Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 191421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 957(@200wpm)___ 766(@250wpm)___ 638(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 191421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 957(@200wpm)___ 766(@250wpm)___ 638(@300wpm)
I probably shouldn’t have told them everything from start to finish, but ever since we all got our phones back, after graduating from St. Mary’s, we’re all continuously chatting and texting and calling each other. So these girls know every bit of my story now, all the good, bad and embarrassing parts.
Except the part that I love him.
They don’t know that. No one knows that. Only my Bandit; the diary called Bandit.
Because I don’t think I could bear to tell them that the guy who thinks this is just sex, is also the guy I’m in love with.
It will make everything harder.
I’ll cry when I tell them. They’ll be sympathetic. They’ll tell me to tell him. To confess.
And then it’ll be much harder for me to be his good girl.
It’ll be much harder for me to keep this secret.
Much harder than it already is.
Because every single time that I text him ‘I miss you,’ I want to say ‘I love you.’
Every single time he calls me his good girl, I want to say ‘I love you.’
Every single time he touches me or kisses me or fucks me, I want to say ‘I love you.’
I love you. I love you. I love you.
I’ve loved him for a thousand years. And I will love him for a thousand more.
I will love him till the end of time.
Because he’s the guy I’m supposed to be with.
He’s the right guy for me.
Him.
My Reign. My Bandit.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The Bandit
I know it’s coming.
The end.
When I’ll have to give her up.
In a couple of weeks, she’ll move to New York for college and I’ll have to let her go.
To him.
I’ll have to…
Fuck.
Even the thought makes me wanna break this beer bottle in my hand. It makes me wanna crush it between my fingers, and I could do it too. With the rage that bubbles up inside of me every time I think about it.
This irrational… something.
I don’t have a name for it.
For what happens to me whenever I think about giving her up and letting him have her.
It feels very similar to every bone breaking in my body, every muscle aching after a long day of practice, after a grueling fight. And every breath only adding to the trauma.
But I will let her go.
I will.
It’s the right thing to do, and while I’m not the one to do the right fucking thing, I’m going to do it.
For her.
I’ll do fucking anything for her.
So yeah, my time is running out.
Which means this is fucking pointless.
Sitting here, at The Horny Bard.
Plus she just texted me a photo of the book she’s reading tonight — Jane Eyre — with her sweet smile. Because I wanted to see her and she never denies me anything. Although she does sass me a lot and her selfie was accompanied by a message.
Servant Girl/Bubblegum
I don’t care what you say, Bandit, but I think you’re a little too obsessed with my smile. 😇
Bossman/Bandit
I’m a little too obsessed with everything about you, Bubblegum. Now give me a kiss.
And she does. A selfie of her blowing me a kiss with her puckered pink mouth followed by another text.
Servant Girl/Bubblegum
Enjoy your night out! 🥳🥳🎉🎊💃
But I digress, which I often do when I think about her.
So where was I?
Yeah, wasting the limited time I have with her with a night out with my fucking friends.
We’ve claimed our regular spot, a corner with a bunch of soft leather couches and all the privacy that we need. Back in high school, we used to come here a lot to troll for easy pussy. And since we were all soccer players, well known in town, all we needed was a fake ID and a cocky smile.
By we, tonight at least I mean me, Ledger, Reed, Shep, Stellan, and well, my brother, Homer.
Because along with being sassy, my Bubblegum is also very nagging and bossy.
A typical fucking girl.
She’s somehow got it in her head that I should be friends with my brother.
Just because she accidentally read a couple of texts on my phone from Homer about inviting me out to play with his club again. That she looked at my phone isn’t a problem for me. She can look at whatever the fuck she wants; I’ve got nothing to hide.
She’s the first person to know everything about me.
Very fucking weird and surreal.
But anyway, what I do have a problem with is that ever since she saw those texts, she wouldn’t let it go. She kept nagging me and asking me and telling me that I should give my brother a chance. That I should try to mend the fences.
“Look, your dad’s gone, thank fucking God for that. He was the problem in your relationship,” she told me one night last week. “He was the poison and he’s not here anymore. Which means you have an opportunity to fix your relationship now. Your brother really wants to get to know you, Reign. In fact, I think he came up with this whole work-for-me-for-a-year idea, just so you guys could get closer together. Just go to the game. One game. Do it. You’ll like it. And if you don’t like it, don’t go back, okay? But I think you should. Don’t let your dad win, Reign. He was a horrible man. Don’t let him punish you and your brother. Fix it.”