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)
I feel a jolt deep in the pit of my stomach. “You’re giving it to me?”
Grayson shrugs. “Yeah,” he releases a throaty chuckle, and I feel it all the way down to my toes, “I came here to give it to you.”
He’s giving me a flower? A yellow lily that reminds him of me…
What does this mean?
What is this supposed to mean?
I reach for the flower, and my fingers brush against his. A tingle zips down my spine the moment we make contact, and I feel, more than hear, Grayson suck in a shuddering breath. “Thank you,” I breathe. “It’s beautiful.”
Running my knuckles along the yellow petals, I feel the softness of the flower. So fragile, so lovely. Something so ethereal reminds him of me?
How is that possible…?
Does he not see the ugliness that resides in me? Does he not see the weakness of my heart and the darkness in my soul?
Can’t he see?
Or is he willfully blind?
Grayson takes a step back, tipping his baseball cap at me. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I nod mutely.
“Goodnight, Goldilocks.”
“Goodnight,” I whisper, giving him a tiny wave as he gets into his car.
I watch as he drives away, my heart in my throat and my stomach fluttering like there’s a wild zoo trapped inside it. Wait a minute—
Did he just call me Goldilocks?
I stand there, outside the gates, staring into nothing, until the sky opens up and it starts to pour. Rushing inside, I lock the door behind me and run to my room, my heart still beating like a drum in my ears.
I find a vase and put the yellow lily in it. A lonely flower, like me. Even when the lights are off, and I’m in bed, trying to sleep…my gaze keeps finding the vase on my nightstand.
He called me…Goldilocks.
Grayson gave me a nickname and a flower.
I push my face into my pillow and let out a silent, excited scream. This is utterly crazy and stupid, but I think…
I have a mad crush on Grayson Hale.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Colton — 17 years old
“You have that look in your eyes,” I drawl, watching Maddox watch Lila. He can’t seem to take his eyes off her whenever they’re in the same space. “You’re plotting something in your head.”
He smirks. “Damn right.”
Lila Garcia is Maddox Coulter’s new obsession.
“Another prank?” I raise an eyebrow in question. Maddox and Lila have a relationship that I will never understand. They hate each other, but not really. They are enemies, but not really. Maddox wants entertainment and he found that in Lila.
And Lila is as fierce as she is sassy. My best friend can be a pain in the ass, and he’s been mindlessly provoking her. But she’s not shying away from his douchebaggery.
Lila is in this game as much as he is. And so, they have declared war on each other. A prank war. It’s silly, but not going to lie, it’s amusing to watch them “fight.”
Last week, she put itching powder in his pants and Maddox was forced to quit football practice in the middle. He was royally pissed. She’s smart and creative with her pranks, I have to give her that much. I’ve never seen Maddox so enraptured by another girl before. But she’s got his undivided attention.
I like Lila. She’s fun and she’s feisty. The perfect girl to put up with Maddox’s assholery.
I personally think they should just jump in bed together and get that sexual tension over with. Everyone can see it, so I don’t know why they are still fighting and not fucking already.
Maybe the pranks are foreplay?
But damn, it’s been six weeks of foreplay now. The chemistry is palpable. It makes me wonder how long they will last before they succumb to the tension between them.
“The haunted house,” Maddox says, his eyes still on Lila. Her ass, specifically.
She walks into the food line and waits. Riley is nowhere to be found. Hmm, interesting. They are always together. I wonder where the little wallflower has run off to.
“What about the haunted house?” I ask curiously.
Every Halloween, Berkshire Academy builds its own “haunted house” on the school grounds. It was a tradition that started a decade ago, and to this day, we still honor it. The haunted house is not child’s play. The student committee really goes all out and turns the gym, classrooms and hallways into the perfect nightmarish place. It’s our favorite event at Berkshire Academy and everyone is hyped for it.
Maddox rubs his chin, trying to hide his arrogant smirk but failing. “I’ll pull my next prank there. It’ll be payback for that damn itching powder she put in my pants.”
“What exactly is this prank going to be?”
Maddox grins with a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. I know that whatever he’s about to say, I’m going to like it a whole lot. He’s an adrenaline junkie, just like me. And he’s set on terrorizing Lila.