Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
At least with the door closed, I won’t be convinced there’s a serial killer lurking in the shadows.
His bedroom is completely dark, and my eyes haven’t adjusted yet. I can’t see him, but I hear him toss his towel across the room and my mind snaps to the box of condoms he just bought at the gas station.
Given my reluctance to cross that road with anyone up to this point, I’m a little unsure, but as someone who also values being prepared, I tell myself his restock may have little to do with expectations of sex from me specifically.
Strangely, that doesn’t make me feel better.
I hear Killian climb on the bed, so I take small steps toward it until I can put a hand on the mattress to feel where I am. I’m sleeping in panties and one of his T-shirts again. I have my own pajamas in my suitcase, but before he took a shower, he tossed me one of his shirts and told me if I’m committed to sleeping in clothes to wear that.
I’m a good listener.
I also like wearing his shirts. They smell like him.
The whole bed smells like him, and as I get comfortable on my side, I sigh with pleasure over the fact. I remember last night after all the excitement when he snuggled me, and I wonder—
I don’t wonder for long. As soon as I get comfortable, Killian slides a strong arm under my body and pulls me to his side of the bed.
“Get over here, you.”
I smile as his face disappears in the crook of my neck. “It’s late,” I say mildly. “We need to sleep.”
“We will,” he murmurs against my neck. He leaves a soft, lingering kiss there that sends a current of awareness through my entire body, but instead of stoking any fires, he eases back. “I just wanted you close.”
My heart contracts hearing that, and I smile up at him. On impulse, I lean in and give him a quick kiss on the jaw, too. “I think I like you, Killian Walsh.”
My eyes have adjusted to the dark enough for me to make out the smirk on his handsome face. “I think I like you, too.”
___
It feels like more than a weekend has passed since I last set foot on this campus.
When I left Thursday, I wasn’t guarded and paranoid. Dread didn’t quicken my steps every time I rounded a corner or another student passed me too abruptly.
It’s a busy Monday morning, so it’s happening a lot. My hypervigilance is slowing me down as my energy is split between making my way to cellular biology and molecular medicine and taking inventory of every single person I see, then cross referencing them with that stupid basement and making sure none of them match.
I nearly spill my coffee as the tall, rude pre-med guy who sits in the row in front of me brushes past me.
“Jesus, the sidewalk is wide enough to give people space,” I mutter.
He’s long gone and doesn’t hear me.
I sigh, speeding up to follow him since I know we’re going to the same place. The sunny side of my brain think it’s safer to follow him since if someone did try to ambush me on my way to class, I could scream for help and surely he would hear me.
The less sunny side points out that even if he did, he probably wouldn’t help.
Most people wouldn’t help.
But Killian did.
Thinking about him brings a smile to my face and momentarily distracts me from the chaos of Monday morning. I did not study enough for this class—which was especially stupid since I have a test on Wednesday—and I skipped my brush-up review that I usually do over breakfast.
Killian brought me to school today, and he stopped on the way to get us breakfast and coffee. The only studying that happened was me studying the way his mouth looked when he took a sip of that coffee.
Boys are distracting.
When I finally make it to class, I settle in and get my books and notes ready, then, since I have a little time to spare, I decide to check on my iPhone. I brought my iPad with me in case I needed it for class, plus I usually head to the library to study after class since I live in a shared apartment with thin walls on a noisy street. They’re very strict in the Woodworth Library about being quiet, so it’s a nice place to study.
But Killian has a class after mine, so we won’t be leaving school at the same time, and given everything that has been going on, I feel more comfortable going to his place than sitting in a crowded library. Especially as paranoid as I felt just walking to class, there’s no way I would be able to concentrate with people coming in and out of the library.