Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
I nearly collapse from the sensation and have to lean against the roof wall for support.
“Fuck, you’re so sweet, baby,” He says before putting his magical tongue on me again and again.
It’s only a few minutes before I’m seeing stars and panting against the wall. My whole body feels like it’s electrified, and I can’t remember the last time I felt this buzzed or happy. All because of Eric.
When it’s over and I can breathe again normally, he re-arranges my skirt and stands. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, Atlas.”
6
ATLAS
I stare at Eric, willing my heart rate to go back to normal. After what happened between us—the way I shamelessly pushed myself against his lips—I was thinking it’s a good thing that I’m a stranger to him.
But he just confirmed it.
Eric knows I’m Miss Karma.
He reaches out and gently removes my mask. “I’d know that beautiful blue gaze anywhere.”
I fist the material of my skirt into my hands. “How long before you realized it?”
Was he laughing at me? Was this all some ploy to get back at me? Why didn’t he tell me the moment he knew who I was?
He shrugs and leans against the roof wall, next to me. He stares at the skyline. “You know this is fucked up, right?”
“I like it. I like you.” Tears well in my eyes. I got so close to getting Eric to see me in a new light. “Why do you always have to push me away?”
He turns, giving me a pained look. “Don’t cry, baby.” He reaches for me.
I step away from his touch. “Why do we always have to push and pull at each other? Why can’t you just say you want me and be with me?”
“I do want you. Don’t doubt that for a minute. Being together—have you really thought this through? Sure, we have amazing chemistry. But what happens when it’s the holidays? Are you going to introduce me to your dad on Thanksgiving?”
I understand what he’s saying. We’ll have to be careful. “So, we sneak around him and—”
He holds up a hand. “I won’t do that to you. You can’t be some dirty secret I’m ashamed of. But I can’t look my best friend in the eye and tell him I was just eating his daughter out either.”
I cross my arms around myself and shiver in the night air as his words sink in. I’d never considered how awkward it must be for him. “I guess it puts you in a really weird spot.”
He takes a deep breath. “I took a job in New York. I’m gone in two weeks.”
I nod, feeling my heart break in two. “Then this is goodbye?” Something tells me I’ll never see Eric against after this. He’s not just walking away from his job or my father’s company. He’s walking away from me.
He steps forward and brushes his lips gently across my forehead.
When he moves to step around me, I put a hand on his arm, catching the material of his suitcoat. “If you’re leaving, we should sleep together.”
“Atlas—”
I say the words out that I’ve been scared to admit. “I want you to be my first.”
He swallows hard. “You deserve a good first time. Not a sad one.”
I tighten my hold. “I’ve wanted you since Mexico. Don’t make me lose it to some stranger in a seedy dive bar bathroom.”
He closes his eyes. “You can’t say shit like that to me.”
I can push him over the edge, make him crumble and do this. “He probably won’t even make it good. Not the way you would.”
When he opens his eyes, I can see the control that’s snapped. “Give me five minutes. I’ll get us a room.”
Eric
You’re a selfish bastard.
I meant to challenge her, so she would back down. But then I tasted her and now I can’t walk away. The thought of getting to be with Atlas is too tempting.
Instead, I get the VIP room by calling in a favor with the hotel manager. Then I text Atlas to let her know which room we’re in.
Her knock at the door is soft and light.
“It’s me,” she calls. Her voice is so quiet that it makes me smile. Her innocence and shyness only make me more aroused.
When I let her into the room, she stands in the center of it for a long moment. She’s looking around, taking it all in.
She clutches her backpack tighter, the one that’s filled with her clothes from earlier tonight when she wasn’t pretending to be Miss Karma. She glances over her shoulder to make sure we’re alone.
Then she asks in a quiet voice. “Do we have condoms? They sell some down at the gift shop, but I didn’t know what kind or well, anything.”
“We have condoms,” I reassure her. “I’m clean and I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize your health.”