Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Once I’m certain that I don’t look like a train wreck, I come out of the bathroom to grab Tarni, but she’s nowhere to be found. “Tarni?” I call, positive that she wouldn’t have just walked away and left me to navigate this mansion by myself.
I make my way further up the hallway, stopping at each door and pushing them open to check inside, coming up empty every time.
“You good?” a deep voice rumbles behind me, making goosebumps spread across my skin.
Despite being worried for Tarni, I can’t help but smile as I close the door I just checked behind and turn to lean against it, finding Noah way too close to be innocent. “I lost Tarni,” I tell him.
“She bailed on you,” he says, nodding back down the hall. “She’s currently offering to suck Liam’s dick.”
“Shit,” I sigh, realizing just how much that’s going to hurt Abby when she finds out. “She really is a shitty friend, huh?”
He nods, his gaze dropping from my eyes to my lips. “I’ve been telling you that for years,” he murmurs, skimming his hand across my waist.
“Noah,” I warn, unable to keep the smile off my face. “You’re standing awfully close for someone who’s supposed to be controlling himself.”
“Now why the hell would I want to go and do something stupid like that?” he questions, and with that, he reaches around me and opens the door at my back, stepping into me and pushing us into the room. The door closes, and before I can even remember why this is a bad idea, his lips are against mine.
I instantly melt into him, my knees weakening as his strong arms curl around my back, holding me against his chest as he backs me into the wall, just like he had in my closet. His whole body is up against mine, and I still can’t get enough. My every thought fades away and leaves nothing but me and him and the feel of his lips moving against mine.
The electricity burns between us, and I groan as his hand trails down my body, over my hip, and down to the sliver of thigh between the hem of my skirt and my boots. His big hand curls around it, and I instinctively bring my knee up, hooking it around his hip as he presses harder against me. I pull back just an inch, gasping for air, and he doesn’t hesitate, dropping his lips to the base of my throat as my arms lock around his neck, holding him so damn close.
It’s everything I always knew it would be with Noah, like fireworks on the Fourth of July, absolutely breathtaking.
Needing more, I place my hand on his jaw, bringing him back to my lips as fierce hunger throbs through my veins. Then as his hand slips beneath the hem of my cropped tank, the door tears open and a familiar gasp sails through the room.
Ah, fuck.
Noah pulls back, and my head whips around, finding Tarni standing in the doorway, staring at me like a stranger. She whimpers as though she has been physically slapped across the face, her eyes burning with betrayal. “How could you?” she breathes, her voice cracking. “You’re dead to me.”
And with that, she’s gone.
“Shit,” I curse, pulling out of Noah’s arms and heading for the door, only he catches my hand.
“Don’t go after her,” he says, his hand so warm in mine. “She’s been a fucking terrible friend to you. She’s not worth it.”
“I just . . .” I cringe, pulling my hand free. “I have to. I know she’s . . . well, Tarni. But without her, I have no one.”
Hurt flashes in his dark eyes, and he steps closer, his hand falling to my waist. “You have me.”
I shake my head, look up, and meet those eyes I’ve loved all my life. “But I don’t,” I tell him, letting him see the pain in my gaze as the lingering distance between us becomes that much more noticeable. “You are right though. She’s been a terrible friend for way too long, but if I didn’t have her every day at school, I’d be alone, and as much as I wish I could break away from her. I owe her too much.”
“You don’t owe her shit,” he says, but all I can offer is a sad smile. With that, I turn my back and hurry out of the room, desperate to find the one person who stood by me through my three years of agony, the one who somehow managed to pull me out of the darkness.
I feel Noah at my back, following me out, my name on his lips drowned out by the loud music pounding through the house. I look everywhere, checking the drinks table, the billiards room, and even the dance floor to realize that Abby and Cora aren’t here either.