Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Or hurt.
Again.
I mean, really…
How stupid could I be for letting down my guard and trusting Delilah a second time?
I knew better. The voice was there, chirping at the back of my brain, and I refused to listen. Refused to see her for the conniving bitch she is.
So yeah…I got what I deserved.
It was a tough lesson, but I finally got it through my thick head that Delilah Robinson can’t be trusted. She might give off an innocent and sweet vibe, but she’s far from it. She and Jasper have been fucking with me the entire time.
And I allowed myself to be manipulated because of pussy. I all but handed over my heart and watched her stomp on it while Jasper sat there laughing. Even the thought of how they must have cracked up at my stupidity has molten lava rushing through my veins.
If that girl thinks this is over, she’s dead wrong.
Unwilling to let Summer see how fucking enraged I am, I avert my gaze. “Yup. I’m totally over it.” I force my shoulders to loosen before adding carelessly, “It was never that deep. You of all people should realize that.”
From the corner of my eye, I watch the emotion play across her face.
Anger.
Uncertainty.
Confusion.
My sister doesn’t need to know that I’m being eaten alive with the blinding need for revenge. She’d probably try talking me out of it. But that’s not going to happen. The only way I can move on is to bring Delilah to her knees and make her pay the way I should have from the very beginning.
“You don’t need to keep it all bottled up inside. We can talk about it.” She shifts on the bed and leans forward, her eyes pinning me in place. I get the feeling she’s trying to see straight done to my soul and discern the truth for herself. “It would probably help.”
I swing away, refusing to allow her in. Summer is sneaky. She knows exactly how to weasel her way inside my brain.
And I love her for it.
I truly do. But there are some things a sister shouldn’t have knowledge of, and my plans for Delilah are one of them. She might hate the girl and want to bitch slap her into next week, but she wouldn’t want me fucking with her the way I plan to.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Austin…”
Her voice dips before trailing off.
I huff out an irritated breath before grabbing the small white towel from my dresser and swiping it across my forehead. “Delilah Robinson was just a girl in a long string of them.” I jerk my shoulders. “Sure, I was interested in getting to know her, but it was never that deep. As far as I’m concerned, she and Jasper deserve each other.” I force out a light chuckle before raising my brow and sneering. “What? Did you think I was heartbroken over some chick from the sticks I just got together with?”
When her face scrunches with uncertainty, I press my advantage, only wanting to end this. “Come on, Sum. You know me better than that.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she mutters. “It’s just that I thought she might be different. You seemed to really like her.”
That softly spoken comment is like a knife to the heart, because the truth is that everything felt different with Delilah.
Me included.
I slam the door shut on those thoughts.
It doesn’t matter what the hell was going through my fucked-up brain.
None of it was true.
It wasn’t real.
She played me like a fiddle.
“Nah. I haven’t thought twice about her since the party.” Inspiration strikes. “In fact, I talked to that other girl, Aubrey. She seems cool.”
Summer grimaces. “Ewww. She’s friends with Sloane, and you know exactly what I think about her. Find someone else.”
“Don’t worry, I’m all about keeping my options open. Kind of like the good old days.”
She snorts out a laugh and rolls her eyes. “You mean your manwhore days?”
“Yup, those are the ones.”
For the first time since I found her sitting on my bed watching me, it feels like she just might drop this brutal convo and move on. Relief crashes over me and my shoulders incrementally loosen. “Yup. Now that I’m getting more play time on the field, everything is finally falling into place.”
That’s a bit of a stretch, but we’ll just go with it for the sake of this convo.
“I’m glad,” she says softly. “It’s the way it should have been from the beginning.” There’s a pause before she tacks on, “It’s the way it would have been in Chicago if we’d never been forced to move to Hawthorne.”
She’s right about that, but it’s hard to dwell on. My life would have been totally different back home. Even though Mom briefly considered returning after Dad died, that option was quickly nixed. There’s no chance of us picking up and moving back now.