Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
My ex played both of us.
I should have realized something was up by his abrupt change in behavior, but I was too relieved by his agreement to break up amicably to inspect his motivations more thoroughly. Now, I’m paying the price.
I glance at Austin.
We both are.
My mind tumbles back to the night he pulled up alongside me on the road. That was the first time we’d delved beneath the surface and really got to know one another. If there was any chance for us to move forward with a relationship, it’s been blown to smithereens.
Austin Hawthorne despises me.
And I can’t blame him for it.
I snap back to the present when he sets the weights on the floor and rips off his headphones, tossing them onto the nightstand next to the bed.
His cheeks have a slight pink stain to them, and his breathing is labored. Intensity fills his eyes as his attention locks on me. That’s all it takes for a punch of arousal to hit me square in the gut.
“I need to hop in the shower.”
I jerk to my feet. “That’s fine. I’m going to take off. There’s no point in me sitting here and wasting more time.”
It’s obvious from the past ten minutes that he has no interest in working together. I’ll talk to our teacher tomorrow morning and see if there’s another student who can tutor him.
“I’ll be back in five minutes and then we’ll get to work.”
Before I can argue, he disappears inside the private bathroom attached to his room. When he doesn’t bother closing the door as he strips and steps inside the shower stall, I spin away so I won’t be tempted to take a peek.
It’s like he’s doing everything in his power to make me squirm.
My gaze slides over the sparseness of the room before I gravitate to the antique dresser. There are three framed photographs interspersed with a handful of trophies on the polished-to-a-high shine surface. The first picture is of him, Summer, and his parents.
If I had to guess, I’d say this was snapped a year or two ago. He’s not as well-defined as he is now. They’re all wearing summery clothes while posing with a lake in the background. After studying it for a handful of seconds, I set the frame down and move on to the next one.
It’s a picture of Austin in his football uniform. There are dark smudges beneath each eye and his shoulders look ridiculously broad with the thick pads beneath the black and red jersey. He’s grinning at the camera with a trophy raised in one hand. Unable to help myself, I drag a finger across the glass, as if it’s possible to touch him in this happy moment.
Rarely have I seen Austin smile.
The one in the photograph makes my insides clench.
“And here I thought you might have taken off and I’d have to chase you down,” a deep voice says near my ear.
I jolt and nearly drop the frame before setting it carefully on the dresser and swinging around to face him. Air leaks from my lungs and my eyes widen when I find all that brawny strength standing less than a foot away.
Without a stitch of clothing to cover it.
I swallow before squeaking, “What are you doing?”
He arches a brow. “Attempting to get dressed. Kind of hard to do when you’re in my way.”
Instead of stepping aside and giving me room to maneuver, he moves closer, hemming me in with his big body.
Alarm bells trill in my head as I flatten against the dresser. If I could crawl on top of it to escape his overwhelming presence, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
“You need to back off,” I say, trying to keep the quaver from invading my tone.
His eyes darken. “Do I?”
I hate myself for the way my knees weaken at the sound of his gruff voice. “Please.”
His pupils dilate as he continues to stare. “I always imagined what it would be like to hear that word on your lips.”
Air gets clogged in my throat. It feels as if my heart is on the verge of exploding. “Austin…”
He retreats enough to give me a bit of breathing room. “Is that better?”
“Yes.” Unconsciously, my gaze slides down the length of his hard body before settling on his erection.
My eyes widen.
The longer I stare, the harder it becomes.
Holy.
Crap.
There’s a voice inside my head shouting that I need to stop gawking, but following the directive is impossible. It’s like a traffic accident I’m powerless to look away from. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s tempting to study him more thoroughly.
How’s it possible that he looks both soft and hard at the same time?
I jerk out of the mental fog that has descended when he grips his thick shaft in the palm of his hand.
“What’s wrong?” His voice is deep and guttural. “Haven’t you ever seen a cock before? Because I gotta be honest, that’s not what Jasper’s been telling everyone. According to him, you love being on your knees.”