Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
He thought that over. “What do you want?”
“Will you lay down with me and hold me like you did yesterday?”
“Hailey, I—”
“Please?”
I thought he was going to refuse, but he went to the bed, took off his shoes and then slid under the weighted blanket. He held it up for me. I climbed in, and his arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest. His body was so large that more of it covered me than the blanket did.
For a long time, he just held me, which was exactly what I wanted.
And then he spoke in my ear. “I’m not a good man, Hailey. If you knew the things I’ve done…” he trailed off.
I took a deep breath, or as deeply as I could with his arms circling my stomach. “Does it have to do with why you don’t drink?”
It was almost a full minute before he answered. “Yes.” He slid back, obviously intending to get out of bed, but I turned over, reaching for him. “Please stay.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking. Or who you’re asking it to.”
I voiced the question that had been on my mind for a while. “Did someone die?” I was almost afraid to know the answer.
“No,” he finally said. “But there are other ways to ruin a life. I tried to make it right, but there are some things you can’t take back.”
“Don’t tell me.” I put a finger over his lips. “Not now. When you’re ready.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is. I said I didn’t want to talk about why I liked being a student, and you were okay with me not getting into it right now.”
He shook his head sadly. “Trust me when I say they’re not equivalent situations.”
“I know. But you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” And when I was ready to hear it. “Do Theo and Ian know?”
“No. Not the whole story. But they know I’ve changed since high school.” His lips twisted into a rueful smile. “They’re pretty much the only ones who never bought my frat-boy-who-lives-to-party act.”
“Maybe it’s time to stop acting and start living,” I whispered. And that same thing went for me, too. No more hiding who I was. No more blaming myself for things outside of my control.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “And the hard partying frat bro act has to stop anyway.”
“Because people figured out you don’t drink?”
He looked down at me and shook his head. “Because I’m not a frat boy anymore. Theo, Ian, and I quit this morning.”
My jaw dropped as I stared at him. “Really?” My jaw dropped as I stared at him.
He smiled at my surprise. “Really.”
“Was it because of—”
“It was because of a lot of things,” he said. “And one of them is that I finally admitted to myself that my family is a bad influence on me—but also that I knew a couple of good influences. Three of them, to be exact.
His gaze lowered, and I realized that my lips were still parted in surprise. He traced my lower lip with his index finger.
I reached for him, snagging the neckline of his shirt as I tugged him toward me. He was too big to roll on top of me, but we managed, laying side by side as his mouth found mine.
His kiss was gentle. Tender. It was going to take a long time before he could interact with me without fearing he was going to scare me. Or break me. But we’d get there. And I hadn’t a feeling we wouldn’t get there alone.”
When he broke the kiss, I reluctantly let go of his shirt. “I’ve been waiting for Night Owl to do that to me for a long time.”
“Good. I want to do more with my batty little Wombat, but not right now. There are things to discuss.”
“Right,” I groaned as the real world intruded in our cozy little space. “Like where the hell am I going to live.”
“That’s one issue, but not the only one,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed, there are now four of us looking for a new place for the fall.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t live in a frat house if you’re not a fraternity brother.” He smiled down at me. “With one notable exception.”
It had never occurred to me that they didn’t have a place to stay now, either. “Maybe we should figure out what to do next together.”
He smiled. “That’s what the three of us thought, too. But Hailey, really think of what you want. Don’t let yourself get roped into being with us just because you have no place else to go.”
I smiled faintly. “That’s how I ended up at the frat house.”
“Well, choose better next time.”
I smiled up at him. “I intend to.”
28
HAILEY
EPILOGUE
Some days I couldn’t believe how much had changed in a month. I was doing well in my classes. My only job was to study. I lived in a beautiful apartment, and I was crazy about my roommates.