Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
I let out a heavy sigh. “You took her home, didn’t you?”
He grins. “Can you blame me? She’s got me ready to risk it all.”
My brow arches. “Even Aspen’s wrath?”
“Even that.”
I gape at my best friend. He’s never thought about a woman long enough to consider anything. Hell, he likely doesn’t remember the names of half the women he’s been with. “Shit. What does Becs think about that?”
The smirk that stretches across Austin’s face is the same one he had right before we ended up in cuffs in the back of a police cruiser. “She’s not exactly on the same page, but don’t worry. I’ll wear her down. Give me six months,” he says. “She’ll be living with me and have my ring on her finger, mark my fucking words.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter under my breath. “You talk a lot of shit, but you’ve never said anything like that about a woman. Are you really sure about this? You barely know her.”
“I know her enough to know that she’s worth taking the risk. Plus, Aspen fucking adores her, and she’s always been a good judge of character. At least, mostly. I’ve kinda been questioning it since that whole Tinder date thing. But what I’m trying to say is, if Aspen loves her, then there’s a good reason for that.”
“What do you think Aspen is going to say about all of this?”
He shakes his head. “I think she’ll come around to the idea. It might take a little while, but—” he cuts himself off as his phone rings, and a smirk lifts the corners of his lips. “Speak of the fucking devil.”
He holds up his phone, flipping it around to show me Aspen’s name across the screen before laughing to himself. He hits accept and holds it to his ear. “Do you have any fucking idea what time—” his words fall short, his face falling with horror. “Wait. Slow down. What’s wrong?”
My heart races as my feet fall from my desk, more than ready to break into a fucking sprint to get to my girl, but I wait on eggshells, desperate to know what the fuck is going on.
Austin’s gaze flashes to mine through the screen, his face turning white. “Fuck, Aspen. I’m out of town,” he rushes out, a clear panic in his tone as he throws himself to his feet. “I can’t—where are you?”
Aspen responds, and his stare shoots to mine again, my keys already in my hand, waiting for the fucking signal. “What’s going on?” I demand.
Austin listens to whatever his sister is saying, his horror and fear increasing tenfold. “Izaac’s gonna come and find you, okay? Stay hidden. Don’t fucking move.”
“What. The fuck. Is. Happening?” I growl, now on my feet, itching to fucking run.
“Someone’s following her. She’s hiding in the hedges outside some house, but she doesn’t know where she is.”
“I’m on my way.”
I fly out the door, not bothering to disconnect the Zoom call as I hear Austin trying to soothe my girl in the background. “He’s on his way,” he tells her. “He’ll call you from the car, but don’t hang up my call until his is coming through. You understand me, Aspen? It’s gonna be okay. He’s coming for you. Izaac’s not going to let anything happen to you.”
I barely catch the end of his sentence when I storm through my front door, not wasting a fucking second to lock up behind me. If someone wants to ransack my home and steal every fucking possession I have, then let ’em at it. I don’t fucking care. All that matters is getting to Aspen and making sure she’s okay.
Fuck. If anything happens to her . . .
Reaching my Escalade, I quickly unlock it before yanking the door open with such force, I almost pull the whole fucking door right off its hinges, then before I even get the chance to blink, I’m in the driver’s seat and flying down my long driveway.
I can only assume Aspen is somewhere near her college campus, so I take a right and head that way as I bring up her name on my phone and hit call. It connects through my Bluetooth system, and before the first ring has even ended, her voice fills my speakers.
“Izaac?” she whispers, her voice shaking and so full of fear, it cripples me.
“I’m on my way, baby. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I promise her. “Where are you?”
“I . . . I don’t know,” she says in that same shaky tone, clearly on the verge of tears. Her voice is so quiet, I have to strain to hear, but I listen to every fucking word, desperately wishing I could take her far away. “I was walking home from a bar when I saw some asshole following me, so I turned down some random road and started running. I’m hiding in some bushes outside someone’s house, but he knows I’m here somewhere. He’s looking for me, Izaac. It’s only a matter of time.”