Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“What can I do? What do I need to say to make you realize hurting yourself is not the answer?” I can feel his warm breath against my skin.
“Kiss me,” I say softly.
His eyes widen, but they continue to watch my face. My teenage heart pounds against my rib cage as he slowly leans in. My eyes flutter closed just as I feel him brush his lips faintly against mine. One second he’s there, and the next he’s pulling away.
Without releasing my face he backs away slightly. “Sealed with a kiss, Khloe. No more self-harm. You just made that promise.”
I nod my head in agreement, unable to form words right now. The soft peck is not exactly what I had in mind, but somehow it was perfect at the moment.
I miss the rough feel of his hands on my cheeks the second he pulls away.
“I was thinking we could just hang out in here,” he offers. “I could grab snacks and we could just binge on sweets, carbs, and soda. Maybe watch a movie or something.”
“You should get some sleep,” I say again. I doubt he took a nap after he dropped me off in the room yesterday, so that means he’s been up since before he came to the hospital yesterday morning.
“I’d rather watch a movie with you.”
Who am I to deny him?
“That sounds great. You grab the snacks; I’ll pick the movie?” I offer.
He grins and stands from the bed. “No sappy chick shit, though,” he says before leaving the room.
I chuckle at his insistence and grab the remote from the bedside table.
I can’t seem to find anything on satellite, so I flip over to Netflix. I haven’t just hung out and binge watched a show since before Alec left for Basic Training. I feel a small twinge of guilt at doing this with Kid. I’m not replacing Alec, I remind myself. I’m just finding a way to fill the lonely hours.
I decide on Breaking Bad. I’ve never watched the show, but I figure there’s not much romance in a show about cooking meth.
I stare at Kid as he walks back into the room, arms overflowing with every kind of snack you could imagine. I climb off the bed and pull the plastic ring holding four cans of soda from his mouth.
“Really?” I say cocking an eyebrow at him. “I sure hope you don’t expect me to eat even half of this mess.”
With more flare than necessary, he leans over the bed and opens his arms, letting the waterfall of treats flow from his arms.
“I didn’t know what you’d like,” he says as he sits on the edge of the bed and begins to unlace his boots.
Once both boots are off, he stands from the bed and lines them up perfectly in front of the dresser. He picks the side of the bed I wasn’t sleeping on earlier and sits down on top of the covers. I follow his lead, but climb under the covers, covering my lap. I’ve always felt the need to cover up if a blanket is within reach.
I swipe my hand over the huge pile of snacks and settle on a bag of nacho cheese Doritos. He picks a bag of spicy pork skins, and I cringe at his choice.
“What?” he asks with a smirk as he tugs open the bag.
“Nothing,” I say settling against the headboard. I can never understand why someone would want to chow down on strips of fried animal fat. I grab two cans of soda. I hand him one and open the other. I hate how big the bed is. I’d love nothing more than to sit closer to him, but if I got any closer, I wouldn’t be able to reach the drink I just took a sip of and placed on the bedside table.
“You don’t like pork skins?” He asks as he makes a show of chomping loudly on the disgusting things.
“Let’s just say that if it were me and a bag of that nasty stuff alone on a deserted island, I’d probably starve to death.” He laughs loudly before reaching into my bag of Doritos for a handful.
I point the remote at the screen and start the show.
“Oh good choice,” he says finally noticing what I picked. “I’ve been wanting to start this.” He yawns again and I know the second he gets comfortable he’s going to pass out.
I smile internally, knowing this handsome devil is going to sleep in my bed tonight. That thought also reminds me of the fact that he didn’t sleep alone last night either. I chastise myself for the immaturity and do my best to harden myself against my attraction to him.
Surprisingly, we made it through three episodes before he finally gave in to his exhaustion. I mute the TV. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want it to bother him, but I really just want to hear him breathe. I laugh at the thought. I’m not a creeper or anything, but his breathing is so steady and deep, it’s soothing; relaxing to me.