Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Something was wrong.
Immediately, I went over to him and sat by his prone body. “Connor, sweetie,” I enquired cautiously, “What’s wrong?”
He turned to the side, resting his head on his forearm, and uttered slowly, miserably, “I’m so fucking bored.”
Annoyed, I bunched my nose. “You’re bored?”
That was it? That was his problem?
God. Sometimes he was too much.
“Hey.” He sat up and tugged at the hem of my robe, attempting to part it. “What you got under there?”
I shot up and my brows furrowed. “Connor!”
Connor grinned, knowing full well he was being an ass. “What?” He looked down at the book on my bed, picking it up and reading out a small clip from the title page. “A paranormal romance.” He held it up high and shook the book, emphasizing the words, “This is smut. You read smut, Emmy?”
“It’s romance,” I clarified, suddenly self-conscious.
He flicked through the pages and uttered an amused, “It’s about wolves.” Then he stilled. “Wait, do they fuck in this?”
Sitting on my bed, I sat against the headboard. “Well, yes. It’s romance,” I said like it was a stupid question.
Connor stalled then gasped before he asked, “Do they fuck as humans or wolves?”
“Sometimes both.” My cheeks began to heat.
“No shit!” He tipped his head back, laughing and threw the book into the corner of the room. The jerk. He looked at me with a grin then bit his tongue. “You little freak.”
I was too humiliated to respond.
“Emmy.” He reached over, slowly running his fingers down my bare leg. “Baby.”
“What?”
I didn’t like Connor in my space. I was beginning to get aggravated.
But then he asked a quiet and polite, “Can I stay here a while?” and my insides melted into a pile of goop.
“Why aren’t you out with the guys?”
“I’m sick of those groupie bitches.”
“That’s not nice. Don’t say that.”
“They are bitches,” he stated. “They’re so rude. The things they say….” He shook his head. “No shit, you should hear some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths.” He turned to lie on his back and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m over ‘em.”
Yeah. For tonight.
I thought about what he was saying. “Maybe you need something more meaningful, Connor.” When he turned to face me, I added, “Like a relationship.”
He blinked at me, paused, and then laughed. Loudly. “Emmy.” He sat up, chuckling. “Baby, do you even know me?” When I didn’t respond, he looked at me like I was crazy. “I don’t do relationships. Hell, I barely do friendship. I don’t want a relationship.” He made a face. “In all seriousness, there is nothing I want less than a girlfriend, all needy and jealous and shit. Ugh. No. Not for me, teeny thing.”
Fair enough.
Well, at least he was honest about it.
I turned my body to face him. “Well, then I guess you’re stuck with groupies because everyone knows who you are.”
“You didn’t.”
That was true. It was also a completely different situation. “Yeah, but all I had was my nanna. Basically all of my friends were geriatric, Connor. I watched Wheel of Fortune, I Love Lucy, and The Odd Couple. I didn’t know much or care about anything that was happening outside of my grandmother’s house. We listened to old records, not the radio. I was taught that gossip is cheap so I wasn’t allowed to buy trashy tabloids and I’d never even seen E! News.” I noticed he was watching me strangely. “I’m a one-off.”
He thought about that a minute. “That you are,” he muttered to himself, and I averted my gaze. When he asked, “Why are you holding onto your virginity?” I almost died.
My response was quick and far too loud. “I never said I was!”
Connor chuckled in a way that told me he’d expected some kind of outburst. “You didn’t have to.”
I was offended. “I’ve been with boys.” When he looked dubious, I stated sincerely, “I have!” But after a moment, I admitted a feeble, “It just never went… there.”
“So, you could’ve, but didn’t.”
It was difficult to explain but I did my best. “Let me tell you, there is nothing less sexy than watching your only family member deteriorate in front of your eyes. And I lived it every day. I didn’t have time for a boyfriend. I didn’t want a boyfriend. If I had one, that meant time away from Nanna and, honestly, I didn’t know how much longer I had with her, so…” This was a frustrating conversation. “I know you can’t possibly understand—”
But he cut me off with an earnest, “I understand.” When I threw him a suspicious look, he nodded and assured “I do. Really.”
Perhaps I had explained myself well enough. “Good.”
“So…” He looked me up and down then grinned. “Wanna make out?”
I was so tired. “Connor.” These jokes of his were wearing down my very soul.
“When’s the last time you were kissed?” To my surprise, he sounded dead serious. When I looked at him, he watched me carefully, waiting for a response.