Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“I didn’t—”
“You knew in your gut.”
As I said those words, I saw the truth. She did, and she was admitting it to herself. I didn’t care if it was the first time or the last time. She knew, and she stood by and let it happen. As far as I was concerned, that was worse in some ways.
“Maybe.”
“You knew.”
I let my disdain drip from those two words before I left. At this point, I didn’t care who walked behind me.
I was fed up with being attacked. I was fed up with being scared. I was fed up with being a target.
Shay followed behind, calling my name.
I ignored him, walking to his Jeep in a fast clip. I waited, my hand on the handle, and he paused behind me. He stood there, watching me, but I kept staring forward. I saw his gaze in the window. After a second, he went to his side and unlocked the doors.
I opened mine, but looked back.
Kristina, Casey, and Linde were leaving the station, too.
“You okay?” Kristina asked.
I wasn’t. “I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile.
Kristina narrowed her eyes. “You sure?”
Casey snorted. “Well, fuck that. I’m not okay. Can we all stay at the house?”
Linde grinned. “Hell yeah. We’re not going to kick out two chicks, especially hot ones like you ladies.”
Kristina smiled her thanks but edged closer to me.
Casey turned to give him crap, and the two were soon engaged in whatever they were doing. Flirting. Sparring. Tic-tac-toe. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care at that moment.
“You sure you’re okay?”
Kristina wasn’t one to be fooled easily, but I lied through my fucking teeth. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get away for a bit. That’s all.”
“Okay.” She looked past my shoulders to Shay. Her smile faded a bit before she stepped back.
Shay called out, “Linde, you’re okay?”
“Yep!” His roommate looked over, saluting him. “See you guys in a few.” His gaze fell to me, and the joking surface faded a bit. He sobered and nodded. I knew what he was saying. He had stayed in the background, but he cared. Same with Casey. She might’ve been flirting with Linde at the moment, but she came to protect me.
She’d been in my shoes.
“Ready?”
I got in, closed the door, and leaned back.
One giant breath of air left me, and along with it, my last semblance of control.
“Hey.”
Shay’s hand came down on my back. He meant it in a comforting manner, but I knocked it away. I flared up. “You didn’t know? You had no idea?”
I couldn’t believe that.
She was there for him.
She came for him.
She was watching him!
“How can you have a stalker and have no clue? She’s been here a year and a half.” Then again, a bitter laugh left me. There was so much about Shay I didn’t know.
“I had no clue.”
“Yeah,” I bit out. “That’s apparent. No clue. You have all these friends and had no idea. This”—I motioned between us—“has been going on for a full semester, and I still don’t feel like I know you. You know me. You know I was attacked. You know my brothers. You know my mom is weird. You know my friends. You know almost everything there is to know about me, but I have no clue about you!”
“You know my friends,” he started.
I shook my head. “I don’t. I actually don’t. I had no clue about Cameron. He scared me when I met him, and I met him on your back porch! Are you not getting how screwed up this all is? I don’t know you. You said your mom is a lawyer. You live in a house with other football players. I know you’re friends with Linde. You’re sleeping with me. That’s all I know! And surprise, you’ve had a stalker you had no clue about for a full fucking year and a half. I am still racking my brain. How is that possible?”
His mouth dropped. Pain flitted over his features. “I’m a guy. Girls like me. Guys want to be my friend. I . . . I don’t know. I don’t have any big skeletons in my closet, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“You never talk about yourself. Why is that?”
“I—” He was shaking his head, perplexed. “I just don’t think about it. I’m focused on you when we’re together. We have sex, a lot of it. That takes up my attention.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No.” The second one was quieter. A pit was starting in my chest, and it was getting bigger and bigger. “That isn’t fair. You can’t say that. We have sex, but there are nights you just hold me. You know all about me.”
“But do I?”
I sucked in a breath. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not asking that to be a dick, but do I really know you? We went backward with this whole thing. You didn’t like me, then suddenly we’re making out, and that went to sex real quick. We’ve never stopped to look back. You were living with me, even. I mean, we are not normal. The whole getting to know each other, we skipped over that part.”