Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Mine.
I’m not attached to the shirt, and there is something insanely hot knowing that she wants to keep it. On shaking legs, I stand to my full height and walk to where she’s lying on her bed. I hand her the shirt as I memorize everything about her.
Her flushed skin.
Her hard nipples.
Her scent.
I broke the rules. I crossed a line that I can never uncross. I know that this will be the last time.
I can do better than sneaking into her room and stroking my cock for her. I need to do better. Forrest and Emerson both deserve that. However, I can’t resist when I bend my head and place my lips to her temple.
“Good girl,” I say gruffly before turning and walking out of the room. I pull the door closed as softly as I can before I haul ass down the hall and into the bathroom. Inside, I engage the lock and brace my hands on the counter.
I hang my head because I can’t look at myself.
I fucked up. I should have kept on walking.
Not only did I violate her privacy, but I know that I’ll never be able to forget this night. I also broke the bro code, and yeah, I’m fucked in so many ways.
Turning on the faucet, I wash my hands before splashing water on my face. I have to get out of here. I’ve been up here far too long to just be taking a piss. I need to leave and to be honest, I’m not sure that I can. How do I walk past her door, knowing what’s waiting behind it? How do I face her? How do I face my friends?
I’ve been drinking, and I was going to stay here, but I can’t do that now. I just can’t. Besides, I’m completely sober after that. Whatever it was that just happened.
Turning off the light, I open the door and step out into the hallway. I force myself to walk past her bedroom door and keep my eyes straight ahead. With each step, I fight the urge to go back to her, but I know that’s not possible.
One fuckup is all that I’m allowed. The memory will have to last me because that is never happening again.
When I reach the kitchen, the guys are all coming inside. “Your guts shutting down too?” Lachlan asks me.
I nod and place my hand on my stomach. Not because of some kind of gut issue—well, maybe it is. My gut is churning with guilt and desire.
“I called an Uber,” Lachlan says. “I’d rather shit at my place if that’s how this night is going to go.”
“I’ll split it with you.” I sound miserable because I am. I’m trying not to look guilty, but even with this churning, with this heaviness of what I’ve done sitting on my chest, I wouldn’t change a single fucking minute of tonight.
Not unless it meant more time with her.
Chapter
Two
Emerson
* * *
Emerson Age 19
Roman Age 29
* * *
Stepping out of the shower, I hear my phone ringing. I quickly wrap my hair in a towel, then grab one to tie around my body before opening the door and rushing to where my phone is plugged in on the nightstand beside my bed.
I smile when I see my best friend Monroe’s smiling face. “I just left you not even an hour ago,” I tease.
“Shut it,” she fires back with absolutely no heat in her tone. “Have you seen him yet?”
I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me. “No.” I don’t have to ask her who she’s talking about. I know she means Roman, one of my brother’s best friends, the man I can’t stop thinking about.
Monroe and I have been inseparable since kindergarten, and I don’t hide anything from her. This is why as soon as I caught my breath after our mutual space-sharing masturbation session, I called her to tell her what had happened.
That night is also why I’ve been both dreading and anxiously awaiting summer break from college. I don’t want to face Roman. I don’t want to see the remorse in his eyes. I don’t want to be his living regret.
On the flip side of that, I do want to see him.
I want to see if that night was just a drunken mishap or if there could be something there. Not to mention I’ve missed my big brother.
Forrest has always been there for me, checking in and ensuring I have everything I need. The day I turned eighteen, he showed up at our parents’ place with his four best friends, Legend, Roman, Maddox, and Lachlan, and moved me in with him. That was the best day of my life. I owe my big brother everything, so this request to come home to see him, even though I’d rather avoid his best friend, was an easy one to grant.