Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 175455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 877(@200wpm)___ 702(@250wpm)___ 585(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 175455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 877(@200wpm)___ 702(@250wpm)___ 585(@300wpm)
After a few seconds, she accepts that I’m asleep and doesn’t want to disturb me. The door closes with a soft click and I breathe a little sigh of relief.
At least, until my bed sags with the weight of someone climbing on it. My mom might open the door to check on me, but she wouldn’t come in and sit down on my bed when she thinks I’m asleep. I turn to investigate, but I already have a wild suspicion who I’ll find there.
Sure enough, when I roll over, I see the dark silhouette of Carter Mahoney climbing onto my bed.
Chapter 39
My bedroom is dark, but the sliver of moonlight coming in through the window illuminates Carter’s intense features. Faced with the reality of him in my room, my stomach bottoms out. With my heart in my throat, I open my mouth to… well, I’m not exactly sure, but before I can say anything, Carter does.
“Caught your mom before she went to bed. Told her we were fighting and I really needed to talk to you. She let me come right up.” Crawling forward, he adds, “Your mom kind of sucks.”
“She doesn’t suck,” I defend, easing up on my elbows to move back away from him. “She’s just…” I don’t know how to finish that sentence, so I don’t bother. “More importantly, what are you doing here?”
“You weren’t answering my texts,” he tells me, as if sneaking into my bedroom is a reasonable response. “I know you can’t ignore me in person, so here I am.”
He’s so damn pushy. Shaking my head, I tell him, “You need to leave. I don’t want to talk to you, that’s what it means when you text someone and they don’t text back. Hard to interpret, I realize.”
“Definitely a mixed signal,” he says lightly, playing along. “I figured you were just busy.”
“You did not.”
Carter smiles, grabbing my hips and dragging me to the middle of the bed.
My defenses go up. I know Carter isn’t above using any means at his disposal, but if he thinks he can use his body to short circuit my brain, he has another thing coming. “Carter, you really need to leave. I’m not playin’ around. We broke up. I’m not your plaything anymore. This is no longer appropriate by any stretch of the imagination.”
“Now, that’s where we disagree,” he tells me, pulling me beneath him and straddling my hips. “You broke up. I didn’t agree to it.”
“You can’t reject my break-up. When one person initiates a break-up, the other person has no choice but to accept it. Have you never been dumped before?”
“Of course I haven’t,” he answers. “I’ve only ever dated Erika, and, well, you know how that went down.”
That’s the wrong person to bring up right now. Glaring up at him, I say, “Yes, I do. And speaking of Erika, get the fuck off me before I grab my phone and call the police to report an intruder in my house.”
Utterly unconcerned, Carter says, “Feel free to try, princess. If you think my reflexes are so shitty I won’t be able to stop you, go ahead and reach for your phone. Let’s find out if you’re right.”
Huffing at him, I glare harder. “Just tell me what you want to tell me so you can leave.”
Cocking a dark eyebrow, he tells me, “Now, that’s not very hospitable.”
“You are not my guest. You’re not welcome here. I don’t want you here,” I offer more firmly.
“Now you’re just being mean,” he tells me. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not bein’ mean. I’m telling my erratic ex to get off me and get out of my bedroom. That’s perfectly reasonable.”
“Ouch. Ex? No, I don’t like that.”
“I’m not playin’ around, Carter,” I tell him seriously. “I know I’ve let you get away with some stuff in the past, but not this. Not her. You won’t talk me out of this. You and I are over, done, finished. I don’t trust you anymore. I’m sorry to tell you, no matter what you say or do, you’re not getting your way this time.”
I’m only wearing shorts and a thin, baby blue cami top to sleep in, no bra underneath. Because he’s a dick, Carter covers my breasts with his big hands and squeezes. “No matter what I do, huh?” he asks, a note of challenge in his tone.
An answering pulse of arousal rears its ugly head at the feel of his hands on me, but I ignore it. There’s little point in dancing around the obvious, so I meet his gaze and tell him evenly, “You and I both know you can take what you want physically, if you want to. That’s not what I’m talking about. You may be able to force your way inside my body, Carter, but you can’t force your way back into my heart.”