Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Like you have every single time you’ve come over since I bought the house?”
“I should’ve called first, at least,” she mused.
“You were excited,” I replied with a sigh, reaching up to scrub my hands over my face. This wasn’t how I wanted things to go.
I wanted her to hit me. Yell at me. Scream. Cry. Whatever she needed to do so that I could stop feeling like I had a thousand-pound weight on my chest and she could stop looking at me like I’d killed her dog.
“You can sleep with whoever you want, Rumi,” she said gently. “It’s your house. I was the one in the wrong here. It’s not like I’m sitting home alone when you’re busy.”
“Exactly,” I said with satisfaction. “You just had a date on Thursday.”
She watched me for a moment and then her mouth dropped open. “Were you trying to get even?”
“What?” I shook my head.
“You didn’t like that I went on a date, so you fucked someone else?”
“Oh, come on, Nova,” I spat. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. We didn’t make any promises.”
This is what I wanted. I wanted the fight. I wanted the confrontation. This would get us back to normal. Anything was better than her watching me with those sad fucking eyes.
“You’re right,” she said, all expression gone from her face again. “We didn’t make any promises.”
“I didn’t think we were seeing other people, but hey,” I said, shrugging. “I’m cool with that.”
“Good,” she said, nodding. “Though I’d rather I didn’t actually see you with other people.”
“You sure?” I joked, still feeling defensive. Still feeling salty. “You could’ve joined in if you wanted.”
I saw the hand swing out, but I didn’t move, letting her slap me.
“Too far?” I asked, laughing like it was funny.
Fuck, when did this get so complicated?
“That was an asshole thing to say, and you know it,” she hissed, shoving open the door so she could jump out of the truck.
“See, I knew you were pissed,” I said, following her outside. “You’re acting like I cheated on you or something.”
“You didn’t cheat on me, Rumi,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “And you’re right, we didn’t make any rules. I just didn’t realize that you’d be fucking other people while you were fucking me.”
“That’s kind of how it works,” I shot back, rounding the hood so we were face to face. “That’s the whole no-strings thing.”
“I guess I’m not as cool as you,” she said sarcastically, swaying her shoulders from side to side. “Usually my hookups don’t overlap.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied flatly. “I’m not even sure why you’re pissed, if I’m being honest.”
“Oh, we’re being honest, huh?” she said with a nasty laugh.
“Aren’t we always?”
“Then I guess if we’re being honest,” she muttered bitterly. “I didn’t realize you’d want anyone else. Funny right? Ha. Ha.”
I froze.
“I mean,” she continued. “Just because I don’t want to fuck anyone else doesn’t mean that you’re done sowing your oats or whatever.”
“Nova,” I murmured, my gut burning. “Fuck.”
“See,” she said, throwing her hands up again. “This isn’t what I want to be doing right now! Why can’t you just leave shit alone? Why does every conversation always have to be on your timetable? If you would’ve just given me a few fucking days, Jesus, even a few hours without you up my ass, everything would’ve been fine.”
“Nova.”
“But no,” she spat. “You have to just keep pushing. You have to poke at it until it bleeds. I just wanted things to go back to being fine and they would’ve. If you would’ve just given me a fucking day to get my head on straight.”
Before she could step away from me, I was in her space, crowding her against the truck.
“Knock it off,” she snarled, pushing at my chest. “Just leave it, Rumi.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, ignoring her. My hands were on her shoulders, her neck, her face, her hair. “I’m sorry, No. I fucked up.”
“You didn’t fuck up,” she replied stubbornly. “I told you. I—”
Whatever she was about to say was lost when I kissed her. I couldn’t stand the look in her eyes. I couldn’t stand the shit she was saying. I hated that she thought she wasn’t enough. I hated that the entire time I’d been hooking up with Lauren, telling myself that everything was fine, I’d known that shit felt off. That I hadn’t really wanted to be there. I’d just been going through the motions because I was single and I should’ve wanted to be playing the field.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured against her mouth. “You’re fuckin’ everything, No.”
“Stop,” she whispered. Her fingers were gripping my arms, but she wasn’t trying to push me away.
I kissed her again, my hands sliding down her sides until I gripped her waist. She winced.
“Rumi,” she said, finally shoving at my chest until I’d let her go. Her eyes were hazy and her mouth was swollen as she reached up to wipe it with the back of her hand. “What are you saying?”