Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“Holden.” I hold up a hand to stop him, my cheeks tingling with embarrassment at the mention of him putting my drunk ass to bed. “I believe you.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “You do.” It’s a question, but his skeptical tone makes it sound more like statement.
“Unless I shouldn’t.” I laugh, second-guessing myself.
“No, you should. I mean…” He pauses, frowning in an adorable way. “If you believe me, then why the fuck are you avoiding me?”
I shrug, aiming for unaffected. “I’m not avoiding you.” Lie. “The break ended. That was the deal.”
“Fuck the deal.” His voice rises in volume, earning some curious looks. “We both know that’s not what this is.”
“Can you lower your voice?”
Leaning back in the booth, he crosses his arms over his chest and rolls his tongue along the inside of his cheek, assessing. “What’s this really about?”
I fix my eyes on the screen of my laptop, avoiding his probing stare. I hate when he sees more than he’s supposed to. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I think you know exactly what I want from you,” he counters without hesitation. “The question is, why are you so fucking scared to admit that you want it, too?”
I shake my head, snapping my laptop shut and shoving it into my backpack. “I have to go.”
Holden
“Remind me how you made the team,” Ryan says after my third shot in a row bounces off the rim. We’ve been at it for an hour, and I’m off my game. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in over a week. Valen’s still avoiding me. Practice and classes starting back up have kept us both busy, but it’s more than that. I’m not even convinced it’s about the whole Quinn misunderstanding. The only good thing is that my dad seems to have been right about my uncle. He’s too busy doing damage control and covering his tracks to worry about fucking with us. But we’re no closer to finding Christian, and it’s weighing on me more than I’d like to admit.
“Wasn’t the whole point of sitting the first semester out to get better?”
He’s giving me shit, but he’s right. If I don’t get it together before I meet with the coaching staff to evaluate my progress next week, I risk losing my spot on the team permanently. I slacked over break, opting to spend all my time with Valen instead of in the gym or on the court where I should’ve been.
“Fuck off.” My gaze drifts over to the other side of the gym where some cheerleaders are practicing on the mats, but I don’t see any sign of Valen.
“Should’ve known it had something to do with her,” Ryan says, smirking. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Something like that.”
“You fell for the situationship?” He lets out a low whistle that echoes across the court.
I think about denying it, but I don’t bother. Instead, the word vomit pours out of me, unable to keep it in any longer. “I don’t know what the hell happened. I’m horny for her all the time, but not just for sex. It’s like I’m horny for her company. For her mind. For watching movies and…cuddling.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “I think that’s just called being in love.”
I pin him with a glare. “Once again. Fuck off.”
“Fine. You like the girl,” he says with a shrug, simplifying it for my benefit. “What’s the problem? She doesn’t like you?”
“She likes me. She just doesn’t want to admit it.” I doubted it for a minute with the way she cut me off so quickly, as if it was easy for her. We said no feelings, but it was more for me. I felt it. I refuse to believe she didn’t feel it, too.
“If you believe that, then why have you been in our dorm room being a crybaby bitch for the past week instead of across the hall with your girl?”
I bend over to pick up the ball, throwing it hard into his chest, but he sees it coming and catches it easily with a cocky smile. I lift the bottom of my shirt, using it to wipe the sweat off my brow before walking off the court.
“Don’t hate me because I’m right!” he shouts after me.
I grab my phone and hoodie near the wall on my way out, sending a text to Valen.
Me: I’m coming over tonight.
Valen
My wet hair drips onto the floor at my feet as I wrap my towel around myself and lean over the sink, reading my earlier texts with Holden to see if he’s said anything else.
Holden: I’m coming over tonight.
Me: I can’t.
Holden: Too bad. I want to see you.
Me: I’m on my period.
It’s not a lie. I’m not usually so blunt, but I’m close to cracking, and it’s a guaranteed way to scare him off. I was right because that was hours ago, and he hasn’t responded since. I didn’t expect to miss seeing Holden this much. He wormed his way into my bed, into my life, and made me like him. The fact that he’s ruined my vibrator for me only makes me resent him more.