Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Lexi looks at the ground and back up, her feet in constant motion as she spins herself in a circle. It’s pretty fucking adorable, and I get the feeling she doesn’t deviate from her route to wait for people very often.
But she’s waiting for me. It’s all the confidence boost I need.
“Hey, Lex,” I greet, a smile making my mouth climb near my eyes. “Headed to the lab, even on the last day of the semester, huh? Isn’t the work supposed to be over?”
She rolls her eyes. “Not for me. There’s always work to do. Research. Improvements. Plus, I don’t graduate until I turn in my final dissertation at the end of summer semester.”
This might be the best news I’ve heard all week.
“So, you’re going to be around on campus all summer?” I smile. “Me too. I have training, practice, and camp with the new guys in June. Maybe we’ll see each other.”
“Well, if you keep stalking me, I’d say there’s no maybe about it.”
I laugh. “I just happened to see you. That’s not the same as stalking.”
“I think you’re relying too heavily on semantics.”
“So, give me your phone number. That way, I won’t have to rely on anything else, and we can eliminate the whole element-of-surprise thing.”
“No,” she says quickly, her response immediate and resolute. “I don’t give my number to anyone.” But then, surprisingly, her expression softens a little. “It’s a safety thing.”
“But we kissed,” I counter, grinning slightly. “Surely that makes me a safe person.”
She shakes her head, unimpressed.
“No?”
“No. Statistically speaking, it makes you more dangerous. Most women who are homicide victims are killed by men they know.”
“Wow. Okay. I don’t love that fact at all. So, what does it take to make me safe?”
She shrugs, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I… Well, I don’t know.”
“That’s fair,” I reply with a small nod. “All trust has to be earned in some capacity, right? So, the more trustworthy I am, the safer I’ll be.” I pause, letting the words settle, then grin. “Guess I’ll just have to keep showing up until I hit the magic quota.”
“Blake—”
“Don’t say it, Lex,” I cut her off. After the time we spent together the other night, and the kiss she gave in to for just a moment at the end of it, I refuse to let her push me completely away again. I haven’t been this obsessed with getting to know a person ever. That’s got to mean something. “Don’t tell me not to bother or that I should avoid you at all costs or that Saturday night isn’t worth repeating. Let me have the possibility. Let yourself have the possibility.”
She searches my eyes. “The possibility of what exactly?”
I shrug, the movement a dramatic flare of hope. The fact that she’s asking instead of walking away is a sliver of praise for the start of my little speech. “Maybe we’ll be friends. Maybe you’ll get sick of me. Maybe we’ll be something more. I don’t know, and you don’t either. But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can be fun.”
“I don’t like not knowing, Blake. My whole personality is to know. I know that’s hard to understand, but just winging it isn’t exactly a part of my vocabulary.”
My chest tightens. Lexi is different. From me, from my family, from most of my friends—frankly, from most people. That’s part of what I like about her. I can’t expect her to conform to my idea of easy any more than she can expect me to give up just because she said so.
“Okay. Then…take the day. The week, even. To figure out everything, you need to have a plan. The only thing I ask is that you don’t discount the idea of giving us a try completely without thoroughly analyzing the facts.”
“And what if it doesn’t come out in your favor?”
I shake my head, a smile growing so wide it connects my ears. There’s nothing more powerful than having someone’s own words to use against them. “It’s about the numbers, Lex. Not some magical, mystical reasoning. As long as I keep up my performance—continue being a good human—why wouldn’t you consider having me in your life?”
My words make the tiniest hint of a smile form on her lips. “Your smug use of short-term recall is painfully annoying. I just want you to know that.”
“Annoying, maybe. But it’s also true.”
“Fine,” she finally says, her tone laced with mock seriousness. “I’ll consider the possibility of keeping you around this summer—for companionship and entertainment.”
“Oh my God. Entertainment?” I ask, clutching my chest like I’ve been mortally wounded.
She smirks. “What will he do or say to get my attention this time, I ask myself…”
Her jab makes it impossible not to smile, but I quickly force a pout. “You’re mean, Lexi Winslow.”
She shrugs, completely unbothered. “Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”