Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
My heart pounds as I sit on the old stone bench overlooking the North Sea. The water is calm today, and the waves are mere ripples that ebb and flow along the shoreline, capturing anything that tries to escape their hold and dragging it back into the depths.
My thoughts drift to Hadrian, and I wonder what he’s going to say when he gets here. This is the one place I know we’re safe from prying eyes. Nerves have never been an issue for me. I’m usually confident when it comes to asking for what I want, but I feel I’m out of my depth with Hadrian. In truth, I am drowning because I’ve never fancied a lad before, so I’ve never had to chat one up.
The sun peeks at me from behind broken clouds, dappling my face with specks of sunlight. I’ve invited Hadrian here today because I want to tell him how I feel before he moves on without me. I’ve replayed this scene a thousand times in my mind— the moment I confess my true feelings and the moments after that when he admits he feels the same way.
I know there’s something between us. I can feel the tension whenever we’re close. Even in a crowded room, his eyes always find mine. It’s clear there are emotions tugging us towards each other, which is why I’m waiting for Hadrian to arrive so he can hear me out.
I’ve read all the romance novels I can get my hands on, and they all end in a happy ever after. Even romantic movie plots are the same. This is the part in the story where the big confession finally brings the two characters together.
Usually, it’s the good girl and the bad boy who find love, but with Hadrian, I feel as if I’m the troublemaker in our scenario because my father is a gangster.
Hadrian’s footsteps alert me to his arrival, and I turn to see him walking up the small hill that leads to the edge of the cliff where I’m sitting on the bench. He looks so good in the glowing sunshine that’s broken free from behind the clouds. My stomach somersaults when he looks up and sees me.
Over the months Hadrian’s been working for my father, he’s grown a collection of tattoos that now snake from his wrists to his chest and all the way up his neck. Every inch of him is a colourful canvas. I wish with everything I have that I could explore the artwork that adorns his skin, but I know it’s pointless asking him because he always stoically refuses to talk about the ink he’s accumulated.
“Wee Magpie,” he says with a grin that makes my heart gallop against my ribs.
“Hadrian,” I greet him with a smile. “What’s goin’ on at the house?”
“Yer da is being a pain in the arse as usual,” he tells me with a wink as he settles into the seat beside me.
“I wanted to ask you something,” I say before I lose my nerve.
“Aye?” There’s a gentleness in his eyes that I don’t see often. It’s only when we talk to each other that he allows those walls to come down, ever so slightly.
“My birthday is coming up,” I tell him.
“Aye, I know, lass.”
“I was wondering if you’d got me anything.”
He laughs at this. It’s a low rumbling chuckle that vibrates through his chest. “I haven’t yet, Magpie.”
“Well, I want something specific,” I say, twisting round on the bench so I’m facing him.
“Oh aye? And what’s that?” His brow arches as he looks at me, his tall stature imposing as he sits back and rests his arm along the back of the bench.
“So…” I start slowly. “I’m sure you know I like ya. Have done for a fair while now.” Pausing, I swallow down the nervous lump in my throat. “Well, I’d like you to be my first kiss.”
The words fall out of my mouth like a tidal wave crashing against the rock face of the cliffs that we’re sitting above.
Hadrian is silent for so long I feel dizzy from holding my breath. My confession is hanging in the air between us like a delicate thread.
Suddenly, he pushes to his feet and takes a step towards the edge. His long hair whips in the wind, its chestnut colour shimmering in the sunlight as he looks out to sea.
He’s a few paces away, his back turned to me, but I can feel the tension radiating from him. I watch his shoulders tense and then relax as he takes a deep breath. Everything about him screams danger, but this is the only time I’ve ever felt afraid when I’ve been with him. He’s holding something fragile in his hands, and it’s something that belongs to me. He could so easily break my heart right now.