Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
I glance over at her and find her frowning. She skews her features when she sees me looking at her, obviously not wanting me to see her true emotions.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know you.” The defeat in her voice tugs at my chest. I’d rather have her be annoyed with me than see her defeated because of something I said, but I can’t take back my words.
I don’t tell her I don’t even know me, nor do I tell her how spot on she is. I let the silence grow between us. Telling her the truth won’t change anything, and I don’t need or want her pity. So what, she saw something that others have yet to notice?
Feelings don’t matter. What I want doesn’t matter.
By the time we reach the dorm, neither of us has said anything, and I feel like a fucking asshole for saying what I did. Being a dick isn’t going to help me win this bet.
When Blair reaches into the backseat for her bag, I smile at her.
“Thanks for coming,” I say.
“Sure, Thanks for taking me. I’ll see you for our session on Tuesday,” she murmurs and slips out of the truck closing the door before I can say anything else. I watch her walk into the dorm, wondering if she noticed how much I hate football what other things she’s noticed about me. Maybe I was wrong, maybe she does know me, and maybe it’s time I get to know me too.
11
Blair
I’ve had two days to thoroughly digest the way Cage made me feel the night of the football game, to analyze the look in his eyes and my body’s reaction to it.
I also thought about what I saw in him, how I had gotten a glimpse of the real him. He could deny it all he wanted, but I knew he didn’t like football. At least not like he should.
As the hours ticked away, I came to the conclusion that we had more in common than I thought. We both hide. I hide in my room, scared to let anyone close, afraid of getting my heart broken, of being hurt or worse being just like my mom.
Cage hides behind a mask, pretending to be this popular jock who is in love with a sport that he secretly hates. He hides behind football, behind jokes, and sexual innuendos. Like a ghost, he’s hiding in plain sight, but why? Is he also scared of letting people close, and if so, why?
I can’t imagine how exhausting it is to keep that kind of image up.
I tap my pencil against the heavy wooden table while I wait for Cage to come in for his session. Frankie canceled on me last minute, so I’ve been sitting here for an hour working on my own homework.
Looking up at the wall to the clock, I realize it’s two minutes until five. The thought of him coming in any minute has a kaleidoscope of butterflies loose in my stomach. I’m excited to see him, and that fact has my heart clenching in my chest and nerves frazzled. I should not, under any circumstance, want to see Cage.
The inside of my cheek bleeds as I chew on it, filling my mouth with the copper tang of blood. I can’t let him get close, can’t get attached because I know the outcome. It’s always the same. Sadness replaces the excitement, and I know I’m already going down the path I swore never to go down.
My dreadful thoughts are interrupted when the door squeaks open, and Cage walks in one minute before five.
“Hey,” I greet him with a tight smile.
“Hey. Am I your only customer today?” He looks around the room, eyebrows raised as if he’s going to find someone else inside the small room with me.
“Yeah, I think you scared Frankie away. He canceled at the last minute.” I close my own books and push them aside. “I would be mad at you if you weren’t paying me enough to cover his session too.”
“You’re welcome.” He smirks, and I have to fight smiling back at him. That grin of his is infectious like a bad case of crabs.
“I’ve got a test coming up. I need you to make me smart for it.”
Make me smart. Snort. As if it’s that easy, buddy.
“You’re already smart, and if you weren’t, I certainly couldn’t just make you that way.”
“Sweet baby Jesus, did you just give me a compliment?” He clutches a hand to his chest.
“Simply stating a fact. You’re not dumb, Cage, you just need to study and pay attention and have a good teacher, of course.”
“Well, good thing I found you.” He winks at me. I try not to stare at him or notice how his muscles flex beneath his shirt as he moves. Rubbing my thighs together, I try to alleviate the ache forming there. I cannot fall for him, I will not.