Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
What session? Despite my need to ask, I don’t say anything. I really want to stop her and beg for her number. I need to talk to her. I want to talk about the letter and more.
But first, I have to fix things with Shelli Adler-Brooks.
When I see that Austen has left the hall, my gaze meets Shelli’s. A girl I’ve known my whole life. “You know good and well I would never hurt anyone. I hope I didn’t hear you right when you implied I would.”
With her shoulders back, her eyes dark, she glares up at me. “She looked very upset, and with you coming up behind her, it was only natural I would assume something happened.”
“But it could have been anything other than me doing something to her. I would never do anything that isn’t wanted.”
Her brow perks. “She is a guest. I don’t need you corrupting her.”
“Corrupting. That’s a very loaded accusation. Are you implying I corrupted you?”
She narrows her eyes, those depths full of anger. “You’d have to matter to corrupt me.”
“So you say, yet I hear you’re telling everyone you hate me.”
“Because I do,” she says simply. “You lied to me.”
“Wow,” I say, nodding as I grip myself under my arms, squeezing my arms over my chest tightly. “How did I lie to you?”
“You told me you loved me!”
“Because I do,” I say, fully unaffected by her outburst. “I always have, Shelli. Like a sister, because we are family.”
Her eyes shoot daggers. “You don’t sleep with you sister!”
“No, I wouldn’t,” I retort. “But when my friend, whom I care about, wanted to forget about someone who hurt her, I was down. I was young, I was horny, and you were offering. How could I say no?”
“You took advantage of me. Just as you intend to take advantage of Austen.”
I glare. “I have no such intentions, at all. We’re friends. And as for you, Shelli, you used me just as much as you assumed I used you.”
She balks at that. “I would never.”
“But you did,” I insist, holding her gaze. “You wanted to forget Aiden, you wanted a distraction, and I gave you one. Just as much fun as I had, you had the same, and you can’t hold something like that over me.”
“You fucked me and then told me you loved me,” she snaps at me. “How am I not supposed to think that means something? And then you left for Russia the next day!”
“I told you I loved you because I wanted you to know I cared and I felt good about what we did. I wasn’t guilty or embarrassed. It’s not my fault you forgot I was leaving. And listen, maybe we would have kept hooking up. But honestly, you were so in love with Aiden, I knew I didn’t matter.”
Something shifts in her eyes. “But you did matter.”
“Shelli,” I urge, meeting her gaze, “you have always only loved Aiden, and I knew that going in. I was okay with it, really. I wasn’t upset, and I’m still not. Sometimes a guy likes to be used, especially by someone like you.”
“I didn’t intend on using you,” she says, her eyes troubled.
“It honestly doesn’t matter,” I say, shrugging. “It’s all in the past.” When she doesn’t say anything, I reach out, taking her hands. “I’m sorry for any misunderstanding, Shelli. I never wanted to hurt you or ever make you assume something. To this day, I still care very deeply for you. You’ll always be very important to me.”
“But I tried to keep you off the team.”
“I know.”
She looks from our hands to my eyes. Tears swirl in her bright-blue depths, and my heart catches. “I don’t deserve your apology. I think I made the situation more than it was.”
“You did. And the apology isn’t for you, it’s for me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She nods slowly. “I’m sorry for holding a grudge for so long. I am very prideful.” She’s got that right. “It doesn’t help that my hormones are all over the place, and I had to go off my anxiety meds for the baby—which is no excuse whatsoever, but I’m not myself lately.”
“See, for me, it’s easy to accept that apology. You’re spoiled as fuck, Shelli. But at the end of the day, you’ve grown into an incredible, powerful woman.”
“I forgave you. You don’t have to kiss my ass,” she teases, and I grin. “I think we need to start over.”
“We can.”
She holds out her hand. “I’m Shelli Adler-Brooks, and I am your GM. I’m excited to see how far you go in our camp.”
I take her hand, thinking this is dumb as hell, but as long as she’s happy, I’ll do it. “Dimitri Titov. I’ve waited my whole life to play for the Assassins.”
“Yet you wasted your time in the Russian league,” she retorts, and I scoff.