Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
He groans against my mouth then kisses me hard. “Can’t.”
I try not to flinch, and fail. “Yeah. These are the fancy kind of family you don’t take your bought-and-paid-for girlfriend to see. I get it.”
He grips my hips and tugs me to the edge of the counter. I have to wrap my legs around his waist so I don’t fall. “Don’t tell yourself bullshit stories.”
We both know it’s not bullshit—at least not completely.
He kisses his way down the side of my neck and snakes a hand up my shirt to cup my breast. “Maybe I’ll just stay here with you instead.” He scrapes his teeth across my collarbone. His thumb dances over my nipple. Teasing. Promising. “Maybe I’ll fuck you right here.”
Those words flip something in both of us, and the undeniable need flares back to life.
In a frenzy, I reach for the belt on his pants, and he peels off my shorts.
And he fucks me against the counter just like he promised.
And after, when he straightens his tie before kissing me goodbye and heading out to see his family, I let myself cry. He promises to give me anything, but I don’t know if he’ll ever give me the only thing I really want. All of him.
I’m practically skipping when I get home from work on Saturday. My shift dragged on forever, and all I could think about was Oliver being home when I got back and having all day today and Sunday home with him.
It hurt that he didn’t want me to meet his family, but after a good night’s sleep I decided fighting that particular battle wouldn’t be worth ruining the few weeks we have left together.
I unlock the door and push inside. The TV is on, which is weird. Oliver almost never watches TV alone, but maybe we’ll do a movie together tonight.
He’s sprawled out on the couch, scowling at his phone, seeming oblivious to the TV screen in front of him.
I drop my purse on the counter and take a seat next to him. “Hey, you. I was hoping to see you this morning, but you must’ve snuck out before I woke up.”
He doesn’t look at me—just scowls at his phone and scrolls. “You didn’t miss me. I stayed in the city.”
I flinch. “How was dinner?”
“Only slightly more miserable than I anticipated.” He jabs at something on his screen.
These walls of his are high and impenetrable, and having him throw them at me is more painful than anything I encountered with Chuck. Maybe because I never really cared for Chuck the way I care for Oliver.
“Oliver . . .” I swallow hard. “Right now, you’re making me feel like you don’t want me here, and if that’s the case, I can leave, but if it’s not, I wish you’d look at me.”
He blinks up at me as if he’s been shaken from a dream, then drops his phone and pulls me into his arms. “Fuck. I’m sorry.”
I curl into his chest. The words It’s okay sit on my tongue, but I trap them there and swallow them down. “Thank you,” I whisper.
He toys with my hair, his expression softening. “These people are poison, and I feel off for days after I’ve had to be around them.”
“Your father?” I ask.
“Yeah. And his wife and their son.” His voice is rough, and I can tell every syllable is hard for him. He doesn’t like talking about this. “My sister is the only one I can tolerate. Somehow she turned out decent despite them.”
I twist and settle my head in his lap so I can look up at him. “Can you answer a question for me?”
“I can try.” He traces along my jaw and across my cheekbones, as if he’s trying to memorize the contours of my face.
“Why do you hate them so much?”
His beautiful gray eyes turn sad. “When I was young, I hated my father for abandoning my mother. I was too proud to hate him for abandoning me, but I saw how hard it was for her to raise me on her own, to be alone. And then when she died, I hated him for making me move in with him and his perfect fucking family. He wanted me to slide right into their world as if I’d been there all along, but they didn’t want me there. His wife and son resented my very existence and made sure I knew it. My little sister was the only bright spot in the whole shitty ordeal.”
“How long did you live with them?”
“Two long years.” He sighs and settles a hand on my stomach, stroking lightly with his thumb. “I wanted to move out before then, to get emancipated, but my father had the money, and if I wanted him to pay for college, I had to live with them until I graduated from high school.”