Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
4
Pope
She was quiet as we headed back to her dorm, and I was starting to get worried I’d done something wrong, or maybe someone had done something to her to put her in this forlorn mood.
But what if it was me?
Although I knew I could be a little overbearing and overprotective, maybe I was so far over the edge it had finally gotten under her skin?
She’d glanced at me constantly at the party, and although I didn’t really try to hide the fact I watched her the whole time, maybe she was starting to realize that I could be too intense.
I tightened my hands on the steering wheel, this pressure settling on my shoulders. I didn’t want to push her away. Maybe if she knew the truth, knew how I felt about her, she’d understand my undying need to be close to her.
I pulled to a stop in front of the dorm building and just sat there, the car idling. I looked over at her, seeing the way she worried her bottom lip. It was clear she had something on her mind, and I didn’t want her to leave if she was concerned about something.
I shifted on the seat so I could face her better, giving her a moment to talk to me on her own before I pressed her. When several seconds passed and she still had yet to say anything, I cleared my throat and lifted my hand, running my palm over the back of my hair.
“Mia?”
She looked over at me, this surprised expression filtering across her face as if she’d been lost in her own thoughts, forgetting she sat right beside me.
In that moment, I realized I had to grow a set of balls and just be honest, to tell her how I felt. But maybe this wasn’t the best time. If she had something on her mind and needed to unload that on me, I’d be here as her friend, not the guy who wanted to confess how madly in love he was with her.
She licked her lips and I watched her drag her little pink tongue along the full bottom one. My chest clenched, my hands itching to reach out and touch her, to bring her closer.
“Mia, tell me what’s wrong.” I was trying to keep my voice level, to keep the worry and need out of my tone.
But the truth was, Mia was starting to freak me the fuck out.
She shifted on the seat so she was facing me as well, her eyes a little wider, the uncertainty in her expression clear.
Mia took a deep breath and stared out the front windshield for long moments, as if trying to figure out what to tell me, how to tell me.
“Pope, there’s stuff I want to tell you but I’m afraid.”
My heart jumped and chills raced along my body. Instantly my need to protect her rose up. “Tell me what motherfucker hurt you and I’ll kill them, Mia.” I couldn’t stop the animalistic growl that left me. “Was it some asshole at the party?” Panic seized me. “Mia, sweetheart, tell me.”
When she looked at me again there was so much vulnerability in her expression that it took my breath away.
“It’s nothing like that, Pope,” she said softly.
I felt the relief settle in me.
“It’s about you. It’s about me.”
Fuck. Was this what I thought it was? Shit, I was getting nervous, fucking scared.
I wanted to be the first to speak, to tell her how I felt, that I was so fucking madly in love with her that I would do anything to make us a possibility.
And I was just about to say those words when she licked her lips and took a deep inhalation, which had everything in me freezing.
“Pope, it’s always been you.” My heart stopped for a moment.
I was slightly confused, maybe even a little hopeful. “Always been me?” Fuck, was that my voice?
She nodded slowly as she stared into my eyes. “It’s always been you for me.”
And just like that the world fucking stopped, life came full circle, and everything I’d ever hoped and dreamed for was right there for the taking.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe. I probably looked like a fucking asshole for not responding. She looked so worried, her teeth nibbling at her bottom lip once more, her anxiety clear.
“I ruined everything, didn’t I?” she whispered and the unshed tears in her eyes broke my fucking heart. “But I’ve kept my feelings for you secret for so long, afraid of ruining our friendship … of this reaction from you.” She looked down at her hands, and I followed her gaze, saw how she twisted her fingers together. “I love you, Pope. I’ve been in love with you for so long it’s ingrained in me, a part of me.” She looked back up at me and a small, sad smile covered her lips.