Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I follow her, my cock kicking inside of her as I climax.
How I manage to fall to the bed beside her rather than right on top, crushing her, is beyond me.
I didn't exert much energy, but it has left me panting like I've run a mile with a wild animal nipping at my heels.
My mouth is dry, my skin hot and tight, and I'm tingling everywhere.
She shifts, and when I manage a look in her direction, her smile is vibrant, and her cheeks are flushed to perfection.
I know my promises will not come to fruition. I doubt I'll even be able to stand from this bed for the rest of the night.
When I speak, I know I've said the wrong damn thing because her smile immediately falls away.
Chapter 7
Riley
"I'm sorry?" Sage asks as she stands there dumbfounded, mouth open, staring at me. "He said what?"
I feel a tinge of that same ache of pain I felt last week when the words rolled off his tongue as if we hadn't just had sex.
I lower my voice in an attempt to sound like him and distance myself a little from the pain.
"Do you want me to call a cab, or do you want to walk back to the bar?"
"Lindell doesn't have cabs, and he lives like four miles away from The Hairy Frog," Sage says as she pulls several more books from the shipping box. "He expected you to walk?"
"He's a charmer," I mutter, opening a second box that was delivered to the bookstore this morning.
That's Another Story is the cutest little store in downtown Lindell. The entire row of buildings here in town has been updated multiple times, and I think this spot is one of my favorites. I've been working here part time while trying to get my catering business up and running. I have to say that Sage is possibly the best boss a woman can ask for.
"I didn't walk," I tell her, unable to keep from growling as I try to fix the bent cover of the book I just unpacked. "Why can't they ship using more packing materials? Look at this."
I hold up the book, and she frowns. I'm sure she's frowning more at my disclosure than the book. We can send these back and get a credit, but it's a huge pain in the ass to have to waste time and energy when they could've just packed it correctly the first time.
"Stop," she says, holding her hand out and covering the book in my hands. "What happened?"
I turn away from her, starting the pile of books that we'll need to return. Looking at her is becoming too difficult, and I'm wondering if I should've just kept my mouth closed. But it's been eating away at me for days.
I regret bringing it up in the first place, but I wanted to see if my feelings were justified.
It was very reminiscent of how the seven minutes in heaven went all those years ago. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me, but for him, it meant nothing. It took me forever to get over the hurt from what happened in high school, and I should've known better.
I wasn't even drunk the other night. I'd just had a horrible day, and I wanted to forget about it for a little while. I've tried my best not to go over what happened again and again, but my brain has never really listened to my pleadings.
"Riley," Sage says, and I sort of hate the soft tone of her voice.
It means she pities me, and I hate pity more than anything else in this world. I never want to be the girl people look at with flat lips while thinking that I should've known better or receive that look that tells me that they're shocked I even expected something differently than what I got. As if it's audaciousness to experience something with someone and then them not turn on you in the next breath.
Despite whatever affirmations I have with myself daily, it's a serious blow to my ego and has left me feeling used and more than a little pissed off.
Tossing into that I decided to stay in town for Christmas and just sat at home by myself for the last several days. I think I might be losing my mind a little, and I'm doing my best not to internalize those events, but it's getting harder and harder.
"Riley?" Sage presses again.
I huff a sigh and face her. "I demanded he take me back to my car, and he chuckled like what he said was all a damn joke."
Her eyes narrow as if she's already planning his murder on my behalf.
"The crazy thing is that he opened the truck door for me when we got to his house and was very... accommodating. I thought he enjoyed himself. But then we rode in silence like we were complete strangers."