Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Once she’s inside the car, I wait for her to put on her seat belt before I close the door. The drive back to our apartment is quiet. The Little Wallflower seems more pensive today. She doesn’t have a lot of fight in her.
When we pull into the parking lot, I see Maddox and Lila. They must have just gotten back from the airport. Right after our final exams, Maddox took Lila on a week-long vacation to Paris. The two tickets were a birthday present from his father.
It still baffles me how these two are still just…friends.
Four years of chemistry and sexual tension. Four years of emotional intimacy but they are still too stubborn to change the status of their friendship to dating.
As I’m helping Riley out of the car, Lila notices us. She drops her bag, racing toward us and wrapping her best friend into a tight hug.
“How’s the leg?” Maddox nods toward Riley’s blue cast
Riley’s lip juts out, a sad pout. “It’s fine now.
Lila makes a strangled sound at the back of her throat, a look of outrage on her face. “I can’t believe you waited a whole day before you called and told me about what happened. You broke your leg, what the hell!”
“Fractured,” I amend. “Not broken. She’s lucky I was next door and heard her cry out.”
“You shouldn’t have climbed up on that counter when you were home alone. That was dangerous.” Lila’s forehead creases with worry as she frets over Riley. “You could have been hurt worse!”
“She could have just called me, and I would have fixed the broken cabinet,” I mumble under my breath, still very much annoyed about that fact.
Riley hisses, her eyes flashing with annoyance. “I had it all handled if it wasn’t for the cat jumping over the counter. I tripped over it. Rory asked me to cat-sit for her while she and Jaxon were away this weekend.” She twists around to face me, glaring. “I didn’t…and don’t need your help, Colton.”
I grunt in response. “Funny. I’m the one who drove you to the hospital in the middle of the night.”
Her shoulder straightens, her lips curling up in distaste. “Because you insisted.”
“You were in pain.”
“Who cares? I was fine on my own and could have called 9-1-1!”
My chest rumbles with a growl. “I care!”
The words spill out before I can stop myself, before I can even think of what impact such a confession would have on us— on our relationship, or whatever it is we have between us.
This is the first time I’ve admitted that I care about Riley out loud. The first time I’m hearing myself utter those words. I’ve known a long time ago that Riley Johnson is important to me, but I’ve never confessed that to her.
She opens her mouth to snap back at me, but then pauses, looking shocked at my confession. Riley blinks, opens her mouth again, before finally shutting up. No smartass comeback? Huh, interesting.
“Whatever,” she finally mumbles under her breath, “how was your trip, Lila?”
Lila’s gaze finds Maddox, as she turns red. She blinks away and sputters out a half-ass response to her friend. “Oh, fine. It was fine. Everything was nice and fine.”
“She said fine three times,” I mutter to Maddox, soft enough the girls don’t catch it.
Riley glances between Lila and Maddox, almost suspiciously. She appears thoughtful while I’ve already caught on.
“Was Paris like everything you imagined?” I ask, a cocky grin on my lips.
Lila lets out a choked laugh. “Oh, yeah. Everything was…”
“Fine,” Maddox finishes for her.
Her head snaps toward Maddox, and her dark eyes burn darker. “I was going to say, everything was magical.”
Maddox grins. “Was the sex magical, too?”
Lila gasps, absolutely outraged.
Riley stumbles back and almost falls flat on her ass, if it isn’t for me grabbing onto her. I let out a holler, before quickly disguising it with a coughing fit. My shoulders shake with silent laughter. Finally…they’ve done it. It’s been a long four years. Maddox and his blue balls have finally got some relief.
“What?!” Riley screeches. Her eyes bounce back and forth between our friends, before she shares a knowing look with me. We’ve expected this. It was going to happen eventually. We just didn’t think it would have taken them this long.
“Maddox,” Lila hisses. Her fists clench by her sides, and I’m sure she’s contemplating decking him.
Maddox grins harder. “My dick is magic, babe. Don’t be embarrassed to admit it.”
He ignores Lila’s glare and turns to face us with an announcement. “She’s my girlfriend, and she’s moving in with me.”
Riley blinks.
I smirk.
When Lila starts to protest, Maddox leans down and claims her lips, not giving a shit that they have an audience. The kiss lingers and when they pull away, Lila’s cheeks are flushed and she looks like she’s about to bolt out of here.