Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
It’d all started the morning after Lincoln and I had come crashing together. I’d holed up in my room the rest of the night — scared of what we’d done meant and scared of running into Wilder and having him see the truth all over my face. I loved what’d happened with Lincoln, but I felt weirdly terrible, for it not having been Wilder I was with.
…Considering I’d never had a boyfriend, the whole thing was beyond confusing.
That morning, I’d ducked out earlier, grabbing a small pack with some snacks and water, and my hiking boots, going out for a long trail walk in Wilder’s acreage. I had to clear my head, and also, I had to get out of the house I shared with the two men who I had such conflicting and uncontrollable feelings for.
But a small hike had turned into a much longer one, and that had turned into me taking back trails and side roads all the way into the small little downtown area of our town. It was there that I realize that, for one, I was miles from home, and two, my feet were absolutely killing me.
That’s also where I’d bumped into Justin — college douchebag quarterback Justin — who’d offered to drive me home. I knew the risk involved, and I knew from the way he talked to my tits that his whole “what, just a ride” bullshit was, well, bullshit. But I took him up on it anyways.
Well, the ride had turned into a forced date.
First, he insisted on getting food, but that I was “welcomed to go hitchhike if I didn’t want to wait.” I’d sat there glaring at him as he’d wolfed down a burger and a beer, and then a second beer, before he’d finally agreed to drive me. But then, we’d bumped into a bunch of his douchebag friends in the parking lot, and another hour had gone by, until suddenly the day was gone, it was dark, and I just wanted to get the hell home.
I was also technically past my curfew at that point, but I wasn’t worried about it. I was too worried about Justin keeping his damn eyes on the road, and his damn hands away from my thigh.
“Jesus, Mackenzie, anyone ever tell you how fuckable you are?”
I wrinkled my nose and turned to look out the window, when suddenly I felt his fingers on my leg again.
“Goddamnit!” I spat, shoving his hand away angrily. “I said no, didn’t I? Like ten fucking times?”
Justin muttered something about me being a “tease” and floored it, yanking the wheel when we got to the huge front gates of Wilder’s estate, roaring up the driveway.
Great, I was late and they’d see me getting dropped off by the guy they knew I’d been out with the other night.
…For a second, I wondered if I’d get “punished” again, and my cheeks burned at the thought.
“You know, some girls would like suck a dick or something. You know, show a little fucking gratitude?”
I narrowed my eyes at Justin.
“I hope you drive off the road.”
“Cock-tease.”
“Douchebag.”
I slammed the door, ignoring Justin’s incredibly lame and rushed apologies and that he’d “totally go down on me after.”
Yeah, uh, no thanks.
I flipped him off as I walked away, smiling when I heard him swear some more and then peel out back down the driveway.
I sighed as I headed around the side of the huge house to the back entrance by the kitchen. It’d been a long twenty-four hours, and I was just glad to be home. Also, there was a heat burning inside of me. It’d been there all day, lingering under the surface and hiding behind my confusion about how I felt for both Wilder and Lincoln. But now that I was back, the confusion was starting to fade.
The plain truth was, there wasn’t one of them I wanted more than the other. And that was what was so freaking confusing about the whole thing. I couldn’t “pick” one, because, well, I just couldn’t.
I wanted them both. I wanted them both, in a way that made me feel alive, and sultry, and sexy and dirty all at once. They made me feel protected, and comforted, and really if I thought about it — and even if I’d been such a brat to them since I’d arrived — they made me feel like part of a family in a way I’d never really felt before.
…Was that part of the fantasy with them? Them swooping in to save me and take me away and make every shitty part of my life better? I guess I’d always wanted someone to protect me like them — someone to be that firm hand to guide me and watch me. I’d never had a dad — not a real one at least. I had a biological father who never wanted me anyways and who’d barely ever acknowledged me.