet.
“Jesus, Lev!” She slaps her thigh with the cardigan she’s holding. “Why’s everyone so upset the moment I start living a little and trying new things?”
“That wasn’t a yes or a no.” My voice is a steel blade. Sharp. Cold. Cutting.
“My only drug problem is that everyone keeps talking to me about drugs.”
“You overdosed.”
“No, I experimented with painkillers. Bought something laced. Got burned. I only did it to keep my injuries’ pain at bay. But I’m done with all that.”
I want to believe her because the alternative is going to drive me nuts.
I also don’t want to micromanage her, but if it’s tough love she needs, she’s cruising for some bruising because I’m gonna make it my job to tail her ass and make sure she’s clean.
“Then why was it so hard to figure out what to say?” I eyeball her.
“Because what happened to me was embarrassing.”
“Yet in that moment, you called me.”
“Duh.” Peevish look.
“Why?” I press.
She swallows hard. “Because.”
“President of the debate team, ladies and gents.” I slow clap, sneering down at her.
“Because you were the first number I could find!” She stomps like a child. “It means nothing, okay? Don’t read too much into it.”
I’m torn between calling her bluff and walking out of here.
Bailey sighs. “Look, I have cabin fever. Can I go for a ride?”
Sure can, Dove. You can go on three. On my cock.
See, these are the kinds of thoughts I really should stop thinking about when I’m next to her.
“You need permission now?” I crack my knuckles, whistling. “How the mighty have fallen.”