Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
My mind scrambled for a response, but before I could find one, his lips were on mine again. The kiss was rough and gentle all at once, leaving no room for escape.
“I promise I’m going to fix this.” He drew back and his breath mingled with mine.
His gaze roamed over my face one last time before he straightened.
“Enjoy your trip, baby.” He strode out the door, leaving me there confused, vulnerable, and too furious with myself to process anything else.
CHAPTER FIVE
The crisp evening air hit me as I stepped outside. I still felt her on my lips, the small taste was an aphrodisiac lingering on my tongue. My hands flexed at my sides, craving the warmth of her body again. I shoved them into my pockets as though they could anchor me, but it was futile. Every step away from her felt like a betrayal, every breath without her an excruciating punishment.
Everything inside me screamed to go back. To throw that damn suitcase out the window and pin her to the bed until she admitted she couldn’t live without me. She had to know that her resistance was meaningless. I’d felt her melt under my touch, her helpless whimpers as I played with what was mine.
Her body never lied, and neither did her eyes. It was only with words she could try and deny the undeniable.
I wanted to destroy the distance between us, remind her over and over that no one else would ever know her the way I did.
I fucking missed her.
My hands fisted in my pockets as I forced myself to keep walking. Timing and control. I silently repeated the words in my mind like a mantra, forcing myself to stick to the plan. I slid into my car and took a moment to steady my breathing. I leaned back, gripped the wheel, and closed my eyes. I could still hear her voice, trembling and raw as she explained what happened the night she left me to her sister and best friend.
I had the footage from the bugs and cameras I’d planted in her house months ago. She didn’t want to move in with me yet, so I’d done the only thing that made sense. If I couldn’t be there physically, I had to make sure I was still present in every way that counted.
She’d sat on the couch, her knees tucked up to her chest, her gorgeous face puffy from crying.
Cherish and Daniella flanked her, mirrors of concern.
“I just don’t understand how he could do it,” Autumn ranted, the pain bleeding through in a way that made my chest ache. “How he could look me in the eye after… after everything and not even try?”
She had no fucking clue how hard it had been to stand there, to hold myself back and let her leave when all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and never let go.
“I don’t understand either,” Cherish added, her voice sharp. “God, Autumn, fuck that man.”
“I should’ve known,” she replied, her voice almost breaking. “But there were no signs.”
There weren’t any signs because Autumn was a queen, and I treated her like nothing less.
Daniella reached out, placing a hand on Autumn’s knee. “You’re better off without him. You know that, right?”
Better off without me? My chest had burned when I heard that.
“I know,” she whispered, but the look in her eyes betrayed her. She didn’t believe that. Not for a single second.
It had been two weeks since the night she left. Fourteen debilitating days since she’d blocked me, cutting me off from her in a way no one had dared before. At first, I was fucking infuriated, and then that quickly morphed into an anguish I had never known. I got why she was upset.
If tables were turned, I’d have a fucking hit list with the names of every man I found in her inbox. But just like she didn’t have to worry I knew I didn’t either. From the moment I saw my girl, it was her world, and I was just lucky to be included in it.
After seeing her in the hallway and finding out all I could about who she was, it took me nearly six months to convince her to let me take her out. She was convinced I was a typical varsity jock who only thought with his dick and nothing else. She didn’t say that directly, but I knew that was the case by the way she brushed me off like I wasn’t worth her time.
Her casual dismissal of me was like waving a flag in front of a fucking bull. I made a point to be everywhere she was, to know her routine better than she did. I wasn’t above stalking to get the girl I dreamed about. In the end, that worked. I wore her down, little by little until she finally agreed to go out with me.