Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Then, he was there. His fingers pushed up into my hair, tugging me the short distance across the Jeep. His mouth settled on mine, and everything quieted. Those lips were oh-so familiar. Warm and wet and responsive. His tongue slipped across the seam of my lips, and I opened to him with ease.
Our tongues moved together. A flick to test the waters and then a dance that we’d spent long nights perfecting. I reached for him, my hand circling his bicep and trying to drag him closer.
I had no idea how this had happened. I’d almost given up. But here he was, shattering all my expectations. Kissing Maddox was effortless, like breathing.
I could have lived in that moment forever, but slowly, he withdrew. He placed one more kiss on my now-swollen lips. And I pushed forward, stealing more.
“Mmm. I could have another one of those.”
He laughed and released me. “Same.”
“Well, you didn’t have to stop.”
“I should get home.”
“Or you could come in,” I whispered hesitantly. He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them. “Why did you change your mind?”
“I didn’t,” he said automatically.
“You said we were too different.”
“But when I’m with you, it feels like we’re the same.”
My heart melted at those words. “Me too.”
“I couldn’t decide if I was doing the right thing by staying away from you after all our baggage. Or if I was being a fool for letting you go when you’re right here.”
“What did you decide?”
He kissed me again, quick and decisive. “Both.”
“It can’t be both.”
“I know. But you’re here, and I can’t stay away from you. I’ve never been able to stay away from you. So, I kissed you.”
“What does that mean going forward?”
“It means I want to kiss you again.”
“More than kiss me?” I teased.
He arched an eyebrow. “Obviously.”
“Then, come to Atlanta with me next weekend.”
“For your audition?”
I nodded. “I’m going to see my dad and hang out with Lila and Cole. Maybe we need some space from all of … this.” I gestured to Savannah, which held so many memories, so much history between us. I couldn’t look around and not see Maddox in every city block.
His eyes dipped to my mouth again. He conceded with a nod. “All right. We’ll see how this goes.”
I felt like we were repeating history with that phrase, but I swore it wouldn’t all end the same way this time.
“Sure you can keep your hands to yourself until then?”
He smirked, and it looked hot as fuck on him. “Well, maybe one more kiss then.”
And our lips crashed back together.
18
HARVARD
NOVEMBER 22, 2012
It was two years before Maddox and I were in close proximity again.
After our ill-fated breakup, we had finished out our senior year entirely separate. I’d gotten the job for Academy, which filmed primarily in south Atlanta. And he’d taken the Pixar job and moved to LA.
As much as I’d hated his comments, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Marley when she invited me to her Friendsgiving at Harvard. Girl was a genius, and I loved seeing her in her element. But when she’d told me that Maddox was coming, I’d almost canceled.
Two years. It had been two years since I’d seen him. It felt unfathomable.
Still, a part of me wanted to see Maddox. I’d done what he’d said wasn’t going to happen. I was the star of a hit TV show. I’d filmed two seasons of Academy with Martin Harper, and I was no longer doe-eyed around him. He was just my costar … and boyfriend, if you believed the tabloids.
And I had no idea how today was going to go.
I straightened my spine, put on my best smile, and knocked on my best friend’s door. A second later, I heard running steps, and then Marley was in front of me.
I launched myself at her. “Mars!”
She laughed. “Hey, Josie. I missed you.”
“I missed you too!” I withdrew and looked her up and down. “So, tell me everything. Boys?”
“Nope. No boys. Mostly work.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Ugh, lame. Come to LA and have fun with me sometime.” I knocked my hip into hers as I rolled my suitcase into her little apartment. “All work and no play makes Marley a dull girl.”
“I think you and Lila have enough boy troubles for the lot of us.”
I brushed my hair off my shoulder. “I am not having troubles. I’m in a perfectly great relationship right now.”
“With your costar,” she murmured under her breath.
So the tabloids said. Well, that was what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t exactly deny it. Martin and I had great chemistry on- and off-screen. We’d been caught canoodling at a Beverly Hills hotel, and suddenly, ratings for Academy went up. Overnight, the studio and our publicists crafted some perfect off-screen role for us. And it was easy at first since we’d been hooking up anyway. But making it a business arrangement had killed the romance for me. And though I liked him … I could never quite decide whether or not I could love him.