Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
But I had to fight it. “Why do you have to make this so hard?” I whispered, trying to extinguish every heart-breaking emotion rising within me.
“I’m not the one making this hard. You are. You wanna be friends.” Both of his hands clasped my face. “This is as good as I can do.” Then he kissed me again, and this kiss was different from the one only moments ago. Soft, reverent, adoring.
The rough sex and sizzling chemistry were one thing, but this felt like a vow of love and devotion. And that was so much harder to resist. I could survive without Hendrix, and I had, but I only felt truly alive when I was with him. Like this.
“I’ve missed this.” He kissed me harder, tattooed fingers threading through my hair as I pulled him closer.
I wanted to climb into his lap, meld him to me in every way. I felt like a junkie, out of control and strung out, desperate for the high I could only find in him.
“God, I need you.” He shoved me back on the couch.
Every inch of his hard body bled into mine, and it took every shred of will power I could muster to tear my lips from his. But it didn’t dissuade him. His mouth moved to my jaw, working over my throat. His hard dick pressed between my legs, and I was in danger of letting him give me everything we both wanted. This had to stop. Now.
“Hendrix. I’m not fucking you.” If I kept doing this with him, what had the past two years been for? I’d broken us for a reason, and that reason was still very much there.
“Okay.” His hand slipped between our bodies, dipping inside the waistband of my shorts. Before he could brush over me and crush the last of my willpower, I grabbed his wrist.
“We can’t do anything.”
His dark brows pulled together before he abruptly pushed off of me. “What the hell is going on with you, Lola?” His jaw set. “Are you fucking around with that Chad prick?”
I sat up. “No, of course not.” He really thought that I’d have fucked him if I was with someone else? Of course, he did. I’d let him believe I was a heartless, cheating bitch.
He stared at me like he was trying to peel back every dark secret between us. Then his expression shuttered, and he shoved off the couch. “You know what. Fucking forget it.”
“Hendrix—”
He rounded the doorframe. “I’m tired of the emotional rollercoaster, Lola.” The creak of the stairs told me he was headed to his room. Seconds later, a door banged shut.
Tears stung my eyes. I loved him, and I wanted him, and I was hurting us both.
I had a renewed hatred for Johan Taylor. He’d broken me, ruined my life, and cost me Hendrix and my sister. But worse, two years later, he was still destroying me, and I was still protecting Johan from Hendrix and Hendrix from himself.
I knew if he ever found out what Johan had done, it wouldn’t matter whether I was with Hendrix or not; he’d kill him. I also knew that was unlikely given the sealed records, but what were we going to do? Get back together and skip off into the sunset? He’d just asked me if I was with someone else. That seed of betrayal planted two years ago had grown roots and forced cracks into our once-solid foundation.
To keep Hendrix out of jail, I’d have to let him think I cheated on him for the rest of our lives. Which meant he would never trust me, never truly forgive me, and I couldn’t live like that.
Chapter 22
HENDRIX
Thursday morning, as per usual, I sat on the tailgate of Wolf’s truck, exchanging baggies of weed for ten bucks. I’d just passed over the last bag when a truck with a straight exhaust roared into Dayton High’s parking lot. A group of Barrington preps wearing their stupid letterman jackets filled the bed, Ethan Taylor and his bruised face smack dab in the middle.
“Here we go…” Wolf huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Dumbasses coming over here, trying to start shit. Just don’t hit him.”
And based on the way my blood pressure shot up when my gaze landed on that piece of shit, that was going to be a problem. “How long is the sentence for assault, anyway?”
“You really want to let a Barrington asshole win?”
Win? Like a breathing tube and a long stint in the ICU was winning. “Fuck you and your reasoning skills, Wolf.”
The truck barreled down the row of shitty cars. I fully expected it to come to a screeching halt in front of Wolf’s truck, but it didn’t slow down. If anything, it went a little faster.
“Dude…” Wolf scowled, plucking the joint from behind his ear. “What the hell are they doing?”